[Grammar] In what capacity is the word "once" used here?

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Mary Anne D.

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In working with my fourth grader, we came across a sentence which says, "Five balloons all popped at once." He is supposed to find the nouns in the sentence. He found the word "balloon" correctly, but also discovered the word "once" as a possibility.

I, too, am a bit confused, as I see in the dictionary that "once" can serve in several capacities (noun, adverb, adjective, conjunction) and that "at once" was listed as a phrase used in the noun capacity. However, it seems to be working as an adverb in the above sentence. Refresh me, please!

Is "once" a noun or not in the above capacity?
 

5jj

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The two-word expression 'at once' functions adverbially.

In which dictionary did you see that "at once was listed as a phrase used in the noun capacity"?
 

bhaisahab

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The two-word expression 'at once' functions adverbially.

In which dictionary did you see that "at once was listed as a phrase used in the noun capacity"?
I agree, it's an adverb of time.
 

engee30

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In which dictionary did you see that "at once was listed as a phrase used in the noun capacity"?

It's not the phrase at once itself; rather, the once in the phrase. Macmillan says that once is a noun in such a case.
 

5jj

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It's not the phrase at once itself; rather, the once in the phrase. Macmillan says that once is a noun in such a case.
I don't possess a Macmillan. I'd be grateful if you could copy the entry for me - I'd be interested to see what they actually say about this.

Thanks.
 

Mary Anne D.

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It was entry number 3 of the word "once", used as a noun, in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, USA, copyright 1979

3 once (noun): one single time: one time at least --- at once 1: at the same time: SIMULTANEOUSLY 2: IMMEDIATELY 3: 3Both
 

freezeframe

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It was entry number 3 of the word "once", used as a noun, in Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, USA, copyright 1979

3 once (noun): one single time: one time at least --- at once 1: at the same time: SIMULTANEOUSLY 2: IMMEDIATELY 3: 3Both

I think if you look at the formatting of that entry:

2once
noun
: one single time : one time at least <please be on time this once>
at once
1
: at the same time : simultaneously

2
: immediately

3
: 2both <at once funny and sad>




The 1,2,3 are different meanings of "at once" where "once" is a noun
 
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Mary Anne D.

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So I think that "once" can be an adverb and a noun -- at once!
 

Buddhaheart

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In working with my fourth grader, we came across a sentence which says, "Five balloons all popped at once." He is supposed to find the nouns in the sentence. He found the word "balloon" correctly, but also discovered the word "once" as a possibility.

I, too, am a bit confused, as I see in the dictionary that "once" can serve in several capacities (noun, adverb, adjective, conjunction) and that "at once" was listed as a phrase used in the noun capacity. However, it seems to be working as an adverb in the above sentence. Refresh me, please!

Is "once" a noun or not in the above capacity?

I think it depends on the rule of the game. If I look at it word by word, I might even add “all” & “five” to your list of supposedly nouns.

Grammatically, “once”, “five” and “all” cannot function as nouns in this sentence. The only noun is “balloons” in its plural form. “At once” or “all at once” functions as an adverb phrase of manner modifying the verb “popped”; “Five” may be thought of as an adjective qualifying the noun “balloons”.
 

Mary Anne D.

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I think it depends on the rule of the game. If I look at it word by word, I might even add “all” & “five” to your list of supposedly nouns.

Grammatically, “once”, “five” and “all” cannot function as nouns in this sentence. The only noun is “balloons” in its plural form. “At once” or “all at once” functions as an adverb phrase of manner modifying the verb “popped”; “Five” may be thought of as an adjective qualifying the noun “balloons”.

Yes, I agree now that the adverbial usage is dominant and overriding.
 

5jj

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Thanks for the link, engee.

I don't think Macmillan is being very helpful with this entry: “as a noun (after ‘for’ or ‘at’): For once I wish you’d tell me the truth. (after ‘the’, ‘this’, or ‘that’): Yes, I met him, but just the once.”I agree that in the example I have underlined, once (= one time/occasion) functions as a noun, but in the word-group at once I cannot see that once has any properties that we normally associate with a preposition, other than that it follows a preposition – but then so can other parts of speech.


It is possible to argue that front in in front of is still a noun (though I prefer to treat these words as making a three-word preposition), and that once in for once is also a noun. I can also accept that in Webster's "at once = (1) simultaneously and (3) both", once could be considered a noun. However, such an analysis does not work with at once = immediately.

At once (= immediately) is no more preposition + noun (at + one time/occasion) than it is preposition + adverb ( at + on one occasion).

The COD also lists at once under the noun definitions, so I am clearly out of line with some dictionaries. I will continue, however, to treat some multi-word constructions as single units, rather than break them up unhelpfully into traditional word classes. For me, at once is an adverb.
 
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