Verbing Nouns
2022-11-19
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1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about if nouns can become verbs.
2Hello there!
3Can any nouns be a verb?
4For example:
5When it's hot, I fan my mom.
6When it's raining, I umbrella her.
7Thank you,
8Johnny
9Thanks for writing us, Johnny. This is a great question.
10The answer may surprise you.
11Yes, any noun can be made into a verb in English.
12It is one of the most interesting things about English.
13The process is called "verbing" or making a verb from a noun.
14Let'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.
16This verb means to cool by using a device, a like fan, to create air.
17So, you can totally fan your mom.
18You can also "fan" the flames of a fire to make it stronger.
19But just because a noun can be made into a verb, does not mean that it always works or is accepted into the language.
20We do not yet have "to umbrella" as a verb in our language.
21But who knows, if you keep using it enough, you might just "verb" it!
22We often see "verbing" on the internet, especially on social media.
23For example, the noun "friend" is now commonly used as a verb.
24She friended me on Facebook yesterday.
25We also "google" to find information.
26And since more people study and work from home during the pandemic, we now "zoom" or "skype" each other.
27But this process of creating verbs from nouns is not new.
28We have been verbing for centuries!
29Some common nouns turning into verbs include "pencil, table, butter, and voice. For example,
30I 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.
32Since 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.
34I butter my bread every morning.
35"To butter" means to apply butter to bread.
36And lastly, "to voice" has two meanings.
37The first is to tell someone your thoughts, feelings, or opinions about something.
38She voiced her opposition to the new community plan.
39The second meaning of voice is to make sounds with your voice, like speaking. For example,
40At Learning English, we always voice our stories after we write them.
41If 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.
42Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you!
43What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com
44And that's Ask a Teacher.
45I'm Faith Pirlo.
1Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we will answer a question about if nouns can become verbs. 2Question: 3Hello there! 4Can any nouns be a verb? 5For example: 6When it's hot, I fan my mom. 7When it's raining, I umbrella her. 8Thank you, 9Johnny 10Answer 11Thanks for writing us, Johnny. This is a great question. 12The answer may surprise you. 13Yes, 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. 14Let'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. 16So, you can totally fan your mom. 17You can also "fan" the flames of a fire to make it stronger. 18But just because a noun can be made into a verb, does not mean that it always works or is accepted into the language. 19We 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! 20Verbing is very common 21We often see "verbing" on the internet, especially on social media. For example, the noun "friend" is now commonly used as a verb. 22She friended me on Facebook yesterday. 23We also "google" to find information. And since more people study and work from home during the pandemic, we now "zoom" or "skype" each other. 24But this process of creating verbs from nouns is not new. We have been verbing for centuries! 25Some common nouns turning into verbs include "pencil, table, butter, and voice. For example, 26I 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. 28Since 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. 30I butter my bread every morning. 31"To butter" means to apply butter to bread. 32And lastly, "to voice" has two meanings. The first is to tell someone your thoughts, feelings, or opinions about something. 33She voiced her opposition to the new community plan. 34The second meaning of voice is to make sounds with your voice, like speaking. For example, 35At Learning English, we always voice our stories after we write them. 36If 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. 37Please let us know if these explanations and examples have helped you! 38What question do you have about American English? Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com 39And that's Ask a Teacher. 40I'm Faith Pirlo. 41Faith Pirlo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 42_____________________________________________________________ 43Words in This Story 44fan - 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 45umbrella - n. a device that is used for protection from the rain and sun 46butter - n. a solid yellow substance made from milk or cream that is spread on food or used in cooking 47flame - n. the visible part of a fire 48_____________________________________________________________ 49Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 50Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.