Linguistic categories explaining how words are used. Examples are the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, the preposition, the conjunction, and the interjection.
3
votes
1answer
46 views
What is there in the English corpus beside nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc?
As you can see from this NGram, the total number of words in the indexed English corpus that were nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, determinants, pronouns, adpositions, numerals, conjunctions, or ...
4
votes
1answer
66 views
Identifying the class of this word
I'm reading the Wikipedia page on garden-path sentences. One example is:
The government plans to raise taxes were defeated.
What class of word is government in this sentence?
I read this ...
1
vote
1answer
83 views
Part of speech: “I am disappointed with”
In a construction such as, "John is disappointed with Alice", what part of speech is disappointed with? It appears to me that the "am" is a linking verb.
Similarly, "Jessica is sad", it seems to me ...
0
votes
0answers
135 views
What part of speech is “that” in each of the following sentences that mean the same?
It was all planned well before today that I can be sure about.
Here I believe that that is subordinating conjunction.
It was all planned well before today; I can be sure about that.
Here I ...
0
votes
0answers
49 views
Can one ever be sure which lexical class, or part of speech, each word in a sentence belongs to? [closed]
What I mean by this is that, given a sentence, could one ever be absolutely certain which lexical class, or part of speech, each word in that sentence belongs to? Each word might be totally unknown, ...
0
votes
1answer
89 views
When is “here” an adverb or a noun?
In the sentence "I hope you are all paying attention, here is a sentence I made earlier", is here an adverb or a noun? I think it is a noun, but if I substitute a noun or a pronoun for here, the ...
5
votes
3answers
163 views
What part of speech does “here” have in “I am here”?
What part of speech does here have in the following sentence?
I am here.
I say that in that sentence, here must be an adverb because:
It modifies the verb am by describing where I am.
Am is a ...
0
votes
2answers
89 views
Part of speech of “clean” in “burn the prophet clean”
Please guide me for the part of speech of clean here in this extract:
He had schooled him in the evils that befall prophets; in those that come from the world, which are trifling, and those that ...
3
votes
3answers
148 views
What part of speech is “methinks”?
Dictionaries call this word a verb, but it doesn't seem to behave like any other verb in the English language. Another question on this site calls it a “conjoined pronoun-verb combination”, which ...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
What part of speech is the “be + verb” here? What tense are these sentences in?
I shall have him be killed.
She is to be stoned for adultery.
What are the constructions be +verb called, grammatically? I feel like the above sentences are very adjectival in nature, more ...
1
vote
2answers
479 views
What part of speech is “only” in this sentence: Fame lights a fuse that leads only to extinguishment
My impulse is that it's modifying the verb leads, and is thus an adverb; yet it seems that a case could also be made that it's exerting power on the phrase to extinguishment, a noun, which would make ...
9
votes
4answers
419 views
What part of speech is “worth”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the lexical class of the word 'worth' when used in a sentence like “Is this apple worth $3?”
In a sentence like the following:
The ...
0
votes
0answers
102 views
What are the possible part of speech combinations for compound nouns?
I am currently working through allowable part of speech combinations for the first two words of an English sentence. It seems troubling to me to allow the first two words of a sentence to both be ...
0
votes
3answers
92 views
Word to describe the quality of being optional or mandatory
Something like 'Optionality' or 'Ordinality'? (It's similar in kind to the words "Arity" and "Cardinality")
Example: "Fred listed the XXXity of each parameter, noting whether it was optional or ...
-3
votes
1answer
76 views
What part of speech is “(noun) the (noun)”? [closed]
What part of speech is the part boldfaced in these sentences?
Chell the protagonist of Portal is a woman.
Ludwig Wittgenstein the Austrian-British philosopher worked primarily in logic.
Tim ...
6
votes
1answer
126 views
Is “postchoice” a well-used word?
I came upon the word postchoice in the following sentence of Time magazine’s (May 28) article titled “The optimism bias,” dealing with the benefits of positive thinking:
According to social ...
