Re: 'Show you have a loving heart' ?

sigvaldi wrote:

Or "I am a Danish" which is correct in quite a different context....

It's an excellent example for demonstrating what the issue is. We all
know that "Danish" is an adjective and "Dane" is a noun, so it's clear
which word to use in which context. "I am a Danish" would be incorrect
if it weren't for the fact that we've come to adopt "a Danish" as an
abbreviation for "a Danish pastry".

Some nationality words have the same form as adjectives and nouns. So "I
am a German" and "I am German" are both correct, because "German" is (in
English) both a noun and an adjective. This doesn't work with a word
like "French", which is always an adjective and never a noun.

"Chinese" is right on the borderline. It's always been acceptable as an
adjective. The corresponding noun used to be "Chinaman" or "Chinee", but
both of these have falled out of fashion, and people still haven't
reached a conclusion on what the replacement should be. My own feeling
is that "a Chinese" is already well on its way to being accepted as the
correct and preferred form.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org

Please note the changed e-mail and web addresses. The domain
eepjm.newcastle.edu.au no longer exists, and I can no longer
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address could disappear at any time.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Show you have a loving heart ?
    ... "I am a Danish" would be incorrect ... Some nationality words have the same form as adjectives and nouns. ... which is always an adjective and never a noun. ...
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  • Re: Learning a language
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