Which term describes using a noun as a verb as a common grammatical shift?

• A. Affixation
• B. Descriptivism
• C. Borrowing
• D. Functional shift

Answer: (D)

Using a noun as a verb is an example of functional shift, the process where a word moves from one grammatical category to another without changing its form. It’s also called conversion or zero-derivation. You can see it in sentences like “I’ll text you later” or “We need to park by the entrance,” where the same word functions as both a noun and a verb depending on usage. This differs from affixation, which adds something (like a suffix) to create a new form; borrowing, which brings in a word from another language; and descriptivism, which is a stance on describing language rather than a formation process.