Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

klafterreith · Joined: 25 Nov 2005 Posts: 429

These people are very criminal.

I feel this sentence is absolutely impossible, am I right?
Please comment. (A cceptable / Serious mistake)

Christine123 · Joined: 15 Oct 2008 Posts: 90 Location: Indiana

It is acceptable. One thing that can be confusing about the English language is that there are many words that can be used as multiple parts of speech, such as a noun, adjective, verb, etc... "Criminal" is most commonly used as a noun, meaning a person who commits crimes. It is possible, however, to use criminal as an adjective, such as "It is criminal to take things that are not yours." Similarly, your example is using "criminal" as an adjective, not a noun.