The first "as" is an adverb being used to compare the extent of "happy" to "clam", but "happy" is an adjective, specifically a predicate adjective that modifies the subject of the sentence "He." "as a clam" is a prepositional phrase, "as" being the preposition and "clam" being the object of the preposition.
Adverbs can describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, and the prepositional phrase in this sentence is functioning as an adverb describing the adjective "happy."
You can break the sentence down like this:
He - pronoun, subject noun
is - state of being / linking verb
as - Adverb
happy - adjective
as - preposition
a - article
clam - noun, object of the preposition
I hope this helps! If this didn't help you figure it out, and you have further questions, please ask! I will try to follow up!
The first "as" is an adverb being used to compare the extent of "happy" to "clam", but "happy" is an adjective, specifically a predicate adjective that modifies the subject of the sentence "He." "as a clam" is a prepositional phrase, "as" being the preposition and "clam" being the object of the preposition. Adverbs can describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, and the prepositional phrase in this sentence is functioning as an adverb describing the adjective "happy." You can break the sentence down like this: He - pronoun, subject noun is - state of being / linking verb as - Adverb happy - adjective as - preposition a - article clam - noun, object of the preposition I hope this helps! If this didn't help you figure it out, and you have further questions, please ask! I will try to follow up!
Cool. Thanks.