The question is Is it right to say "Is John lie?"
The question is perfectly clear and has a perfectly clear answer. I don't see any specific section of the FAQ that would indicate that the question is not a good fit for the site.
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I voted as NARQ because the OP didn't offer any additional information that would have made it a good question– user10893Commented Jan 5, 2012 at 1:09
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@JasperLoy the terms "reference" and "too basic" are not to be found in the FAQ. There is a link to a question about resources for answering basic questions, and the only ones that seem relevant are Microsoft Word's grammar checker and CUP's English Grammar in Use, neither of which is a free on-line resource such as english.stackexchange.com.– phoogCommented Jan 5, 2012 at 14:40
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@simchona what additional information would you like to see?– phoogCommented Jan 5, 2012 at 14:41
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2phoog, the downvotes on Meta are different than on the main site. They are a sign of disagreement. Five people disagree with what you wrote.– Bogdan LataianuCommented Jan 5, 2012 at 15:53
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Are you, phoog, the one who asked the question, even though your name at the question was lxhgy?– MitchCommented Jan 5, 2012 at 17:27
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@Mitch If he didn't use an unregistered account to ask the question, then he is not the same user.– avpadernoCommented Jan 5, 2012 at 17:47
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@kiamlaluno: OK. I got confused when he said "this question" I thought he was referring to the main site question, but no he's really talking about this question here on meta.– MitchCommented Jan 5, 2012 at 18:38
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@Mitch Right. It's hard to understand what this question means when they are referring to the question on the main site, and to the question on the meta site.– avpadernoCommented Jan 5, 2012 at 18:58
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@phoog I asked what gave him the impression it was okay. Even with that, the question isn't very clear– user10893Commented Jan 5, 2012 at 19:04
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@Mitch I am not the user who asked the question on english.se and yes, my edit was referring to this meta question. Sorry for the confusion.– phoogCommented Jan 5, 2012 at 21:24
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2 Answers
The question seems pretty random to me, with no context for why one might think that construct is ok or where it was encountered. (I didn't vote on it; it was already closed when I saw it.)
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1lxhgy says in a comment it was from a video. It would have been better if that was mentioned within the question and a link to video was given. Commented Jan 5, 2012 at 15:57
I would have closed it as general reference as it is too basic, and can be answered by looking in a dictionary.
If the OP had ask if there are some dialects where "Is John lie?" is perfectly acceptable, that would have been different; as it is, the question is too basic, and you can get an answer by looking at the dictionary, and checking if lie is used as adjective.
It would have been also better if the OP had described exactly what question he had about that sentence (e.g. the usage of an infinitive after "I am," the usage of a noun after "I am").
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I disagree. I have known several non-native speakers who use the construction "I am verb infinitive", as in "I am drive to airport". Such speakers would not be helped by checking if the word is available to use as an adjective, because they are not using it as an adjective.– phoogCommented Jan 5, 2012 at 14:36
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2The question is not about using an infinitive after I am; it's specifically about using lie after I am. I think it's not in the advanced English classes where the construct "I am [infinitive]" is explained not to be correct. Commented Jan 5, 2012 at 17:58