# Now is hot. ['now' as the subject?]



## keeley_h

Hi everybody,

I found an interestin site.
http://chessroofing.us/now-is-the-time-to-improve/

It says "Now is the Time to Improve".

I think now isn't used as a noun so the sentence above is incorrect. Is the sentence above correct?

If it is, are the follwoing sentences correct?

s1: Now is hot.
s2: Now is year 2014.
s4: Do you know what time now is?


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## Smauler

"Now is the winter of our discontent".  It can be used in this sense, and has been for centuries.  However, all your examples are wrong.


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## Parla

> s1: Now is hot.
> s2: Now is year 2014.
> s4: Do you know what time now is?


Sorry, they're all incorrect in AE, too.

"Now is the time to improve" is, however, okay.


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## JamesM

With  "is" it is much like using the commutative property in mathematics.  It makes sense both ways or it doesn't make sense at all.  ("It is" is its own special case.)  Think of the "is" like an equals sign (=):

"The winter of our discontent is now."  
"The time to improve is now."  
"Hot is now." 

It's not "now" that is hot.  The temperature is hot.  "It (the temperature) is hot now."   "Now" modifies "hot" in that sentence.


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## Smauler

"Now" as a noun is almost always connected with "the".

"Now is the time" is such a commonly used phrase that it could almost be considered an idiom, since we use "now" as a noun so rarely outside of it.

"Live in the now" is one of the exceptions (and a poor one at that).


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## Smauler

JamesM said:


> "The winter of our discontent is now."
> "The time to improve is now."
> "Hot is now."



2014 is now.

"Now" is acting as an adjective here, meaning current.  "Is" as equivalency does not make sense both ways unless you are Yoda.


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## Forero

keeley_h said:


> Hi everybody,
> 
> I found an interestin*g* site.
> http://chessroofing.us/now-is-the-time-to-improve/
> 
> It says "Now is the Time to Improve".
> 
> I think now isn't used as a noun so the sentence above is incorrect. Is the sentence above correct?


It is correct, and _now_ is a noun meaning "the present (time/moment/day/week/month/year/etc.)".





> If it is, are the foll*ow*ing sentences correct?
> 
> s1: Now is hot.
> s2: Now is *the* year 2014.
> s4: Do you know what time now is?


Your sentences are unusual, but correct.


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## Smauler

Forero said:


> It is correct, and _now_ is a noun meaning "the present (time/moment/day/week/month/year/etc.)".



Correct in the sense they are grammatically correct.  However, they're wrong in the sense that no one actually uses "now" as a noun like that.


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## Forero

Smauler said:


> Correct in the sense they are grammatically correct.  However, they're wrong in the sense that no one actually uses "now" as a noun like that.


I do:

_Now is the time._
_The time is now._
_Now is not a good time._
_Now is when we said we would leave._
_When we said we would leave was now._


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## PaulQ

"Now is the time to ask your father for some money."


"s2: Now is year 2014." - This sounds as if it were written 400 years ago.
"s4: Do you know what time now is?" - I don't think that many native speakers would understand this as "What time is it now?". They would possibly understand it as "Do you know the significance of this particular time?"


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## Smauler

Forero said:


> _Now is the time._
> _The time is now._
> _Now is not a good time._


These are valid...  I applaud you for finding examples of now as a noun, one of which may not have previously been mentioned.


Forero said:


> _Now is when we said we would leave._
> _When we said we would leave was now._


Really?  "When we said we would leave was now"?  Has anyone ever said that?

Anyway, that's all beside the point.  My point was that no one actually says "Now is hot" and "Do you know what time now is?", using now as a noun.


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## JamesM

I can very well imagine someone saying "When we said we would leave was _now_!"   For example:

A: "I just want to sit and have a smoke.  After that we can leave.  Leaving in ten minutes won't make any difference, will it?  That's about when we said we would leave."
B: "When we said we would leave was _now_.  Obviously that's not going to happen."


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## Smauler

You might well be able to imagine that phrase, but no one would actually say it, and Google gets no hits on that phrase.

No hits.


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## Hildy1

"Now is the winter of our discontent" doesn't quite work as an example of "now" used as a noun. It is a fragment of a sentence from Shakespeare's _Richard the Third_. In the full sentence, "now" is an adverb.

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.

http://shakespeare.mit.edu/richardiii/full.html


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## JamesM

True, but it has now been shortened and has become an expression of its own, however erroneously.


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## JamesM

Smauler said:


> You might well be able to imagine that phrase, but no one would actually say it, and Google gets no hits on that phrase.
> 
> No hits.



Well, well... that's that, then.  I am undone.  It must not be possible.

[edit] Not exactly the same, but a very similar construction:

http://books.google.com/books?id=EB...v=onepage&q="time to be there is now"&f=false

"The right time to be there is now, because now is the only opportunity we can be certain of."

Not all spoken conversation is represented in a Google search.


