Attributively and predicatively used participles differ from adjectives in that they generally cannot be modified by degree adverbs like zeervery and vrijrather; the only exceptions are the present and past/passive participles of the object experiencer psych-verbs, as shown in (192).

The resistance to modification by a degree modifier holds true even if the participle seems to imply some scale. Take a participle such as opgeleideducated in (193), which is derived from the transitive verb opleidento educate: regardless of whether someone has had only a basic or more comprehensive education, we would call such a person educated, which shows that opgeleid refers to a range on some implied scale. Nevertheless, example (193a) shows that we cannot use the degree adverbs zeer and vrij for indicating which point on the implied scale we mean. Moreover, the examples in (193b&c) show that comparative/superlative formation is also blocked; cf. Chapter 25 and Chapter 26 for a detailed discussion of modification and comparison.

However, it is possible to indicate the intended point on the implied scale by using the adjectival degree modifiers slechtpoorly and goedwell in (194), which refer to the lower and upper sides of the implied scale, respectively. Example (194a') shows that the sequence goed/slecht opgeleid voor deze functie can be placed in clause-initial position, from which we conclude that the degree modifier and the adjectival participle form a constituent; cf. the constituency test.

For more examples of adjectival past/passive participles that can be modified by a degree modifier, see example (195).

For completeness’ sake, note that the degree modifiers slechtpoorly and goedwell are themselves gradable adjectives, and can therefore be modified by a degree adverb, or undergo comparative and superlative formation. This is illustrated in (196).

When the degree modifier goedwell is modified by the interrogative modifier hoehow it can be extracted from the adjectival phrase and placed in sentence-initial position, as shown in (197a). The dollar sign in (197b) is used to indicate that pied piping of the participle is possible, but seems to be the less preferred option; cf. Corver (1990: §8).

Occasionally, the modifiers of predicatively and attributively used participles seem to correspond to manner adverbs; cf. Section 25.5, sub III, for other cases where adjectives typically used as VP adverbials seem to modify an adjective. This can be seen in the examples in (198): in the primeless example zorgvuldig is used as a manner adverb, while in the primed examples it is used as a modifier of the adjectival past/passive participle bereidprepared.

However, example (199) shows that this is not always the case; hoog can be used as a modifier of the adjectival participle opgeleideducated, but not as a manner adverb.

Pseudo-participles such as gehandicapthandicapped can be combined with similar adjectival degree modifiers as predicatively and attributively used participles; (200) provides examples with the degree modifiers zwaar and licht. The (b)-examples again show that these degree modifiers are themselves gradable adjectives: they can be modified by a degree adverb, and comparative/superlative formation is also possible. The (c)-examples show that the degree modifier preferably can strand the pseudo-participle if it is modified by the interrogative modifier hoe; piped piping of the participle is possible, but again seems to be the less preferred option.

More pseudo-participles that can be modified by adjectival degree modifiers and behave in the same way as gehandicapt are given in (201).

There is also a class of pseudo-participles with the same morphological form as gehandicapt (ge-N-d/t/en) that usually require the presence of an adjectival modifier; some examples are blondgeloktwith blond curls, breedgeschouderdwith broad shoulders, hooggehaktwith high heels, kortgeroktwith short skirts, roodgebiesd with a red trim, slechtgehumeurdin a bad mood, zwaargebouwdheavyset, hooggehaktwith high heels, all of which are bad or unusual as pseudo-participles without the underlined part. These forms are generally considered to be synthetic compounds (i.e. morphologically complex forms); cf. Meijs (1980/1986) and Booij (2015c). However, Hoeksema (1983;1984: §5.3.2.1) has argued that they actually fall into two separate classes, depending on whether or not they exhibit the behavior of gehandicapt in (200): if they do, we are dealing with a syntactic phrase; if they don’t, we are dealing with a morphologically complex form. It will be clear that we agree with at least the first claim, since extracting the modifier in examples such as (200c') would otherwise violate the generally accepted lexical integrity constraint, which forbids wh-extraction from words. We will not digress here but refer to the above-mentioned publications and the references cited therein for further discussion.

Deverbal adjectives, such as verstaanbaarintelligible in (202), can also be used with degree modifiers similar to those used with predicatively and attributively used participles. Again, the degree modifiers goed and slecht act as gradable adjectives in that they can themselves be modified by the degree adverb like zeervery and vrij rather’; comparative/superlative formation is also possible, as shown in the (b)-examples. The (c)-examples further show that the interrogative degree modifier hoehow preferably strands the deverbal adjective; piped piping of the participle is possible, but again the less preferred option.

Example (203) gives similar cases with the deverbal adjective verteerbaardigestible; the (c)-examples may be less common than the (c)-examples in (202) but seem perfectly acceptable.