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Ask for help > Seems little but poses a big problem
Seems little but poses a big problem
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brahmam
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Seems little but poses a big problem
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I wonder how I can make myself clear to my students. They often approach me asking whether articles can be identified as adjectives. While answering �identify the parts of speech of the words underlined�, they always have this problem. T told them that they are parts of speech. Look at the following:
Take a pill a day. (a=used as preposition with the sense of �per�
I saw an elephant then. (an - is it a modifier or an adjective)
Most grammarians don�t include these articles a, an, the in parts of speech.
Then, if these words are underlined, what should my students do?
Can someone help with this issue?
I shall be grateful to you if you can help me understand the following words:
lawless unlawful illegal illegitimate illicit
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7 Oct 2008
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Damielle
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as far as I know, a/an are premodifiers or determiners. They are not adjectives |
7 Oct 2008
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Vickiii
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This is a hairy one!
Have you seen an elephant before? I went to Africa, I saw an elephant then. (an = one therefore this is an adjective that modifies the meaning of the noun). I thought all modifiers were some form of adjective or adverb.
Happy to be corrected on this by the way.
My understanding - without looking at a dictionary - so basically how I would use these in everday speech.
Lawless - A person who does not care about the law - but has not necessarily been caught yet.
Unlawful - An act that is illegal.
illegal - Against the law.
illegitmate - Something that is not legitimate. Illegitimate child is one born out of wedlock. illegitimate document is a forgery.
illicit - A product or act that is not legal. An illicit act might be selling drugs or prostitution - An illicit product would be the drugs. Also used in a weaker form when someone is doing something naughty but not necessarily against the law - is used to create intrigue in story telling.
Hope this helps. |
7 Oct 2008
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Zora
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In the sentence "I saw an elephant" an is used as an article. Articles are "a, an, the." And no, articles can�t be used as adjectives since an adjective describes the noun in some way or form...
Lawless - would mean without "laws" or a place that is in total chaos from lack of proper police control. i.e. The Wild West was lawless.
Unlawful - is similar to illegal.
Illegal - Not legal. The arms trade bring in illegal weapons. Meaning the weapons are not allowed in the country for whatever reason...
Illegitimate - pertains to mainly an heir or family member. He was the illegitimate son of Mr. Wells.
Illicit - something usually understood as unlawful because it is immoral or unethical.
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7 Oct 2008
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brahmam
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Thank you very much for your explanation, Vickii. Nice of you!
I think it�s all about the context we use these words like, illegal, etc.
I have seen this somewhere and I am not sure whether it is correct or not.
It is impossible to go through these illegitimate roads.
How can we understand the word �illegitimate� in the above sentence?
We also say �illicit affair� �illicit drugs� �illegal possession of drugs/arms�
Dear Damielle, These articles can be used as adjectives, I suppose. Thanks for your reply. Let us see what others come up with.
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7 Oct 2008
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brahmam
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Hello, Zora,
Thank you for your reply. You say that unlawful is similar to illegal. But, look at the following sentence.
It is ............................ to drive a car without a license. (unlawful, illegal, illegitimate)
Which one would you choose, certainly not two of them.
When the students take exams, they can�t choose easily unless of course there are some clear guidelines as to when to use each word. Please go a bit deeper into the topic and help me. Thank you again.
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7 Oct 2008
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Zora
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Okay, I had to look up "illegitimate" since that sentence looks strange to me and incorrect BUT the dictionary gave me this definition: - not sanctioned by law : illegal b: not authorized by good usage of a taxon : published but not in accordance with the rules of the relevant international code. So... it would mean the road was put there by somebody privately without the proper authorization.
And let�s see...
It is ............................ to drive a car without a license. (unlawful, illegal, illegitimate)
The correct answer is illegal - unlawful - although the dictionary says it�s a synonym (sp?) I think is closer in meaning to illicit at times. Meaning that it would be socially unacceptable to drive a car if used in the above sentence, which would not really make sense. And illegitimate would be wrong too.
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7 Oct 2008
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Tere-arg
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It is ............................ to drive a car without a license. (unlawful, illegal, illegitimate)
I understand the right word is illegal = against the (written) law. When you go against the law you become into a criminal (whatever you do)
Unlawful (as far as I know) means against the law but in a weaker sense
To rob is illegal whereas to cross the street when the the sign says you should not is unlawful.
Illegitimate means something wrong, not valid because it does not stick to what law says.
Of course, that is the way I see it.
Have a good time!
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7 Oct 2008
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goodnesses
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Hi, all of you out there.
If you don�t mind my contribution, I will try to tell is as I learned it.
1st. What is an adjective?
An adjective modifies/describes a noun in some way (as Zora said) ; in opinion (good, wonderful, nice...) , shape/size (big, small, square, round...) , color (red, green...) , origin (Italian, martian, Hindi...) and finally in material (plastic, leather, iron...)
2nd. What is an adverb?
An adverb modifies/describes a verb (usually action verbs not state verbs) so as to answer one/any of the following question; When? Where? How? How often?
Since the articles a/an/the do not perform any of the above functions they can in no way be considered as adverbs or adjectives.
Articles aren�t considered as a part of speech because they don�t affect the global meaning of a sentence.
Eg : I saw elephant. (We can understand that someone "I" performed the action "see" on something "elephant)
BUT...
I saw an. (instantly a question "saw what")
I an elephant. (what is the matter with you and that elephant?)
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7 Oct 2008
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Mands
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Hi,
As far as I know, "a / an " are considered indefinite articles, which are used before countable nouns in the singular.
The is considered an definite article, and it is used to indicate a specific thing.
Keeping this in mind and also the fact that an adjective always comes before a noun and is used to give qualities to the noun it preceeds, "a/an or the" could never be considered adjectives, since they don�t caracterize or qualify anything or anyone.
Hope this explanation is useful to you.
Take care.
Amanda |
7 Oct 2008
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Thank you, Zora .