-1
votes
1answer
109 views
Interpretation of 'have' as stative or dynamic
Please bear with me. It's been a long time since I looked up grammatical concepts.
The sentence is:
I can quite clearly see the bewildered looks you will be having on your faces on reading this. ...
0
votes
2answers
67 views
Usage of the article 'a' before bait in this particular instance
Is it acceptable to use the article 'a' before 'bait' in this sentence? Is there a difference in meaning here when you use 'a' or drop it?
"You would not have sent it to me for no reason. It was a ...
0
votes
2answers
7k views
“As of late” or “as of lately”?
The title pretty much summarizes my question. For example, in the following sentence
She has developed an accent while living overseas, which as of late(ly) became more pronounced.
I usually ...
2
votes
2answers
54 views
What is/are the part(s) of “out of” in the phrase “move out of the way”?
In the phrase “move out of the way”, what is the part of speech of the word “out”? of the word “of”?
2
votes
2answers
119 views
What are the parts of speech of “at” and “least” in “at least”?
As in “It travels faster than sound at least.”
After considering the alternative at the very least, I'm thinking at is a preposition, and least is — well, stumping me. Can we have it be as normal, a ...
3
votes
3answers
360 views
What part of speech is “chiropractic”?
"Chiropractic" sounds like an adjective because of the "ic", but the title "Doctor of Chiropractic" seems like a noun.
Am I just confused?
3
votes
4answers
253 views
Is “messaging” a noun, a verb, or an adjective?
In the cruel jargon of software, it is common to see the phrase "messaging system", as if "messaging" were an adjective. Yet if I am "brushing" my teeth, it's a verb. There is an act of "brushing", ...
-5
votes
1answer
66 views
“Bongo is screaming”: is “screaming” an adjective? [closed]
If I say, "Bongo is screaming", would screaming be an adjective?
4
votes
3answers
3k views
Is “architect” a verb and a noun?
I hear the word architect used as a verb in the technical field and now more often in other industries and groups, for example:
We need to architect a better solution to the problem.
I am ...
4
votes
4answers
188 views
Adverbial form of “timely”
The following sentence seems incorrect to me, because the adjective timely is being used as an adverb:
Payments not received timely will be returned and additional interest
will be due.
That ...
2
votes
2answers
159 views
What's the part of speech of the noun after 'twice'?
He could earn twice his present salary at the new job.
Twice two is four.
Merriam-Webster says ‘twice’ followed by a noun is an adverb. In this case, is the noun still called a noun or something ...
2
votes
2answers
133 views
Can a “who” act as both a pronoun and a conjunction at the same time?
Example:
I will sue the person who murdered my neighbour.
In the above example, should we treat who as a relative pronoun, a conjunction, or both?
0
votes
4answers
160 views
Is there a term for the phenomenon where the same word forms more than one part of speech?
Is there a term for e.g. the lexical symbol "duck"? It is both a verb and a noun, in contemporary use having no apparent connection, and so would appear to be represent two words.
Then, is the a ...
26
votes
6answers
1k views
What is the lexical class of the word 'worth' when used in a sentence like “Is this apple worth $3?”
The question "Not worth the paper it's printed on" - wrong meaning? got me thinking about what part of speech, or lexical class, the word 'worth' takes?
A comment in "Is it worth ...
8
votes
2answers
719 views
Do all words have a part of speech?
Do all words have a part of speech? The closest counterexample I can think of is yes. The dictionary says its supposed to be an adverb but it doesn't really strike me as something that modifies a ...
1
vote
2answers
151 views
Is “on” part of a verb phrase in “Put Item on Hold?”
For an interface I'm working on, there's a command available to a user called "Put Item On Hold." Or possibly it should be "Put Item on Hold," since the style guide I'm using says that prepositions ...
4
votes
1answer
149 views
Building a phrase structure of “On the weekend …”
I'm reading Foundations of Statistical Natural Language Processing, and I'm doing one of the early exercises, trying to work out some of the language infliction about the word 'fun'.