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## Smauler

JamesM, you're confusing me with someone who does not agree that "now" can be used as a noun.

"The right time to be there is now" = "Now is the right time to be there", which I mentioned as a noun use of "now" at the start of this thread.

It can, and is, used as a noun in rare circumstances in modern English, as I pointed out very early on in this thread.

However, contemporary usage of "now" is nearly all adjective and adverb outside of certain phrases.


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## JamesM

No, if anything I'm confusing you with a person who declares that a sentence is not uttered because he personally wouldn't utter it.    I don't think any of us is in the position to declare definitively that no one would ever utter a certain sentence.

I understand completely that we agree that it can be used as a noun. I just object to some of your pronouncements.


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## Smauler

Pronouncements?  Which ones?  Where exactly did I pronounce anything?

I was talking about English, which is essentially defined by use.


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## JamesM

Yes, but it is defined by the use of billions, not just our personal experience or our variety of it.


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## Smauler

Well, of course.  That's the reason for this forum.

I was talking about usage of English.


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## Smauler

JamesM said:


> Yes, but it is defined by the use of billions, not just our personal experience or our variety of it.



The exact thing I was appealing to when I showed that no one had ever said the technical quote "When we said we would leave was now?" was to the billions.

That was my entire point.  Not that I've not said it nor think it is wrong, but that very very few people have said it, ever.

And that's still my main point - no one uses "now" as a noun outside of a few phrases.

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.


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## keeley_h

Wow, wow, wow!
Thanks for your nice replies.
I understand so well.

Ferero said the following sentence is correct in #7 but I think nobody other than Ferero said anything about it --- I'm sorry if I'm wrong.
s3: Now is *the *year 2014.

So I’m confused. Is s3 correct?


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## PaulQ

keeley_h said:


> Wow, wow, wow!
> Thanks for your nice replies.
> I understand so well.
> 
> Ferero said the following sentence is correct in #7 but I think nobody other than Ferero said anything about it --- I'm sorry if I'm wrong.
> s3: Now is *the *year 2014.
> 
> So I’m confused. Is s3 correct?


Technically it is correct, but you should not use it in everyday conversation. It sounds very dramatic and formal: people will look at you in a strange manner.


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## keeley_h

Hi PaulQ,

Thanks for your nice reply.
OK, I got it.

Which is more dramatic and formal, s2 or s3? Or which is more old fashioned? Or what’s the difference between s2 and s3?
s2: Now is year 2014.
s3: Now is the year 2014.


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## PaulQ

s2: Now is year 2014.  <- This is simply wrong. Never use it. It sounds weird and stupid, and nobody will know what you are saying or why you said it.
s3: Now is the year 2014.                 <- This construction would only be used in a historical drama/play/film/book that took place in the 1500s or 1600s (and so 2014) would not be OK). It might be used by the narrator or a very important person, e.g. a king, a lord, etc.,

"Now is the year 1625, and our good King James, ill, doth upon his bed lie and all around do weep." <-you will see that this style of English is not used today, so do not use it.


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## keeley_h

Hi PaulQ,

Thanks for your very, very nice reply.
OK, I got it.

Are the following sentences correct/old/weird/stupid/wrong?

s5: Now is 2014.
s6: Now is the 2014.
s7: Now is 10:00 am.
s8: Now is Autumn.

I’m sorry to ask so many but I’d like to know what has what feeling.


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## Forero

In this forum, we prefer that people with questions provide specific context so that we can give concise and appropriate answers.

But in the context of a simple question about what is or is not grammatical, possible, and idiomatic, it is important to note that the noun _year_ needs a determiner (e.g. _the_) and _2014_ does not, but I see nothing wrong with s3 ("Now is the year 2014") or s5 ("Now is 2014"). 

I see s3 and s5 as unusual sentences because (1) the word _now_ is most often used for the current moment rather than for something longer than today, (2) when the noun _now_ might be confused with the adverb _now_, we have the option of adding quotation marks, but there are no quotation marks in s3 and s5, and (3) we also have the option to keep _now_ as an adverb and add _it_ as the subject.

But contexts abound (current history, climate science, science fiction concerning time travel into the future, psychology, philosophy, etc.) in which s3 and s5 would not be unusual. I have to disagree with PaulQ's assertion that this sort of language is limited to centuries past or to "important" people.


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## keeley_h

Hi Forero,

Thanks for you nice reply.
OK, I got it.

By the way, what do you think about s7 and s8? Are they correct/old/weird/stupid/wrong?


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## Forero

keeley_h said:


> Hi Forero,
> 
> Thanks for you nice reply.
> OK, I got it.
> 
> By the way, what do you think about s7 and s8? Are they correct/old/weird/stupid/wrong?


Correct, but unusual, like the others. Of course each has its own nuances, depending on context.

All of these examples are incomplete without context. I hope you understand that they are not entirely straightforward sentences, and you have not told us what you want to use them for.

