Last chapter explained four basic elements in classical Chinese. The distinction of the four elements is not based on the word itself, but based on the role of a word in a sentence. This is one of the reasons why the same word that can be a verb in a sentence, also can be a noun in another sentence, and even can be an attribute word in another sentence. The position where it is determines what element it is.
This does not means all of the words in classical Chinese can always be used as both verb and noun. There are some rules or conventions for it. It takes exhaustive work to discover which word can be used as both verb and noun, which word cannot. Fortunately, since we just need to understand the sentences, and don’t have to make classical Chinese sentences, we don’t have to worry about it for now. It is good enough to figure out what the role of a word is in a sentence.
There are two types of sentences in classical Chinese: nominal sentences and verbal sentences. The difference between them is the comment part. If the comment is a noun or a noun phrase, it is a nominal sentence; if the comment is a verb or a verb phrase, it is a verbal sentence. Assuredly, both of their topics are nouns or noun phrases.
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