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Joined: Apr 2006
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Beat Reporter
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OP
Beat Reporter
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 351 |
ok... I know there is a technical term when nouns are used as verbs...
the example I gave in the WHERE Do Babies come from thread...
where I work as a Nanny (noun) Part time
and Nick (not real name) is a boy that I Nanny (being more formal an arrangement than babysit)
I do know of other examples, but am looking for the grammatical term ...
it also happens when verbs are reworked into nouns:
such as giving love...
brush (to brush or a brush, but im not sure about this)
the experiment/ to experiment...
does anyone know the technical term
You can't have MANSLAUGHTER without LAUGHTER
The Neuroscientist: Eating glass makes you smart...do you want to see what you can learn?
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 3,644 |
Um, gerunds?
Got a vague idea that's it, but I wouldn't bet on it.
PJ
"You told me you weren't like other men," she said, shaking her head at him when the storm of laughter had passed.
He grinned at her - a goofy, Clark Kent kind of a grin. "I have a gift for understatement."
"You can say that again," she told him.
"I have a...."
"Oh, shut up."
--Stardust, Caroline K
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Posts: 184
Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 184 |
Gerunds are verbs used as nouns, like: Flying is my favourite pastime. I don't know what the term for nouns used as verbs, if there is one. I'm pretty sure a signed up member of the grammar patrol will be along soon to fill in the bits I don't know  Helga
Knowledge is knowing that tomatoes are a fruit.
Intelligence is not putting them in a fruit salad.
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Kerth
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Kerth
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 2,292 |
I know we have talked about it in linguistics. This is what I can recall right now:
There are nouns and verbs that look exactly alike. For example:
brush (noun) / to brush
wish / to wish
surprise / to surprise...
In some cases, the original word was the noun, in others it was the verb. Which one can be determined (in most cases), but I don't remember exactly how. What I do remember is that it had to do with stress patterns.
I can't recall any name these words might have. In fact, I believe that they don't have a separate name.
The only known quantity that moves faster than
light is the office grapevine. (from Nan's fabulous Home series)
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Pulitzer
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Pulitzer
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 3,166 |
I'm pretty sure a signed up member of the grammar patrol Haha... Well, I consider myself a member of the 'grammar patrol' (ask some of the folks I've done beta for), but I'm absolutely clueless.
~~Even heroes have the right to dream.~~
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 351
Beat Reporter
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OP
Beat Reporter
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 351 |
thaks grammer kings...
that word (Gerund) slipped my mind
You can't have MANSLAUGHTER without LAUGHTER
The Neuroscientist: Eating glass makes you smart...do you want to see what you can learn?
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,437
Top Banana
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Top Banana
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,437 |
A gerund in a verb used as a noun.
I don't think a noun used as a verb really has a special name though.
In fact, "nanny" could be the noun, and "to nanny" is probably the verb. Either that or, "to babysit," "to watch," or "to be the nanny of."
"You take turns, advise and protect one another, even heal or be healed when the going gets too tough. I know! That's not a game--that's friendship!" ~Shelly Mezzanoble, Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to the Dungeons & Dragons Game Darcy\'s Place
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 217 |
In some circles it's called anthimeria -- substitution of one part of speech for another (such as a noun used as a verb).
Another example is "The group of teenagers fellowshipped after their meeting.
And of course there's the ever-popular "Google," which has not only been turned into a verb, but has been genericized as well to become a descriptor of an entire sector. It's rather like Kleenex being used to describe all facial tissue or Band-Aid being used to describe all of those little flesh-colored bandages.
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 253 |
I think Marilyn has answered the question, but I'll clear up some other things.A gerund is, indeed, a verb used as a noun, but it must always end in "ing": "I enjoy running." An infinitive is also a verb form used as a noun and is usually, but not always, preceded by the word "to": "To run or walk, that is the question." In the latter case, walk is an infinitive without the "to". A participle is also a verb form used as an adjective: "Run down by a DUI, she was seriously injured." The participle is often used incorrectly and "dangled": "Run down by a DUI, an ambulance took her to the hospital." As a group, verbs that are used as nouns are called verbals. And that's the end of that lesson. 
"Simplify. Simplify."
Henry David Thoreau
"To see what is in front of one's nose is a constant struggle."
George Orwell
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