Comment on the following groups to illustrate the difference between partial and full conversion.
Group 1: "white — a white, final — finals"
Group 2: "rich — the rich, wounded — the wounded"
It is not unusual to have nouns converted from adjectives. Unlike verbs, not all adjectives which are converted can achieve full noun status. Some are completely converted, thus known as full conversion. others are only partially converted, hence partial conversion. Group 1 shows the feature of full conversion-a noun fully converted from an adjective has all the characteristics of nouns and can take an indefinite article or-(e)s to indicate singular or plural number. For example, "white"is an adjective and "a white"is a noun phrase (article noun), meaning a white man. "Final"is an adjective and "finals"a noun phrase (noun), meaning final exams or final competitions.
Group2 reveal the feature of partial conversionno partially converted from adjectives do not possess all the qualities a noun does and they must be used together with definite articles. Words of this class generally refer to a group of the kind. For instance, "rich"is an adjective and "the rich" refers to the rich people. "The wounded"refers to the wounded soldiers.
