Parts of Speech
Hi! Is twenty-minute an adjective? Is forty-three thousand an adjective? Is about an adverb? Thanks Fulvio
1. There was a twenty-minute delay.
2. There are about forty-three thousand koalas in Australia.
Top answer
I'd say that "twenty-minute" is best treated as a compound adjective modifying "delay". Note the singular noun "minute", which rules it out as a nominal. "Forty-three thousand" is a determinative phrase : it determines "koalas".
- I'd say that "twenty-minute" is best treated as a compound adjective modifying "delay".
- Note the singular noun "minute", which rules it out as a nominal.
- "Forty-three thousand" is a determinative phrase : it determines "koalas".
- It's no different to the simpler "I saw two koalas " / " Twenty-four students sat the examination".
- "About" is an adverb modifying "forty-three thousand", so the determinative phrase in full is "about forty-three thousand".
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I'd say that "twenty-minute" is best treated as a compound adjective modifying "delay". Note the singular noun "minute", which rules it out as a nominal.
"Forty-three thousand" is a determinative phrase: it determines "koalas". It's no different to the simpler "I saw two koalas" / "Twenty-four students sat the examination".
"About" is an adverb mo
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