Quote:
Originally Posted by mengta  A survey by the National Council of Churches showed that in 1986 there were 20736 female ministers, almost 9 percent of the nation's clergy, double the figure for 1977.
i'm a bit confused by the "double the figure for 1977."
is the double an adjective?
thanks |
It's confusing because it's ambiguous. Either there were 10,368 female ministers in 1977 (so that the 1986 figure is
twice that), or the percentage of female ministers in 1977 was only 4½ of the nation's clergy (so that the 1988 figure is twice
that).
As to the part of speech, I'm not sure. 'Double the figure' = 'the figure after it's been doubled'; and 'after it's been doubled' (I'd say - though parsing isn't my strong point) is an adjectival phrase; so I
think 'double' there is some kind of determiner. Wait for a more authoritative answer - I know
I shall.
b