What part of speech is "handsome" in the following sentence [closed]
What part of speech is handsome in the sentence:
The bridegroom looked so handsome.
Solution 1:
Handsome is an adjective in this sentence:
The bridegroom looked so handsome.
- Adj. having an attractive, well-proportioned, and imposing appearance suggestive of health and strength; good-looking
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/handsome
It is an adjective and describes the subject "the bridegroom". What is tricking you is that "looked" here is a linking verb, which are used to describe the state of being of the subject of a clause. (Unlike action verbs, which describe the action of the subject.) See here.
Solution 2:
It's an adjective and not an adverb because it's not modifying the action of looking. So for instance, in the sentence "He looked thoroughly around the room," "thoroughly" is an adverb because it is describing how the action occurred. In your sentence, "handsome" is not modifying how the "looking" occurred but "the bridegroom." The fact that "look" can both indicate an action (He looked around) and effectively be an equal signs (i.e. a linking verb) may be the stumbling block here.