I would not, for example, expect an adult stranger I meet on the bus to begin a conversation with "Now is hot." I would suspect such a stranger was (1) foreign or (2) autistic or (3) looking for a fellow science fiction fan. I enjoy the company of such people (bus rides tend to be boring), but would it not be important to know which of 1-3 was the case?

Do you have context in mind for these, or are you just asking whether they might ever be useful for some purpose?


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## keeley_h

Hi Farero,

Thanks for your nice reply.

>Do you have context in mind for these, or are you just asking whether they might ever be useful for some purpose?

I’d just like to know the standard or criteria to determine or judge if “now is” sentences are correct or incorrect.

Let me confirm. Do you say as follows?
s1, s4, s6, s7, s8 are correct but unusual. I would not, for example, expect an adult stranger I meet on the bus to begin a conversation with "Now is hot." I would suspect such a stranger was (1) foreign or (2) autistic or (3) looking for a fellow science fiction fan.
s2 is incorrect.
s3 and s5 are correct but unusual. But contexts abound (current history, climate science, science fiction concerning time travel into the future, psychology, philosophy, etc.) in which s3 and s5 would not be unusual.

s1: Now is hot.
s2: Now is year 2014.
s3: Now is the year 2014.
s4: Do you know what time now is? 
s5: Now is 2014.
s6: Now is the 2014.
s7: Now is 10:00 am.
s8: Now is Autumn.


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## Forero

keeley_h said:


> Hi Farero,
> 
> Thanks for your nice reply.
> 
> >Do you have context in mind for these, or are you just asking whether they might ever be useful for some purpose?
> 
> I’d just like to know the standard or criteria to determine or judge if “now is” sentences are correct or incorrect.
> 
> Let me confirm. Do you say as follows?
> s1, s4, s6, s7, s8 are correct but unusual. I would not, for example, expect an adult stranger I meet on the bus to begin a conversation with "Now is hot." I would suspect such a stranger was (1) foreign or (2) autistic or (3) looking for a fellow science fiction fan.
> s2 is incorrect.
> s3 and s5 are correct but unusual. But contexts abound (current history, climate science, science fiction concerning time travel into the future, psychology, philosophy, etc.) in which s3 and s5 would not be unusual.
> 
> s1: Now is hot.
> s2: Now is year 2014.
> s3: Now is the year 2014.
> s4: Do you know what time now is?
> s5: Now is 2014.
> s6: Now is the 2014.
> s7: Now is 10:00 am.
> s8: Now is Autumn.


The criteria are complex. In s1, for example, "now" almost has to mean "the current weather", and "what time" in s4 might mean "what o'clock" or "time for what", approximately, each with its own issues.

S6 is wrong. In "the year 2014", "the" goes with "year", not with "2014".


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## keeley_h

Hi Forero,

Thanks for your nice reply.
OK, I got it.

I think you say my sentence examples are classified into three groups, group 1 to group 3, as follows:

group 1: s2, s6
These are incorrect.

group2: s1, s4, s7, s8
These are correct but unusual. I would not, for example, expect an adult stranger I meet on the bus to begin a conversation with "Now is hot." I would suspect such a stranger was (1) foreign or (2) autistic or (3) looking for a fellow science fiction fan.

group 3: s3, s5
These are correct but unusual. But contexts abound (current history, climate science, science fiction concerning time travel into the future, psychology, philosophy, etc.) in which s3 and s5 would not be unusual.

Are the following sentences correct?

s9: Now is the Quaternary period.
s10: Now is the 21st century.
s11: Now is September.
s12: Now is September 28.
s13: Now is Sunday.

Sorry to ask so many but I’d like to know the standard or criteria to determine or judge if “now is” sentences are correct or incorrect.


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## Forero

keeley_h said:


> Hi Forero,
> 
> Thanks for your nice reply.
> OK, I got it.
> 
> I think you say my sentence examples are classified into three groups, group 1 to group 3, as follows:
> 
> group 1: s2, s6
> These are incorrect.
> 
> group2: s1, s4, s7, s8
> These are correct but unusual. I would not, for example, expect an adult stranger I meet on the bus to begin a conversation with "Now is hot." I would suspect such a stranger was (1) foreign or (2) autistic or (3) looking for a fellow science fiction fan.
> 
> group 3: s3, s5
> These are correct but unusual. But contexts abound (current history, climate science, science fiction concerning time travel into the future, psychology, philosophy, etc.) in which s3 and s5 would not be unusual.
> 
> Are the following sentences correct?
> 
> s9: Now is the Quaternary period.
> s10: Now is the 21st century.
> s11: Now is September.
> s12: Now is September 28.
> s13: Now is Sunday.
> 
> Sorry to ask so many but I’d like to know the standard or criteria to determine or judge if “now is” sentences are correct or incorrect.


