as usual

[panicmonger]

What is the part of speech of "as" in "as usual"?
Thanks no end

 

[TheParser]

What is the part of speech of "as" in "as usual"?
Thanks no end

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Panicmonger,


(1) I have checked my grammar books, dictionaries, and the Web.

(2) I have no definitive answer to offer.

(3) I, personally, have an idea. It may or may not be correct.

(4) Of course, it depends on how you use that phrase.

(5) But it is often used in this context:

Suzie: Where is Dad?

Tony: Oh, he's reading the newspaper, as usual.

(a) I believe (that) that sentence is short for:

Oh, he's reading the newspaper, as is usual.

(i) I believe that as in that context = which fact [fact =

the act of his reading the newspaper].

(b) Conclusion: "as" in that sentence is a relative pronoun

(that is, it refers to "he's reading the newspaper").

(6) The closest authoritative answer that I could find to back up

my idea comes from the most revered Mr. Henry Fowler (A Dictionary

of Modern American Usage):

Epeiros, as is well known, was anciently inhabited by ....

Mr. Fowler says that "as" in that use is a relative pronoun that

= which fact.


*****NOT A TEACHER *****

 

[panicmonger]

I have asked this question before to the other people, and they gave me adverb as the answer. However, I felt doubtful about that answer, but I do not know the true answer. Now you have provided the true answer.
I agree with you.

Thank you, TheParser.


Sorry to bother you with another question.

She'll soon be as tall as her mother (is).

I would say the first "as" is an adverb and relative adjective for the second "as" in the sentence above. But, since there is not such thing as relative adjective, the second "as" may be a conjunction.

What do you say?
Thank you very much indeed, you have been an enormous help.

 

[TheParser]

I have asked this question before to the other people, and they gave me adverb as the answer. However, I felt doubtful about that answer, but I do not know the true answer. Now you have provided the true answer.
I agree with you.

Thank you, TheParser.


Sorry to bother you with another question.

She'll soon be as tall as her mother (is).

I would say the first "as" is an adverb and relative adjective for the second "as" in the sentence above. But, since there is not such thing as relative adjective, the second "as" may be a conjunction.

What do you say?
Thank you very much indeed, you have been an enormous help.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Thank you for your note.

I cannot answer your question until I do some research. This

website quite rightly wants non-teachers to be very careful

before posting an answer. A learner might never get a misleading

answer out of his/her mind.

If a teacher answers in the meantime, that would be great. Then

you would have a reliable answer.

Thank you.


***** NOT A TEACHER *****

 

[TheParser]

I have asked this question before to the other people, and they gave me adverb as the answer. However, I felt doubtful about that answer, but I do not know the true answer. Now you have provided the true answer.
I agree with you.

Thank you, TheParser.


Sorry to bother you with another question.

She'll soon be as tall as her mother (is).

I would say the first "as" is an adverb and relative adjective for the second "as" in the sentence above. But, since there is not such thing as relative adjective, the second "as" may be a conjunction.

What do you say?
Thank you very much indeed, you have been an enormous help.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) As I start to type this, no one else has yet answered. So I shall

try.

(2) I have consulted several of my favorite grammar books.

(3) I hope that I am giving you reliable information.

(a) as ... as may be called correlative adverbs by

traditional grammar books. Other so-called correlative adverbs

are not so ... as, the ... the, when ...then, where ... there.

(b) Let's analyze a similar sentence used in one book:

He is as old as I am.

(i) Many grammar books feel this is short for "He is as old as I am old."

(Warning: Some great grammarians -- such as Professor Quirk and his

learned colleagues -- do not buy this theory, I think.)

(ii) Most traditional grammar books (used by us ordinary people) say that

the first as is just a simple adverb (as you so correctly said).

(iii) The second as is considered by some books as a so-called

relative adverb.

(a) That is, it is an adverb because it modifies the second "old," and it

is a relative because it "relates" to the main sentence ("He is as old").

(b) Some books call the second as a "conjunction."

(c) At least one book, which uses the terms of very modern

linguistics, calls it a "complementizer."

(4) A relative adverb can be converted into a prepositional phrase.

(5) According to my books, this is at least one way to analyze the

sentence:

He is as old. = main sentence.
as modifies "old."

as I am old. = subordinate clause. ("as" modifies "old"; the whole
subordinate clause modifies the first "as.")

IF the word "as" did not exist, we would express the meaning

by changing the adverbs to prepositional phrases. My book says

that "He is as old as I am old" basically means:

He is old (to that degree) (to which) I am old.


***** NOT A TEACHER *****