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Date: | Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:48:21 -0600 |
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There are many traditional grammarians who argue that a word is defined
in terms of how it functions in a given sentence. So, sure, "stone" is
ordinarily a noun, but in your sentence it functions as an adjective,
and thus I would define it as an adjective. Likewise with "computer."
And, yes, "book" is ordinarily a noun, but in your sentence it functions
as a verb. Likewise with "tabled."
Too, "walk" and "drive" are ordinarily used as nouns, but in your
sentences they function as nouns.
And if you changed your sentence from "on Sunday" to just "Sunday," some
grammarians would say that "Sunday" is usually a noun but that here it
functions as an adverb.
There is one text that says that in the sentence "We went walking"
"walking" is a gerund functioning as an adverb.
I was editing a manuscript recently. The writer said "We read Faulkner's
work and learned that he..." I told him that although everybody knows
that "he" refers to Faulkner, the sentence needs to be rewritten, for
the pronoun "he" needs an expressed antecedent. It cannot refer to
"Faulkner's," for "Faulkner's" is an adjective, not a noun.
I have no idea about the development of the word "building."
Fun discussion,
Gerald
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