Legal Writing

Changing usage: Fun as an adjective

A reader sent this note:

On page 5C of the Monday, October 30, 2007 N&O, under "FINALS", the blurb begins "How fun would it be....". I'm wondering who could have written this. I'm under the impression that whoever writes for a newspaper is a professional communicator and should really know basic English.

The word "fun" is a noun, and only a noun, yet it is used here as if it were an adjective. It's comparable to writing "how house" or "how table". One cannot write "how fun", "so fun", "very fun" and so forth. Probably the word "much" should be inserted between "How" and "fun".

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Full post as published by Triangle Grammar Guide on November 19, 2007 (boomark / email).