by Eric Schiller (linguist@chessworks.com)
Latest Version: Tuesday, March 05, 2002
When teachers try to shove their "parts-of-speech" into your brain, what can you do? Try fighting back with some of these questions and comments! But first, try to figure out how you would answer them?
1. I’m told that questions begin with a question word. They do? They begin with what?
2. If words behave according to what they mean, then why is seem a verb, probably an adverb and likely an adjective (a likely winner) And aren’t words that have an –ly suffix supposed to be adverbs?
3. Is
ending a sentence with a preposition something up with which you will not put?
Something with which you up will not put?
Something with which you will not up put?
4. What
is the part-of-speech of such in He’s such a good quarterback?
If you get an answer, try asking about so in so good a dancer.
Then ask what good is doing before a.
5. How come in That is too hard a question the adjective comes before the word a, and what is the part-of-speech of too? Why can’t you say That is hard a question?
6. Isn’t it weird, “I” before “e” except after c?
7. Are
color words nouns or adjectives?
If they answer noun, ask why you can say slightly red because adverbs
don’t go with nouns?
And why can you say too red but not too house?
And why can you add –er to make redder, but not houser?
If they say adjective, then why can’t you say redly? )
8. If you can whiten, blacken, or redden something why can’t you bluen, yellowen or purplen it?
9. What
part-of-speech is a number? (If they say adjective, ask why you can add –s to
make a plural (they arrived in twos and threes).
And why can’t you make adverbs (twoly, threely?). If they say
noun, ask why you can’t replace them with pronouns (it, they).
Two of them left ok but not They of them?)
10.
What’s up with half? Why do we say Half a loaf is better than
none?
Or is it half of a loaf? We can’t say Third a loaf is better than none.
Or third of a loaf. We have to say a third of a loaf.
Is a half dozen eggs exactly the same as a half of a dozen eggs?
And how come no two halves a loaf, only two halves of a loaf?
And don’t even get me started on the spelling …