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Ali.h Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
'He is an assailant.'
'He is an assailant.'
In the above sentence is assailant a noun or an adjective and why
In the above sentence is assailant a noun or an adjective and why
Top answer
' In the above sentence is assailant a noun or an adjective and why It's a noun. You can tell, because it is preceded by an article. In addition, the dictionary lists 'assailant' as a noun, but not as an adjective.
- ' In the above sentence is assailant a noun or an adjective and why It's a noun.
- You can tell, because it is preceded by an article.
- In addition, the dictionary lists 'assailant' as a noun, but not as an adjective.
- Clive
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4 Answers
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Hi,
'He is an assailant.'
In the above sentence is assailant a noun or an adjective and why
It's a noun. You can tell, because it is preceded by an article.
In addition, the dictionary lists 'assailant' as a noun, but not as an adjective.
Clive
'He is an assailant.'
In the above sentence is assailant a noun or an adjective and why
It's a noun. You can tell, because it is preceded by an article.
In addition, the dictionary lists 'assailant' as a noun, but not as an adjective.
Clive
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So if an article is indicative of its succeeding word being a noun, then what about the following sentence:
He is a big black man.
Is 'big' here a noun becuase its being preceded by the article 'a'? And what about 'black'?
He is a big black man.
Is 'big' here a noun becuase its being preceded by the article 'a'? And what about 'black'?
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Hi,
As Clive has suggested, a preceding article, by rule of thumb, is a good hint that a noun is adjacent. However, the very next word adjacent to the article isn't necessary a noun; just as your example a big "black man". Here, black describes the man and therefore "black man" is a modifed noun, just a "a long vacation" and a "delicious meal". Does this answer your question?
As Clive has suggested, a preceding article, by rule of thumb, is a good hint that a noun is adjacent. However, the very next word adjacent to the article isn't necessary a noun; just as your example a big "black man". Here, black describes the man and therefore "black man" is a modifed noun, just a "a long vacation" and a "delicious meal". Does this answer your question?
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Ali.hSo if an article is indicative of its succeeding word being a noun, then what about the following sentence:This is different. In the first case there was only one word after the article an, so that word (assailant) had to be a noun. In this case you have three words that form a group, so the l
He is a big black man.
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