Aside from the malformed predicates in s2 and s6, all of these sentences are correct but unusual. I would not expect any of them from a stranger without supporting context.

With supporting context, I think the correct ones all have a place, but the criteria for supporting context are too complex to explain in a few posts.

I may be wrong, but I suspect the criteria will be the same in your own native language since this is not a grammatical issue.

Please provide context you expect will support your sentence(s). Then we natives can tell you whether that sentence works (or those sentences work) for us in that context.


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## keeley_h

Hi Forero,

Thanks for your nice reply.

Which group do you mean s9 to s13 belong to? Do you mean they belong to group 3?

You said “All of these examples are incomplete without context. ” in #30 but “incomplete without context” is a little bit tough for me to understand. Do you think you’ll understand her if a stranger says as follows, p1 or p7, to you on a bus without context? Or is p1 or p7 complete without context?
p1: Today’s hot.
p7: It’s 10:00 am.

>Please provide context you expect will support your sentence(s). 

They’re as follows, for example. Please suppose your stranger begins talking to you with the two sentences.
s1: Now is hot. But it wasn’t hot one minute ago.
s2: Now is year 2014. (incorrect)
s3: Now is the year 2014. So the conference will begin in two years.
s4: Do you know what time now is? It’s terrible, the bus is two hours behind.
s5: Now is 2014. So the conference will begin in two years.
s6: Now is the 2014. (incorrect)
s7: Now is 10:00 am. So the conference will begin in two hours.
s8: Now is autumn. So spring will begin in a few months.
s9: Now is the Quaternary period. So there’s a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere.
s10: Now is the 21st century. People call it the ubiquitous computing age.
s11: Now is September. So the conference will begin in two months.
s12: Now is September 28. So the conference will begin in two months.
s13: Now is Sunday. So the conference will begin in two days.


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## Forero

keeley_h said:


> Hi Forero,
> 
> Thanks for your nice reply.
> 
> Which group do you mean s9 to s13 belong to? Do you mean they belong to group 3?
> 
> You said “All of these examples are incomplete without context. ” in #30 but “incomplete without context” is a little bit tough for me to understand. Do you think you’ll understand her if a stranger says as follows, p1 or p7, to you on a bus without context? Or is p1 or p7 complete without context?





> p1: Today’s hot.


A little unusual. I would expect something like "It's hot today, don't you think?" or "It sure is hot today!"





> p7: It’s 10:00 am.


An ordinary sentence.





> >Please provide context you expect will support your sentence(s).
> 
> They’re as follows, for example. Please suppose your stranger begins talking to you with the two sentences.
> s1: Now is hot. But it wasn’t hot one minute ago.


Strange. I would expect "It's hot now, but it wasn't a minute ago."





> s3: Now is the year 2014. So the conference will begin in two years.


I would expect "This is 2014, so the <specific name> conference will begin in two years." Why would a stranger expect me to know what conference he or she had in mind?





> s4: Do you know what time now is? It’s terrible, the bus is two hours behind.


I would expect something more like "Do you know how late it is now?"





> s5: Now is 2014. So the conference will begin in two years.


Same answer as for s3.





> s7: Now is 10:00 am. So the conference will begin in two hours.


I would expect something like "It is ten o'clock now" or "It is now ten o'clock". What conference?





> s8: Now is autumn. So spring will begin in a few months.


"It's autumn now."/"Now it's autumn."





> s9: Now is the Quaternary period. So there’s a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere.


"This is the Quaternary Period." (A strange thing for a stranger to say, don't you think?)





> s10: Now is the 21st century. People call it the ubiquitous computing age.


"This is the 21st century."





> s11: Now is September. So the conference will begin in two months.


"This is September."





> s12: Now is September 28. So the conference will begin in two months.


"Today is September 28."/"This is September 28."





> s13: Now is Sunday. So the conference will begin in two days.


"This is Sunday."/"Today is Sunday."

The most common thing to follow "Now is" is "the time" or "a good time".


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## keeley_h

Hi Forero,

I understand so well all of your sentence examples you added to s1 to s13 in #36 are better than my original sentences, s1 to s13.

>Why would a stranger expect me to know what conference he or she had in mind?
>What conference?

Yes, you’re right. But the two sentences I gave in s3 or s7 are just the top two sentences of her talk. She would explain what conference it is in her later talk if she thinks it’s necessary.

>A strange thing for a stranger to say, don't you think?

Yes, you’re right. But the two sentences I gave in s9 are just the top two sentences of her talk. She would explain why she began talking about the Quaternary period and oxygen in the atmosphere if she thinks it’s necessary. Maybe she just wanted to make her talk interesting.

