Question:
I am studying the phenomena that imports the extraordinary convention
of making nouns into verbs by lazy grammar. It has become quite
prevalent in legalease and, unfortunately, even in our education
process. *We seem to be losing the entire reason for expressing
ourselves.* Take what I just wrote, as an example. The sentence is lazy
grammar, that I admit. My question is, though, what makes a noun a
noun? I have heard that a noun signifies a fact, and a verb signifies
only fiction. Is this true? If true, then what would be the proper way
to structure the sentence I have bolded above? If not true, then what
makes a verb a fact?
Answer:
It is not "lazy grammar" but linguistic innovation that many have labled
barbaric. It actually fights verbosity by eliminating some required words in
sentences like "What kind of impact will the Microsoft ruling have on most PC
users with Windows?" [15 words] ===> "How will the Microsoft ruling impact most
PC users with Windows?" [11 words].
It doesn't seem to be an example of "lazy grammar" to me, merely an example of a
sentence totally out of context, which renders it meaningless in your post. It
is not an example of turning a noun into a verb, however, which is where your
post beganThe words "fact" and "fiction" are not at all related to what makes nouns nouns
and verbs verbs. Nouns are usually names of people, places, or things. They are
are to function as the subject or object of a sentence or verb. Nouns like
"Rome," e.g., are not facts.
Verbs are so-called "action words." They connote some sort of "doing" (dynamic
verbs that are action words) or "being" (static verbs, e.g., to BE, which
describe a state a being rather than an action).
This is a simplified explanation, of course, but if you are truly studying the
phenomenon of nouns that become verbs, based on what you have said in this post,
you probably ought to begin by looking at a very basic grammar of English, one
that concisely defines the nature and function of each of the parts of speech of
English. Almost any basic grammar will do.
To answer the question in your subject line, though: A noun is a verb when it is
used as and functions as a verb
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