ABSTRACT
When a word which has hither to function as a member of one class undergoes a shift which enables it to function as a member of another, is traditionally called as conversion. The partial correspondence of the two sets of classes, noun: nominal and so on, shows that for each word class there are positions in the sentence which its members most typically occupy. Adjectives, then, like nouns, appear as subjects and objects of sentences, and, also like nouns, they may appear with determiners. Adjectives may take on an adverb-like function: there is a tendency for a word which precedes an adjective in premodification to function as an intensifying adverb. Conversion between the noun and verb classes is of great importance in word-formation. Kurylowicz defines a syntactic derivative as a form which has the same lexical content as its base. Non-finite clauses containing gerunds and infinitives may have nominal functions in sentences.