On the ...
1
vote
1answer
593 views
What part of speech are the words in the phrase “as well as”?
In the sentence:
My car as well as my lap top were stolen last night.
What part of speech are the words in the phrase as well as?
I believe the first as is the preposition of the phrase, that ...
3
votes
2answers
258 views
What is the grammatical function of “never”?
What is the grammatical function of "never" in the following sentence?
You will have to do something you've never done.
Is it an adverb? My father disagrees with this.
In "I have studied" vs. ...
1
vote
1answer
146 views
How to identify adjectives [closed]
I’m revisiting/studying about adjectives in “Adjectives” at Capital Community College Guide to Grammar and Writing. First I learn that articles are adjectives, but then there follows a paragraph in ...
1
vote
1answer
185 views
Postpositions in English and “ago”
I was informed earlier today that the word ago is actually a postposition and the only one of its kind in English. Is this correct? If so, why do dictionaries not use this classification and prefer ...
2
votes
2answers
341 views
Is 'this this' correct?
The ability to echo words and still make a meaningful statement has always bugged me. Take this example sentence:
"Thank you for bringing this issue to my attention. We will take care of this this ...
12
votes
4answers
1k views
Is “so” a pronoun?
Reminded by What is the grammatical function of so in this sentence, something that has always bothered me is that the word "so" can be used as a pronoun:
It looks like rain
Responding with:
...
1
vote
2answers
329 views
What part of speech is 'pooped' in “I am pooped”
I have a wager that 'pooped' in "I am pooped" is not an adjective; however the betting party contends that it is an adjective since "it describes the state of the subject, I".
The other party also ...
6
votes
3answers
330 views
Is this noun used as an adjective?
I read this recently in The Economist:
At the end of the summit, the French and European officials had
claimed a points victory over the Germans by getting them to agree
more firmly to a ...
6
votes
1answer
274 views
Adverb vs. direct object [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What exactly is an “adverb”?
Consider the following sentences:
She went home.
He swam yesterday.
Are the words "home" and "yesterday" adverbs or direct ...
0
votes
3answers
162 views
Grammatical analysis of “feared drowned”
What is the precise meaning of "feared drowned" in http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/6-gitam-students-feared-drowned-rushukonda-326.
I got the intended meaning, but I am confused ...
1
vote
2answers
385 views
Gerund Phrase as Subject
Is it acceptable to use a gerund phrase as the subject of a sentence? More generally, can a gerund phrase be used interchangeably with other nouns? For example:
Understanding history enhances ...
2
votes
1answer
322 views
What are the parts of speech in “he's fifty years old”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Adjective Pluralization
He's a fifty-year-old man.
He's fifty years old.
I'm fine with the first of these two sentences, in which "fifty-year-old" is a ...
0
votes
2answers
5k views
What part of speech is 'there' in this sentence?
What part of speech is there in the sentence "There is a book on the table?"
Also, while typing it out, another question pops up vis-a-vis punctuation. In my complete first sentence above, I ended it ...
1
vote
2answers
311 views
Is “of ” necessary in “all of ”?
Listen to all your fans
vs
Listen to all of your fans
OR
Name all the states
vs
Name all of the states
What part of language is of in these examples? Is it necessary or ...
2
votes
2answers
260 views
'to' / 'rather than' / 'but' [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Which is correct: “prefer X to Y” or “prefer X over Y”?
I prefer walking to taking the bus
I prefer walking rather than taking the bus
...
4
votes
1answer
273 views
Most Common Parses of the English language?
I hope I've got the right forum. I want to know about English specifically, although this is a linguistics question.
A common task in NLP and Computational Linguistics is to generate parse trees for ...
10
votes
1answer
2k views
Yes, no, adverbs, and interjections
There appears to be some disagreement over what function yes and no perform in the following sentences:
Yes, you are right.
No, you are mistaken.
According to ODO (yes, no), they are being used as ...