I think you say my sentence examples are classified into the following three groups, group 1 to group 3.

group 1: s2, s6
These are incorrect.

group2: s1, s4, s7, s8
These are correct but unusual. I would not, for example, expect an adult stranger I meet on the bus to begin a conversation with "Now is hot." I would suspect such a stranger was (1) foreign or (2) autistic or (3) looking for a fellow science fiction fan.

group 3: s3, s5
These are correct but unusual. But contexts abound (current history, climate science, science fiction concerning time travel into the future, psychology, philosophy, etc.) in which s3 and s5 would not be unusual. I see nothing wrong with s3 ("Now is the year 2014") or s5 ("Now is 2014"). 

Is my classification above correct?

You’ve said nothing about how s9 to s13 are unusual. So I don’t understand how unusual they are. How unusual is so important for me to understand them.
Would you classify them into the three groups, group 1 to group 3? Please think about the following points, n1 to n4, when classifying.

n1: Please make new groups if necessary.
n2: Please change my classification, group 1 to group 3, if necessary.
n3: Please classify all of s9 to s13.
n4: Even if you think some of them are tough to classify, please classify them. After classifying please make some comments or explanation.

You said as follows in #28:
But contexts abound (current history, climate science, science fiction concerning time travel into the future, psychology, philosophy, etc.) in which s3 and s5 would not be unusual.

Would you give some of such context examples to each of s3 and s5?


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## LV4-26

I've read the whole thread a little quickly. Therefore, I apologize in advance if someone said this before.

Can't we draw a parallel between sentences like _now is the time / the winter / ...._
and sentences like 
_Here is ....._

In other words, can _now_ ever be a noun? (unless you think _here_ is one in my example above).


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## Forero

LV4-26 said:


> I've read the whole thread a little quickly. Therefore, I apologize in advance if someone said this before.
> 
> Can't we draw a parallel between sentences like _now is the time / the winter / ...._
> and sentences like
> _Here is ....._
> 
> In other words, can _now_ ever be a noun? (unless you think _here_ is one in my example above).


_Here_ can be a noun too. I suppose it is ambiguous in "Right here is where the movie Jaws was filmed", but it is clearly a noun in "Near here is where the army crossed the river in 1779" and clearly an adverb in "Here is your pen."

[Think of the proverb "Home is where the heart is" and of Trudi Stein's "There is no there there." Ms. Stein no longer thought of Oakland as home, or even as a there. _Home_, _there_, _here_, and _now_ can all be nouns and hence subjects.]

_Now_ is the subject in "Now is the time to improve", and without Shakespeare's context (passive "is made"), "Now is the winter of our discontent" uses "now" as the subject.


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## Forero

keeley_h said:


> Is my classification above correct?


s9 through s13 are all in group 2.

All of the correct example sentences with _now_ as subject are unusual in general but would not be so unusual in a context such as science fiction, etc.

I see that your "strangers" are lecturing. A lecture could very well be about climate science, etc., so the probability of _now_ as the subject of a sentence is greater than it would be for someone who just happens to sit next to me on the bus.

Einsteinian relativity is one field in which _now_ can be a subject. Different observers can have different nows. What right now is to one observer may be a moving target to another.

And a philosopher might ask "How is it that all sentient beings experience now at the same time?" and then realize that perhaps we don't. In this context, the philosopher may use _now_ as the subject of a sentence.

I guess what I am saying is that _now_ as a subject becomes more and more likely when we talk about time itself rather than mundane states and events.


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## keeley_h

Hi Forero,

Thanks for your nice reply.
OK, I got it.

Group 3 is a little bit tough to me.
You said as follows in #28:
But contexts abound (current history, climate science, science fiction concerning time travel into the future, psychology, philosophy, etc.) in which s3 and s5 would not be unusual.

Would you give some of such context examples?

***************************
Mr. Admin,

I think I’ve asked too much and too repetitiously and that may be against the Wordreference.com’s rule.
If you think I’m against the rule and you delete this thread, please don’t delete suddenly. Please warn me and give me 24 hours of grace.

Thank you.


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## Forero

keeley_h said:


> Hi Forero,
> 
> Thanks for your nice reply.
> OK, I got it.
> 
> Group 3 is a little bit tough to me.
> You said as follows in #28:
> But contexts abound (current history, climate science, science fiction concerning time travel into the future, psychology, philosophy, etc.) in which s3 and s5 would not be unusual.
> 
> Would you give some of such context examples?
> 
> ***************************
> Mr. Admin,
> 
> I think I’ve asked too much and too repetitiously and that may be against the Wordreference.com’s rule.
> If you think I’m against the rule and you delete this thread, please don’t delete suddenly. Please warn me and give me 24 hours of grace.
> 
> Thank you.


I am trying to tell you there really is no "group 3". The correct sentences are all unusual except in certain contexts.

Examples in context:


The Lorentz transformation, a consequence of Special Relativity, tells us, among other things, that now to one observer is a moving target to another.
On a geological timescale, now is in the Quaternary period, and there is a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere.
The Doctor says we are traveling through time more quickly now. Your watch cannot be right. Right now is not 10:00: now is the year 2014. And now is hot compared with the ice age a moment ago.
Use your imagination.


