ohayo_suki  +  22358 Fri, 13 Feb 04 11:59 AM Hi Many tks to whl626 for helping me! I somehow understood why 'howl' is a verb......as for 'understand', i'm still trying to know why, from the answer that you've given. Hey i also agree with the rest that your English is GOOD! Did you ever went oversea for studies? If not did you learn English on your own or what??? Also many tks to Rommie for helping me for my 1st qns! ohayo_suki Joined on Wed, Feb 11 2004 New Member 10 Verbs, Learn English

	whl626  +  22364 Fri, 13 Feb 04 12:22 PM So far I am learning English entirely on my own. Years ago, I planned to study in the US, but my VISA application was abruptly turned down by the Ambassador. ' Your English is too bad ' said the Ambassador :p. Not joking, just the truth. whl626 Verbs, Learning English

	rommie  +  22394 Fri, 13 Feb 04 05:02 PM as for 'understand', i'm still trying to know why Let's have a bash at that then. Any word that you fit into the blanks below is a noun: a(n) _____ the _____ some _____s For example, "cat" is a noun because you can say "a cat", "the cat", and "some cats". But you CANNOT say "an understand", "the understand" or "some understands" ... so it's not a noun. What's left? How about adjectives? Any word that you can fit into the blank below is an adjective: the _____ cat For example, "purple" is an adjective because you can say "the purple cat". (You don't get many purple cats, of course, but you can still say it, and the phrase is syntactically valid). But you can't say "the understand cat" ... so it's not an adjective either. Now let's try verbs. Any word that you fit into the blank below is a verb: I want to _____ So, "I want to understand" -- now THAT makes sense. Must be a verb then. I should add that these rules are not really rules, they're more like clues - they give a hint, not a definition. But they work for most words. I don't know if that helps. If not, my next best answer to "Why is 'understand' a verb" would be: What else could it be? And if that doesn't help, I'd then go with: What is it in your first language - a verb or something else? Fingers crossed - one of those should help Rommie rommie Joined on Mon, Jan 26 2004 Earth orbit Regular Member 606 Verbs, Nouns

	Bubr  +  22400 Fri, 13 Feb 04 05:35 PM May I assume that in your native language, ohayo_suki, you'd prefer to use these words as nouns? But in English they are both verbs, consider it an axiom. You should use: I did not understand you and The dog will howl on moon . But if you want to use 'understand' or 'howl' as nouns, use understanding and howling . This '-ing' added to the words turns them into a form known as GERUND which is used almost like a noun. You can say My understanding of grammar needs to be improved or The dog's howling kept me up all night . Bubr Joined on Mon, Nov 10 2003 Full Member 437 Grammar, Verbs, Nouns, Gerunds

	whl626  +  22431 Sat, 14 Feb 04 01:27 AM There is another perspective to spot verb in a sentence. Take your ' understand ' for instance. eg He understands English. In formal English sentence structure, a sentence consists of a subject, verb and an object. He = subject English = object So, the remaining is ' VERB ' , that's none other than ' understands ' whl626 Verbs, Sentence Structures

	Clive Woodward  +  22439 Sat, 14 Feb 04 07:08 AM Another case in point that demonstrates that non-natives often have a better understanding of the 'nuts and bolts', as Conus put it, of English is that if you were to ask an average native English speaker what a 'gerund' was they would probably give you a vacant expression and say something like; "I think it's German for an emission caused by flatulence" or something similarly ignorant. What fun!! Clive Woodward Joined on Mon, Nov 17 2003 Veteran Member 242 Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity Verbs, Gerunds

	pedant  +  22441 Sat, 14 Feb 04 07:26 AM For the record, "howl" can be a noun or a verb. "His howl was like a siren." But "to howl" and "to understand" are verbs in any language. Aren't they? pedant Joined on Thu, Dec 18 2003 Full Member 104 Verbs, Nouns

	suzi  +  22454 Sat, 14 Feb 04 10:19 AM it is confusing that howl can be a noun, as well as a verb! words are classified according to what they are doing in the sentence, and rommie's made a good checklist above. Simple version: Verbs have more inflections than nouns, to show tense and person. (The past of understand is "understood") Verbs also like to hang around in gangs with other verbs, "I did understand your point" " You have understood." "I tried to understand" "You will be understood if you keep it simple." "You would have been understood if you had kept it simple!" suzi Joined on Wed, Jan 7 2004 Full Member 465 Verbs, Tenses, Nouns, Inflections