What part of speech is “both”

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Adjective

in the case of 'both,' this adjective indicates totality or inclusion of two entities in a sentence. For example

'Both John and Mary ate pizza for lunch.' As an adjective, 'both' may also be used to describe two agreed upon actions, such as 'John and Mary both went to the store.'

in the cases of adjectives, 'both' serves to express totality in the context of two entities. It’s important to keep in mind that the use of 'both' infers that the two entities are in agreement with one another; that is, they are sharing the same action as described by the verb.

1. Both John and Mary are taking the bus to school.

2. Both students struggled with the math question.

3. Both the dog and cat chased the bird.

it’s important to note that 'both' usually occurs before the two entities it is connecting, as in the example sentences above. Additionally, 'both' should not be confused with the pronoun 'both,' which is used to refer to two entities previously mentioned or implied.

Pronoun

as a pronoun, 'both' is used to refer to two things or people, considered and identified together. It emphasizes the inclusion or involvement of two entities without the need to repeat the noun.

'both' can be used to refer to two people or things previously mentioned, emphasizing their combined inclusion or involvement. When followed by a determiner (like 'the', 'my', 'these'), 'both' is often used with 'of'.

I have two cats, and both are black.

Both of the books are interesting.

We invited John and Mary, and both came to the party.

'both' emphasizes the inclusion of two entities in a particular context or action. It's not just about their number but their combined involvement or presence. Avoid redundancy. Saying 'both two' is incorrect; simply use 'both'. Be cautious with the use of 'both of'. It's necessary when followed by a determiner (e.g., 'both of the dogs') but not when followed directly by a noun or pronoun (e.g., 'both dogs' or 'both came').

Conjunction

conjunction is a word that connects two clauses. In the case of 'both,' this conjunction is used to make a comparison between two entities. For example

'John is taller than Mary, but they both have blue eyes.' As a conjunction, 'both' may be used to compare two entities in terms of shared qualities.

conjunctions are used to connect different sentence components, and in the case of 'both,' it serves to compare two entities in terms of shared features. It is important to note that the two entities being compared must share the same action or feature.

1. Both the cat and dog bark when they're scared.

2. Both Sally and Jake had similar experiences growing up.

3. Both countries are suffering from financial instability.

'both' should not be confused with 'and'; 'both' implies that the two entities are in agreement and the same action is being shared, while 'and' implies that the entities are unrelated and their actions are dissimilar. Additionally, 'both' may be used to indicate totality in the context of two entities, and may be confused with 'both of,' which implies that the entities are part of a larger group.

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