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## PaulQ

keeley_h,

*Now*, as a noun and a subject, is, 99.999% of the time, replaced by "*it*"; "*this/the moment*", or "*the present*". Now is hot. "It is hot now." "Now it is hot."  *Now*, as a noun and a subject, is really only used in the construction "Now is the time [to do something!]" = "It is now the time [to do something!]" and "Now is the time/hour/moment [to do something!]":this construction should be seen as an idiom and _not _extended into other uses.

To me, Forero's attempts to find a context in which to use *now *as a noun and a subject are artificial. Instead we would normally say,



The Lorentz transformation, a consequence of Special  Relativity, tells us, among other things, that now the present to one observer is a  moving target to another. 
On a geological timescale, now is we are now/presently in the Quaternary period, and there is a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere. 
The  Doctor says we are traveling through time more quickly now. Your watch  cannot be right. Right now Presently it is not 10:00: now is we are now/presently in the year 2014. And now it  is hot compared with the Ice Age where we were a moment ago.


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## bennymix

I agree with Paul's explanations and contributions to the topic.    There are great limitations on 'now' standing alone as subject, though it's frequent in certain stock formulations/sentences.


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## Forero

PaulQ said:


> To me, Forero's attempts to find a context in which to use *now *as a noun and a subject are artificial. Instead we would normally say,
> 
> 
> The Lorentz transformation, a consequence of Special  Relativity, tells us, among other things, that now the present to one observer is a  moving target to another.
> On a geological timescale, now is we are now/presently in the Quaternary period, and there is a lot of oxygen in the atmosphere.
> The  Doctor says we are traveling through time more quickly now. Your watch  cannot be right. Right now Presently it is not 10:00: now is we are now/presently in the year 2014. And now it  is hot compared with the Ice Age where we were a moment ago.


I prefer my originals to these edited "versions", so we'll have to agree to disagree.


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## keeley_h

Hi Forero, PaulQ, and bennymix,

Wow, wow, wow!
Thanks for your nice, warm, and powerful replies!
I think I understand your replies so well.

Forero,
Would you give some context examples you think correct and usual, not unusual, in daily, casual, and common situations with some of my s1 to s13 shown in #31 and #33, not in #35?


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## bennymix

Keeley.
Paul's early example is one of the best cases.   A mom is advising her son when it is good to ask father for a favor.    She says, 'After dinner."   When dinner is over, she says to her son,  "Now is the time to ask your father what you mentioned."

I have learned an eclipse of the sun will start at noon.    I tell a friend a couple minutes before and he says,  "Let me know when."   Looking at my watch, it's noon.  "Now is when it's supposed to start.   Can you see anything?"

I read about consumption of fossil fuels, I say to my wife,  "Around now is the time it's peaked, and we'd better do something."

"Up till now, my daughter in college has shown no interest in studying French literature."


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## keeley_h

Hi bennymix,

Thanks for your nice and warm reply.
OK, I got it.

Thanks.


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## keeley_h

Hi PaulQ, bennymix, Forero, and all the teachers who replied to my question,

Thanks a lot for your nice replies.
I think I understand all of your replies so well. I think I’ve studied “now is” sentence so precisely and deeply and opened an unknown world of English.

Thanks for your so clear, so strong, and so wide covering standard or criterion. It would help me in any situation in the future. I’ll never ever use “now is” sentence except in the following sentence pattern, sp1:
sp1: now is a/the xxx time/moment/day/week/month/season/year/century/etc. (for xxx) to do [for doing] …

Forero,
Thanks for your nice sentence examples and correction. They surprised me and helped me to understand there is a world of science where sentences that have patterns other than sp1 are clearer, sharper, and more impressive.

All the teachers who replied to my question,
Thanks again to you all.
I’m so happy to be a student here, Wordreference.com.
Thanks.


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## bennymix

> "Up till now, my daughter in college has shown no interest in studying French literature."



This of course is meant to illustrate 'now' as a noun, not as the subject of a sentence.


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## Forero

"Now is the year" and "now is the century" don't really work for me like "Now is the time" or even "Now is the season". "Now is the year", like "Now is 2014", suggests a context in which a years passes by in a moment or a context such as geology, in which a year is in some sense just a moment.


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## bennymix

Lets say that climatologists state that in the year 2020, the arctic ice melt have reached a level that will cause catastrophic floods.

So, at the New Year's Eve party 2019, comes midnight.    I say,  "Now begins the year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe."


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## Forero

bennymix said:


> Lets say that climatologists state that in the year 2020, the arctic ice melt have reached a level that will cause catastrophic floods.
> 
> So, at the New Year's Eve party 2019, comes midnight.    I say,  "Now begins the year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe."


