Yet the difference is one
of degree, not of kind.
To the extent in the English language that inflection is used for
qualification, as for person, number, and gender of the noun and
pronoun, and for mode and tense in the verb, to that extent the parts of
speech are undifferentiated. But we have seen that inflection is used
for this purpose to a very slight extent.
There is yet in the English language one important differentiation which
has been but partially accomplished. Verbs as usually considered are
undifferentiated parts of speech; they are nouns and adjectives, one or
both, and predicants. The predicant simple is a distinct part of speech.
The English language has but one, the verb _to be_, and this is not
always a pure predicant, for it sometimes contains within itself an
adverbial element when it is conjugated for mode and tense, and a
connective element when it is conjugated for agreement. With adjectives
and nouns this verb is used as a predicant. In the passive voice also it
is thus used, and the participles are nouns or adjectives. In what is
sometimes called the progressive form of the active voice nouns and
adjectives are differentiated in the participles, and the verb "to be"
is used as a predicant.
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