He is loved.
This is something that I've always kind of wondered.
In a sentence like this, is loved a verb or an adjective? Can it be considered either?
Swan classes this usage as participial (and thus I'd say verbal):
cf He is loved [by everybody].
One trouble with classifying 'loved' as an adjective is that it isn't commonly used attributively
except in combinations such as 'much loved':
However, this is possible:
'Popular' is obviously not a verb [form].
Sometimes, it is far easier than this to distinguish adjectival and verbal usages of -ed forms:
But in the sentence given, I'd agree it's ambiguous, though nearer the passive verb end of the continuum.
Loved is still a verb, but it's the past participle, so plays a similar role to an adjective.
This sentence uses the passive voice.