This _now_ may be adverbial, as the meaning might be the same as "The year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe begins now." It reminds me of Chaucer: "Heere bigynneth The Nonnes Preestes Tale of the Cock and Hen, Chauntecleer and Pertelote."


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## bennymix

Good point, Forero.    How about "Now is the beginning of the year that..."?


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## LV4-26

Now is just about the right time for me to come back with my _here_. 

Consider
1a) Now is the time when children sleep
1b) Here is the place where it all started

2a) Now is the time to start a new life
2b) Here is the place to find info about....

3a) Now is Christmas.
3b) Here's the kitchen. 

I'm not sure what to make of this but those structural similarities can't be purely coincidental. Or can they?

If _now_ is a noun, then _here_ has to be one as well. 
If _here_ is an adverb then _now_ should be an adverb too...at least in those sentences.
No?


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## bennymix

Good points, LV4!


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## velisarius

This one though doesn't sound quite right to me:
3a) Now is Christmas.


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## Forero

bennymix said:


> Good point, Forero.    How about "Now is the beginning of the year that..."?


I think that would be a good start for a sentence with _now_ as subject.





LV4-26 said:


> Now is just about the right time for me to come back with my _here_.
> 
> Consider
> 1a) Now is the time when children sleep
> 1b) Here is the place where it all started
> 
> 2a) Now is the time to start a new life
> 2b) Here is the place to find info about....
> 
> 3a) Now is Christmas.
> 3b) Here's the kitchen.
> 
> I'm not sure what to make of this but those structural similarities can't be purely coincidental. Or can they?
> 
> If _now_ is a noun, then _here_ has to be one as well.
> If _here_ is an adverb then _now_ should be an adverb too...at least in those sentences.
> No?


The question is whether _here_ means something like "in this place" (adverbial) or just "this place" (subject), or whether _now_ means "at this moment" (adverbial) or just "this moment" (subject).

For example, when Bennymix began his sentence with "Now begins", I found it ambiguous and probably inverted, but when he changed it to "Now is the beginning", I accepted "now" as the probable subject.

Another example: In "Home he did trot", I see "home" as an adverbial meaning "toward home"; but in "Home is where the heart is", I see "home" as the subject. If we mean "At home is where the heart is", I think we have to include the "at". Unfortunately, the rules of "here" and "now" are slightly different from those of "home".

Consider—

1a') Is now the time when children sleep?
1b') Is here the place where it all started?

2a') Is now the time to start a new life?
2b') Is here the place to find info about....?

3a') Is now Christmas?
3b') Is here the kitchen?

To me these are valid questions, so "now" and "here" could certainly be subjects in your original statements, though that is not the way I would usually interpret them. However, 3a and 3b seem different, not wrong but unusual. Something a little longer would work better, for example "Now is the dawn of Christmas" and "Here is where the kitchen used to be."

It is almost as if "now" and "here" exist in a quantum superposition of states, part adverb, part noun. In fact, "here" sometimes has an existential component as well, somewhat like "there" in "There is a time and a place for everything". If we call this "there" something other than a nominal or an adverbial (the term "expletive" comes to mind), then "there" can be three parts of speech, and sometimes "here" can too.

As for coincidence, I think nouns and adverbs often take the same form and the same structure and can often be found with multiple grammatical meanings. Think of "yesterday", "last week", "this way", "these times", etc.


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## LV4-26

You make a partial point, Forero.

Only, your interrogative sentences 1a' to 2b' have me wonder.

To what exact extent are they valid questions as you call them?

I mean, who would be tempted to write or say
1a'_. Is now the time when children sleep_?
when they could say
_Is *this* the time when children sleep?_
instead?


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## LV4-26

Forero said:


> This _now_ may be adverbial, as the meaning might be the same as "The year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe begins now." It reminds me of Chaucer: "Heere bigynneth The Nonnes Preestes Tale of the Cock and Hen, Chauntecleer and Pertelote."


Agreed.

Now,
1a) Now begins the year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe
1b) The year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe begins now

2a) Now is the time to improve
2b) The time to improve is now.

- 1a and 1b seem to mean pretty much the same, with no real shift of emphasis from one to the other. What about 2a and 2b?
- Are we as happy with 2b as we are with 1b?


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## Forero

LV4-26 said:


> You make a partial point, Forero.
> 
> Only, your interrogative sentences 1a' to 2b' have me wonder.
> 
> To what exact extent are they valid questions as you call them?
> 
> I mean, who would be tempted to write or say
> 1a'_. Is now the time when children sleep_?
> when they could say
> _Is *this* the time when children sleep?_
> instead?


I find it helpful in finding the subject of a sentence to convert the sentence to a yes-no question and see what "inverts". _There_ might be an exception, since it can invert with a verb that agrees in number with something else, but I do not see _now_ as an exception.

"This is the time when children sleep" clearly has "this" as its subject, and "Is this the time when children sleep?" is its question form.

