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Bmojtaba Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Participle

i.e 'Defiant:openly resisting,totally refusing to do what sb tell u to do'

Above sentence is a definition in dictionary ,can we say resist or refuse instead of resisting& refusing???

is there any difference if i use simple present instead of present participle in above sentence???
  

Top answer

The definitions in the dictionary are generally stated with the same part of speech as the word being defined. defiant is an adjective, so its definitions will be adjectival: resisting, refusing . Suppose that the word was defy , a verb.

— CalifJim

  • The definitions in the dictionary are generally stated with the same part of speech as the word being defined.
  • defiant is an adjective, so its definitions will be adjectival: resisting, refusing .
  • Suppose that the word was defy , a verb.
  • Then the definitions would be in terms of verbs: resist, refuse .
  • CJ
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3 Answers
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The definitions in the dictionary are generally stated with the same part of speech as the word being defined.

defiant is an adjective, so its definitions will be adjectival: resisting, refusing.

Suppose that the word was defy, a verb. Then the definitions would be in terms of verbs: resist, refuse.

CJ
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Is it possible to say that refusing is a verb? cuz present participle is a form of a verb that function as adjective here...
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bmojtabaIs it possible to say that refusing is a verb?
It depends on how it's used. It could be a verb or not. In the definition you quoted it's not a verb.

CJ
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