在线英语听力室

VOA名师答疑2022--Verbing Nouns

时间:2023-01-05 01:15:12

搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。

(单词翻译)

Verbing Nouns2

Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about if nouns can become verbs.

Question:

Hello there!

Can any nouns be a verb?

For example:

When it's hot, I fan my mom.

When it's raining, I umbrella her.

Thank you,

Johnny

Answer

Thanks for writing us, Johnny. This is a great question.

The answer may surprise you.

Yes, any noun1 can be made into a verb in English. It is one of the most interesting things about English. The process is called "verbing" or making a verb from a noun.

Let's review your two examples:

"To fan" something or someone is an accepted verb, which means that many people use it, and you can find it in the dictionary. This verb means to cool by using a device4, a like fan, to create air.

So, you can totally fan your mom.

You can also "fan" the flames of a fire to make it stronger.

But just because a noun can be made into a verb, does not mean that it always works5 or is accepted into the language.

We do not yet have "to umbrella" as a verb in our language. But who knows, if you keep using it enough, you might just "verb" it!

Verbing is very common

We often see "verbing" on the internet, especially on social media. For example, the noun "friend" is now commonly used as a verb.

She friended me on Facebook yesterday.

We also "google" to find information. And since more people study and work from home during the pandemic, we now "zoom6" or "skype" each other.

But this process of creating verbs from nouns is not new. We have been verbing for centuries!

Some common nouns turning into verbs include "pencil, table, butter, and voice. For example,

I will pencil you in for next Friday!

"To pencil" means to set up a meeting or add someone to a list by writing their name down.

Since we are running out of time, let's table this discussion7 for next week's meeting.

"To table" something is to delay the discussion until a future time.

I butter my bread every morning.

"To butter" means to apply butter to bread.

And lastly, "to voice" has two meanings. The first is to tell someone your thoughts, feelings, or opinions about something.

She voiced her opposition8 to the new community plan.

The second meaning of voice is to make sounds with your voice, like speaking. For example,

At Learning9 English, we always voice our stories after we write them.

If you are interested in learning how words are created and accepted into the language, there is an interesting TED3 Talk by Erin McKean, who writes dictionaries.

Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you!

What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at [email protected]

And that's Ask a Teacher.

Words in This Story

fan — n or v. a machine or device that is used to move the air and make people or things cooler; to cool using a machine or device to move air around

umbrella — n. a device that is used for protection from the rain and sun

butter — n. a solid yellow substance made from milk or cream that is spread on food or used in cooking

flame — n. the visible part of a fire


分享到:


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 noun JHux3     
n.名词
参考例句:
  • What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词?
  • This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。
2 nouns 8412c0b251e0c60f78bfaf0a44ac3206     
n.名词;名词( noun的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • French differs from English in having gender for all nouns. 法语不同于英语,所有的名词都有性。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Nouns join to form compounds. 名词和名词结合构成复合词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 ted 9gazhs     
vt.翻晒,撒,撒开
参考例句:
  • The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
  • She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。
4 device Bv8x6     
n.器械,装置;计划,策略,诡计
参考例句:
  • The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
  • The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。
5 works ieuzIh     
n.作品,著作;工厂,活动部件,机件
参考例句:
  • We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
  • The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。
6 zoom VenzWT     
n.急速上升;v.突然扩大,急速上升
参考例句:
  • The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
  • I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近,昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。
7 discussion 2PBzj     
n.讨论,谈论;论述
参考例句:
  • It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
  • After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨,和平协议渐渐有了眉目。
8 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
9 learning wpSzFe     
n.学问,学识,学习;动词learn的现在分词
参考例句:
  • When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时,常会从车上掉下来。
  • Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。