My point is that "Now is the time when children sleep" is a valid statement, so it has a corresponding valid yes-no question. Is it "Is now the time when children sleep?", or does it have to be "Is the time when children sleep now?" or "Is the time now when children sleep?"? Of these I find the first to be the most, and the last to be the least, natural, and this tells me that "now" can indeed be a subject ("inverting" with the verb) as in 1a' and thus is the natural subject in the corresponding 1a as well.

In contrast, "Does now begin the year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe?" seems less natural to me than "Does the year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe begin now?" or even "Does the year begin now of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe?". So, though _now_ could be the subject of "Now begins the year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe", it seems more natural to me to take it as an adverb in this particular sentence.





LV4-26 said:


> Agreed.
> 
> Now,
> 1a) Now begins the year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe
> 1b) The year of the arctic ice-melt catastrophe begins now
> 
> 2a) Now is the time to improve
> 2b) The time to improve is now.
> 
> - 1a and 1b seem to mean pretty much the same, with no real shift of emphasis from one to the other. What about 2a and 2b?
> - Are we as happy with 2b as we are with 1b?


To me, this 1a is a form of this 1b that sounds "poetic", like "Here lies the body of old Jim Crowley". I think this "now" is adverbial.

But in this 2a and 2b, _now_ seems to be the subject of 2a but some sort of complement in 2b. For me, it is more natural as the subject:

2a') _Is now the time to improve?_ = _Is this particular time the time to improve?_ [_now_ as subject]
2b') _Is the time to improve now?_ = _Is the time to improve this particular time?_ [nominal _now_] or = _Is the time to improve at this particular time?_ [adverbial _now_]


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## bennymix

It seems that a basic point has gotten lost in this thread.  "Now" may well be in a subject position in a sentence, BUT its use as a noun
is another matter.

As Smauler said, "now" is rarely a noun, and I'm puzzled by his statement that this sentence
"Now is the right time to be there", shows 'now' as a noun.   (If I read him correctly.)

IF 'now' is a noun, it would be modifiable by an adjective.    Whereas clearly "Exact now is the right time..." is odd, and "exactly now" is obviously better.  'Exactly' is an adverb, *hence* 'now' has to be an adverb or adjective, NOT a noun.

Similarly, nouns take articles of various kinds.   And that doesn't fit here.

I am reconsidering all the purported examples of 'now as noun' including my own (mine in #47 and #52);   there is a seeming conflation of 'subject' and 'noun' issues.

I am not saying the authorities are gods, but let it be noted that much of this thread is at variance with what's mostly out there in authoritative sources.








Smauler said:


> JamesM, you're confusing me with someone who does not agree that "now" can be used as a noun.
> 
> "The right time to be there is now" = "Now is the right time to be there", which I mentioned as a noun use of "now" at the start of this thread.
> 
> It can, and is, used as a noun in rare circumstances in modern English, as I pointed out very early on in this thread.
> 
> However, contemporary usage of "now" is nearly all adjective and adverb outside of certain phrases.


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## Forero

bennymix said:


> IF'now' is a noun, it would be modifiable by an adjective.


That is not true:

_March was a windy month._ [_March_ here is a proper noun, a month's own name, and the subject of _was_.]
_Yesterday started out hot but got colder and colder._ [Yesterday here is the subject of _started_ and _got_ but does not take "exact" or "the". In effect, it is also a proper noun too.]

"Exactly March"? "Exactly yesterday"?

In "Just yesterday it started out hot but got colder and colder", the subject is "it" and "just yesterday" is adverbial; but in "Yesterday started out hot but got colder and colder", the subject is "yesterday", and "just" does not seem to fit.





> Whereas clearly "Exact now is the right time..." is odd, and "exactly now" is obviously better.  'Exactly is an adverb, *hence* 'now' has to be an adverb or adjective, NOT a noun.


_Exactly_ can modify a noun phrase too: "exactly this", "exactly the right time", "exactly now". For me, "right now" is more natural than "exactly now", but either expression works as a subject:

_I don't know what is the right time to be there. Is now the right time? Is right now the right time? Is exactly now the right time?_


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## bennymix

Hi Forero,

You make some good points, but I'm not convinced.

From Merriam Webster unabridged:



> yesterday (n)
> 2*:*  recent time *:*  time not long past
> <nobody comprehended the footwork of a running animal until the _yesterday_ of instantaneous photography  — R. C. Murphy>
> <late in the earth's history, a mere geologic _yesterday_  — Marjory S. Douglas>




ADDED:  By the way, let's not forget there are several arguments that 'now' 'yesterday' etc. in the examples of this thread are pronouns (I believe this is argued in CGEL.)

This issue has come up in this thread as well;  many of plausible 'noun' examples for  'now' have involved articles.

As to proper nouns, you may have a point (though some can take an indefinite article).    So I will say, 'common nouns' generally can take some type of adjective or determiner--often more than one possibility.


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