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According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word "severe" is not a verb, but an adjective.

However, the word "severe" seems to have been used as a verb in the sentence below:

She has severed contact with her family, worried that the militants will punish them for her escape.

Is this usage widely accepted? Or should I deem it as just a tiny grammatical error?

Source

Usernew
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user24993
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    the confusion is *obvious* to learners because of the spelling of the word. – Maulik V Nov 24 '15 at 09:42
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    @MaulikV: yes, the confusion is very understandable and logical. If there were a verb *severe*, its past tense would be exactly *severed* (compare the real verb *revere*). – PLL Nov 25 '15 at 21:57

3 Answers3

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You are confusing "Sever" with "Severe"

Severe is definitely used as an adjective. It means:

very great; intense.

While, sever is a verb which means:

divide by cutting or slicing, especially suddenly and forcibly.

put an end to (a connection or relationship); break off.

In your quote, the word "sever" is used in the Past Participle form, which is "sever+ed"

Community
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Usernew
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    Usernew, The word sever isn't always used in the past participle form. The activists are asking the government to sever all diplomatic relations with the country. To sever isn't past participle form. – Khan Dec 02 '15 at 17:00
  • @Khan was talking about the context :) – Usernew Dec 03 '15 at 07:11
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Sever

verb

put an end to (a connection or relationship); break off.

Take note of the difference between the pronunciations of severe (adj) and sever (v).

severe -> /sɪˈvɪə/

sever -> /ˈsɛvə/

shin
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    For people who don’t read IPA: the verb *sever* rhymes with *never*, with the stress on the firs syllable; while in the adjective *severe*, the stress is on the second syllable, which rhymes with *here* and *near*. (I can’t think of a common word that rhymes closely with the whole of *severe*.) – PLL Nov 25 '15 at 21:55
  • @PLL How about 'revere'? – DGinzberg Nov 27 '15 at 04:52
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    @DGinzberg: yep, but I’m not sure that’s common enough or well-enough known to be terribly helpful. (I’ve heard native speakers mispronounced *revered* to rhyme with *severed*.) – PLL Nov 27 '15 at 12:16
  • Note that for most American English speakers, there's an /r/ at the end of each word. –  Dec 05 '15 at 22:36
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Further to the answers above, the confusion would be cleared up immediately if you heard someone saying those words.

  • sever = SE-ver
  • severed = SE-verd
  • severe = se-VEER or see-VEER, depending on local accent
Graham
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