Verbing Nouns

2022-11-19

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1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about if nouns can become verbs.
  • 2
  • Hello there!
  • 3
  • Can any nouns be a verb?
  • 4
  • For example:
  • 5
  • When it's hot, I fan my mom.
  • 6
  • When it's raining, I umbrella her.
  • 7
  • Thank you,
  • 8
  • Johnny
  • 9
  • Thanks for writing us, Johnny. This is a great question.
  • 10
  • The answer may surprise you.
  • 11
  • Yes, any noun can be made into a verb in English.
  • 12
  • It is one of the most interesting things about English.
  • 13
  • The process is called "verbing" or making a verb from a noun.
  • 14
  • Let's review your two examples:
  • 15
  • "To fan" something or someone is an accepted verb, which means that many people use it, and you can find it in the dictionary.
  • 16
  • This verb means to cool by using a device, a like fan, to create air.
  • 17
  • So, you can totally fan your mom.
  • 18
  • You can also "fan" the flames of a fire to make it stronger.
  • 19
  • But just because a noun can be made into a verb, does not mean that it always works or is accepted into the language.
  • 20
  • We do not yet have "to umbrella" as a verb in our language.
  • 21
  • But who knows, if you keep using it enough, you might just "verb" it!
  • 22
  • We often see "verbing" on the internet, especially on social media.
  • 23
  • For example, the noun "friend" is now commonly used as a verb.
  • 24
  • She friended me on Facebook yesterday.
  • 25
  • We also "google" to find information.
  • 26
  • And since more people study and work from home during the pandemic, we now "zoom" or "skype" each other.
  • 27
  • But this process of creating verbs from nouns is not new.
  • 28
  • We have been verbing for centuries!
  • 29
  • Some common nouns turning into verbs include "pencil, table, butter, and voice. For example,
  • 30
  • I will pencil you in for next Friday!
  • 31
  • "To pencil" means to set up a meeting or add someone to a list by writing their name down.
  • 32
  • Since we are running out of time, let's table this discussion for next week's meeting.
  • 33
  • "To table" something is to delay the discussion until a future time.
  • 34
  • I butter my bread every morning.
  • 35
  • "To butter" means to apply butter to bread.
  • 36
  • And lastly, "to voice" has two meanings.
  • 37
  • The first is to tell someone your thoughts, feelings, or opinions about something.
  • 38
  • She voiced her opposition to the new community plan.
  • 39
  • The second meaning of voice is to make sounds with your voice, like speaking. For example,
  • 40
  • At Learning English, we always voice our stories after we write them.
  • 41
  • If you are interested in learning how words are created and accepted into the language, there is an interesting TED Talk by Erin McKean, who writes dictionaries.
  • 42
  • Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you!
  • 43
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
  • 44
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
  • 45
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.
  • 1
  • Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about if nouns can become verbs.
  • 2
  • Question:
  • 3
  • Hello there!
  • 4
  • Can any nouns be a verb?
  • 5
  • For example:
  • 6
  • When it's hot, I fan my mom.
  • 7
  • When it's raining, I umbrella her.
  • 8
  • Thank you,
  • 9
  • Johnny
  • 10
  • Answer
  • 11
  • Thanks for writing us, Johnny. This is a great question.
  • 12
  • The answer may surprise you.
  • 13
  • Yes, any noun 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.
  • 14
  • Let's review your two examples:
  • 15
  • "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 device, a like fan, to create air.
  • 16
  • So, you can totally fan your mom.
  • 17
  • You can also "fan" the flames of a fire to make it stronger.
  • 18
  • But just because a noun can be made into a verb, does not mean that it always works or is accepted into the language.
  • 19
  • 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!
  • 20
  • Verbing is very common
  • 21
  • We often see "verbing" on the internet, especially on social media. For example, the noun "friend" is now commonly used as a verb.
  • 22
  • She friended me on Facebook yesterday.
  • 23
  • We also "google" to find information. And since more people study and work from home during the pandemic, we now "zoom" or "skype" each other.
  • 24
  • But this process of creating verbs from nouns is not new. We have been verbing for centuries!
  • 25
  • Some common nouns turning into verbs include "pencil, table, butter, and voice. For example,
  • 26
  • I will pencil you in for next Friday!
  • 27
  • "To pencil" means to set up a meeting or add someone to a list by writing their name down.
  • 28
  • Since we are running out of time, let's table this discussion for next week's meeting.
  • 29
  • "To table" something is to delay the discussion until a future time.
  • 30
  • I butter my bread every morning.
  • 31
  • "To butter" means to apply butter to bread.
  • 32
  • And lastly, "to voice" has two meanings. The first is to tell someone your thoughts, feelings, or opinions about something.
  • 33
  • She voiced her opposition to the new community plan.
  • 34
  • The second meaning of voice is to make sounds with your voice, like speaking. For example,
  • 35
  • At Learning English, we always voice our stories after we write them.
  • 36
  • If you are interested in learning how words are created and accepted into the language, there is an interesting TED Talk by Erin McKean, who writes dictionaries.
  • 37
  • Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you!
  • 38
  • What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
  • 39
  • And that's Ask a Teacher.
  • 40
  • I'm Faith Pirlo.
  • 41
  • Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.
  • 42
  • _____________________________________________________________
  • 43
  • Words in This Story
  • 44
  • 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
  • 45
  • umbrella - n. a device that is used for protection from the rain and sun
  • 46
  • butter - n. a solid yellow substance made from milk or cream that is spread on food or used in cooking​
  • 47
  • flame - n. the visible part of a fire
  • 48
  • _____________________________________________________________
  • 49
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  • 50
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