Reply
Mon 30 Dec, 2013 09:33 pm
Is the following sentence grammatically correct, and why?
"Impossible is nothing."
"Impossible" is an adjective and, I think, cannot be the subject of a sentence.
@Advocate,
It would be:
Impossibility is nothing.
But that does not make sense.
@Advocate,
As you stated that adjective can not be the subject, It can more correctly be said for the following sentence as " an Adjective can not describe a noun" since A noun is described by it (the adjective). So we can either say "Nothing is impossible" Or as PUNKEY said "Imposibility is nothing" but that doesn't make much of a good contextual inference. One can also state "Impossibility doesn't exists". Depends on what image the writer wants to create with the sentence.
The conclusion is that your sentence mentioned for grammatical verification is incorrect.
@Myopic,
Myopic wrote:It can more correctly be said for the following sentence as " an Adjective can not describe a noun" since A noun is described by it (the adjective). So we can either say "Nothing is impossible" Or as PUNKEY said "Imposibility is nothing" but that doesn't make much of a good contextual inference. One can also state "Impossibility doesn't exists". Depends on what image the writer wants to create with the sentence.
This is complete nonsense.
@contrex,
I should be grateful to have your comment
@Myopic,
***
Quote:" an Adjective can not describe a noun"
The line above in the text was mistakenly written. I was to write that "A noun can not describe an adjective" since an adjective describes it.
Thanks for the comments.
Wow! I am more confused than ever.
Does anyone else have an answer?
@Advocate,
Maybe instead, Ad, nothingness is an impossibility….answering the q, why is there a Universe
Suggest it will eventually be proposed that its absence entails contradiction or paradox
@Advocate,
Advocate wrote:
Is the following sentence grammatically correct, and why?
"Impossible is nothing."
"Impossible" is an adjective and, I think, cannot be the subject of a sentence.
I think this sentence would be grammatically correct:
"The impossible is nothing."
That raises the question of whether you need "the" to make impossible work in the sentence.
@parados,
I agree that the sentence could be improved. However, I found it in a document, and would like to know whether, and why, it is correct.
@parados,
Hi, I saw this after my last reply. This may answer my question. It says that "impossible" can be a noun.
@Advocate,
Advocate wrote:
"impossible" can be a noun.
Only following "the", in certain special situations.
@contrex,
contrex wrote:
Advocate wrote:
"impossible" can be a noun.
Only following "the", in certain special situations.
Wouldn't that be only in impossible situations?
@parados,
parados wrote:
Wouldn't that be only in impossible situations?
Yeah, right, let's confuse the OP even more. (Rolls eyes)
@contrex,
Advocate just wrote a sentence where impossible is both a noun
and the subject and there was no 'the', Contrex.
Does that make what you wrote 'complete nonsense'?
@JTT,
Please tell me, and explain your answer.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace