Is it a noun or a verb?

Is context enough to make the difference?

Introduction:
The graphic relationship between a noun and a verb in many situations is
very close and it sometimes creates a sort of bewilderment for most non-native
English language speakers especially those who use a European language,
French, Italian, and others. It is through context and spelling that the distinction
can be made. It is sometimes very tricky to tell if a given word is a noun or a
verb unless it is used in a context or unless one detects a slight spelling
difference between the words. However the main difficulty dwells rather in the
writing more than in the reading. Non-native speakers of English have to pay
attention to the very special relationship which exists between many Noun-Verb
families.
Look-alikes
"Dance" or "Dance"?
In many cases the verb and the noun are twins in spelling and meaning;
that's why, grammatically speaking, it is tough to make the difference between
the two when they manifest discrete. You can not decide which is which unless
they are used in a context. When the word "dance", for instance, is isolated,
nobody, even native speakers, can tell if it is a noun or a verb. Look at this
example:
- "You can dance ... Save the last dance for me!" | Dolly Parton |
Examples as such are seen in terms of twins and some of them are:
trade design roar win puzzle
rain start show fish haunt
water call work drink change
talk sleep cut question .............

“Watch” or “watch”?
Very so often the verb and noun have the same spelling but they don't
dovetail in the final meaning. That is they have different fields of performance.
Here is an example:
- I'd like to watch that match with you, but I have to buy a watch first.

The verb here has nothing to do with the noun they are not of the same relation.
They only share the spelling feature. I mean they do not relate to each other in
the sense that "dance" is related to "dance". The same thing can be said about the
word "play":

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- The singer plays the banjo.
- "Othello" is one of Shakespeare's plays.

Here are some examples of the words in this category:

bear cast cut fly leave ring sink steal …......

Spelling tricks

"Advice" or "Advise"?
Some words can tell you if they are nouns or verbs by a spelling
difference which makes them known even when they are isolated. For example:
"advice" and "advise". They don't therefore need a context to introduce
themselves as a verb or a noun. Yet if one is not careful, he may write the verb
with "c" just like the noun; which is inaccurate.
| Examples:
- "For a taste of your whiskey, I'll give you some advice” | Kenny Rogers |
- "Advise none to marry or go to war." | Proverb | (1640)
When it comes to some particular words many students could be torn
apart between which is the noun and which is the verb. Take for instance the
word "practice". Is it a noun or a verb?
In general, the word "practice" is more a noun than a verb. Only the
Americans write the verb with "c" whereas the British spell the verb this way:
practise with "s". If you say, for example,
- If you practise your English, you'll improve it.
- If you practice your English, you'll improve it.
You have nothing to worry about in this case because both spellings are
correct. Yet this is not a rule for all words.
Generally speaking to change a verb into a noun or vice versa, it is
through derivation or say by adding suffixes. Look at this example:
- Verb: "to clean"
- Adjective: "clean"
- Adverb: "cleanly"
- Noun: "cleanliness"

On the other hand, some adjectives can transform into verbs and nouns
through some surgical operations. I mean by grafting some limbs to them. These
limbs are generally suffixes; but most of the time the word needs be completely
changed. Look at these examples:

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ADJECTIVE VERB NOUN

dark to darken darkness
wide to widen width
strong to strengthen strength
deep to deepen depth
....…... …………. …………

Mubarak Abdessalami

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