Verb or Noun

Question

In this sentence, "She has such an amazing gift," is gift a verb or noun?

I am certain that "gift" is a noun, but my teacher said that it was a verb.
I e-mailed the question to her, but her reply insisted that it was a verb.

This is her reply: "That's because it was a VERB. The sentence went with the one before it, which was referring to Danielle's ability to recollect information from memory. It's something she does, which means it is not a noun but in fact a verb."

Sentences are seperate from eachother, correct? How can one tell the noun or verb of one sentence by looking at another sentence.

Please help and thank you for any advice.

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

AnonymousIn this sentence, "She has such an amazing gift," is gift a verb or noun?

"Gift" is most certainly a noun in that sentence! It has an article (an) and an adjective (amazing) modifying it. I'm at a loss as to how anyone would think it was anything OTHER than a noun. In this sentence, the verb is "has." It doesn't matter what came before it. It plays the role of a noun in this sentence.

In fact, "gift" as a verb is not very common. (She gifted us with an antique tea set? Sounds very unnatural, though the dictionary lists is as a definition.)

Just look up the definition for the word "gift" as a noun in the dictionary: a notable capacity, talent, or endowment. That's exactly what we're describing.

I wonder what your teacher would make of "Swimming is my favorite form of exercise." What is the subject of that sentence? Surely she will agree that subjects must be nouns?

CalifJim · Answer

It's not a verb. It's a noun. As your teacher said, it's a reference to an ability. It's a skill, a talent, an ability, a gift.

a and an, as in an amazing gift, are used in English only with nouns.

Nevertheless, gift, being derived from the verb give, is a "deverbal" noun, but I highly doubt that your teacher was dealing in such arcane subtleties.

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Anon:
You can tell if a word is a verb or a noun by looking at the sentence it is in. In English, some words can be verbs or nouns depending on how they are used.

For example:

I wash my hands before lunch. - wash is definitely a verb!
I hung out the wash. - wash is definitely a noun!

In your sentence, "gift" is the direct object of the verb "has". A direct object is a noun, not a verb.

Yankee · Answer

AnonymousIn this sentence, "She has such an amazing gift," is gift a verb or noun?

I am certain that "gift" is a noun, but my teacher said that it was a verb.

I agree with GG and CalifJim and AlpheccaStars. The word "gift" is clearly a noun in your sentence.

EDIT:

@A

s

It seems it is the poster's teacher who doesn't know what a noun is -- not the poster.

(I don't know about you, but I'm flabbergasted.)

AlpheccaStars · Answer

YankeeIt seems it is the poster's teacher who doesn't know what a noun is -- not the poster.
(I don't know about you, but I'm flabbergasted.)

I hope the poster will print out our very long thread of responses to show the teacher and support his completely correct analysis.

I'm beyond the state of flabbergast. I was once flabbergasted when I assisted in a GED preparatory class. The teacher was incapable of adding fractions, and didn't understand decimals, either.
I suppose I am just jaded now. Is flabbergast any shade of green?

CalifJim · Answer

Chartreuse.<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/36.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/36.gif' alt='Emotion: ick!'/>

Avangi · Answer

What's a deverball?<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/37.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/37.gif' alt='Emotion: thinking'/>

CalifJim · Answer

AvangiWhat's a deverball?

A deverball?
Well, a baseball is used to play baseball, so a deverball is used to play deverball. You knew that!!!

Kidding aside, I thought I said what a deverbal noun was earlier in the thread. It's a noun derived from a verb.

arrive > arrival
grow > growth
punish > punishment

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

And there is also a verbification = a verb made from a noun.

But, I know of no other parts-of-speechifications.

Yankee · Answer

The business world seems especially fond of verbs derived from nouns. What are those called, Jim?
Denounals?

I know "jargonize" already exists. What about "buzzwordify"? Anybody heard that yet? [A]

EDIT:
A

s, I see we've both been searching for the perfect partner for those deverbals. I'd also considered "http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/denominal", but rejected that as sounding too nameless.

Verb or Noun

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