The word about

Question

Hi Everyone,Could someone please tell me what function the word - about - is playing in the following sentence please?'The winter sniffles are about.'ThanksCC

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

According to Random House Unabridged Dictionary, it's an adjective. Personally, I find that classification quite strange, but then, I couldn't care less what function a word has in a sentence.

–adj.
20. moving around; astir: He was up and about while the rest of us still slept.
21. in existence; current; prevalent: Chicken pox is about.

CB

Cup cake · Answer

Thanks Cool Breeze.

I totally agree that it's strange.
What is it describing?

I asked because another teacher brought it up today, and so we were discussing it.
She showed me this sentence and told me it was indeed, an adjective.

I can't see it....

How?

Yes, I know it's irrelevant, but not when students want to know.
I absolutely can't stand NOT being able to answer a student's question.
It's not fair to the student...'me thinks'...

Cool Breeze · Answer

Cup cakeWhat is it describing?

Don't ask me! Ask those who think it's an adjective.

CB

Cup cake · Answer

O M G....the penny has just dropped!

Replace the word - about - for another adjective.

' The winter sniffles are present.'

Vwalla!

Yes, I can now see it's an adjective.

The present sniffles | about sniffles.

At least I hope I'm right here.

Anonymous · Answer

Cool BreezeChicken pox is about.

Really, is "about" an adjective here? If so, then "about" is an adjectival complement of the subject "Chicken pox" in Chicken pox is about. Does "about chicken pox" make sense?

Cup cake · Answer

You know what I think?

We can make any part of English suit (as in verb, not noun).

.....

almost.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousReally, is "about" an adjective here?

According to the dictionary quotation, yes, but not according to Cool Breeze himself.

AnonymousIf so, then "about" is an adjectival complement of the subject "Chicken pox" in Chicken pox is about.

Correct.

AnonymousDoes "about chicken pox" make sense?

No, but some adjectives cannot be used attributively, and "about" is (supposedly) one of them, so whether this makes sense is not conclusive proof of anything.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

A lot of confusion arises from the fact that be has so many meanings (or "uses" if you want to call them that).

Clark Kent is Superman. (identity; equality)
A dog is an animal. (is an instance of)
These roses are red. (have a quality)
The mouse is under the table. (occupies a certain place)

For my money, if it's the "occupies a place" form, we're talking "adverb", whatever the dictionaries say.

I am here. I am not identical to "here"; I am not an instance of "here", I do not have a quality called "here"; I do, however, occupy a place called "here". Adverb.

Likewise for ... is about.

CJ

Cool Breeze · Answer

Cup cakeI asked because another teacher brought it up today, and so we were discussing it.She showed me this sentence and told me it was indeed, an adjective.

I don't know in what country you teach, Cup cake, but "problems" like this may be due to the fact that grammatical terminology varies to some extent from country to country. In addition to that, terminology varies from grammarian to grammarian even in just one country. I remember reading a grammar book written by a native speaker of English in which relative pronouns were called something else.

In my native Finnish, a pronoun doesn't necessarily replace a noun, and I think this is true about Turkish as well. We used to have a Turkish member called Doll, and she often used some grammar terms the way I use them. It is more than likely that some other European languages resemble Finnish and Turkish in this respect.

It wasn't until I joined English Forums that I realised how broad-minded the professors and lecturers at Helsinki University had been when I studied English Philology there. The two professors were Finns but nearly all the lecturers were Britons or Americans. No doubt they must have been aware of the differences in grammar terms, but they never insisted that a certain term be used because it was "correct". In fact, little attention was paid to such terminology. Instead, we concentrated on the development of English, correct usage, English and American literature and in some measure even British institutions.

The education I received was quite scholarly. It was impossible to major in English without passing an exam in Latin and French, for example. That was because English has borrowed so much from those languages. After all, the French ruled England for about 300 years. English was spoken in Parliament for the first time in 1362. Up to that year French was the language of Parliament and the upper social classes.

A lot was borrowed from Scandinavia during the Viking years (c. 800-1000), but they didn't require the students to take an exam in Swedish at the university. I assume that was because all students had had to take a nationwide exam in Swedish when they graduated from secondary school and thus had a working knowledge of Swedish anyway. About five percent of Finns speak Swedish as their native language.

CB

Cup cake · Answer

Thank you for your thoughts on this Cool Breeze. I totally agree that there are way too many variables to ever suggest that any 'one way' is correct. It's all about cultural habit.

If I got $1 for every time I've had a student 'recite' how THEY say a particular word or phrase in 'their' language, I'd be rich. Well...sort of.

I personally think that many of the rules in English are 'over engineered' and do not add value to one's ability to 'be understood', or 'to understand'.

The word about

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