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I was walking to school (England) with my eight-year-old talking about stuff she'd been doing the day before. At some point she said that something had been "...funner..." than something else.

I did not immediately realise that 'fun' is, historically at least, a noun and NOT an adjective. So I was wondering in my head why 'fun' (as an adjective) sounded wrong when made into the standard comparative for a single syllable adjective (i.e. 'funner').

I have since looked 'fun' up and realise that 'officially' 'fun' is not an adjective (see OED, and https://grammarianism.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/can-fun-be-an-adjective/).

I'm wondering whether adjectival usage is increasing. Whether it is regional (I'm guessing it's an American import); And whether, adjectivally, it is commoner to say funner and funnest, or more fun and most fun. The latter sound better to me, presumably because they are usages that are found when fun is used as a noun.

DJClayworth
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Dan
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  • I hear kids use it a lot--"How did you like the concert? It was a fun time." I'm only in my late 20s though, so I can't say how long this usage has been around. – AffableAmbler Jun 20 '17 at 16:32
  • Similar: fun - part of speech – herisson Jun 20 '17 at 16:38
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    I think fun as an adjective is quite common. Merriam-Webster has a definition for this. It does state that "funner" and "funnest" are sometimes used but I, too, prefer "more fun" and "most fun". What adjective would you use if you wanted to eschew using "fun"? Any I can think of have slightly different meaning, e.g. "entertaining". – Jim MacKenzie Jun 20 '17 at 16:41
  • Based on this Google NGram, it looks like it's been in use since at least the 1940s and has grown exponentially more popular since. https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=a+fun+time&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ca%20fun%20time%3B%2Cc0 – AffableAmbler Jun 20 '17 at 16:45
  • It looks like it really did start in the U.S. It was preceded by using funny erroneously (?) to mean fun as an adjective, something that was apparently never done in the U.K. See Ngram. – Peter Shor Jun 20 '17 at 18:08
  • Could we uncouple the questions of (1) use of "fun" as an adjective from (2) the standing of "funner"? I would say "Monday night was a fun evening." But not "Tuesday was funner." (I would also say "He was more alone than ever," but not "He was a soler remnant.") – Chaim Jun 20 '17 at 18:10
  • @Chaim:there's a duplicate question dealing with funner/funnest. – Peter Shor Jun 20 '17 at 18:12
  • Also related: Is funner a word? and “sounds fun” or “sounds like fun” – Mari-Lou A Jun 20 '17 at 18:39
  • Also related: What part of speech is fun? and Is "It's a fun game" correct? – J.R. Jun 20 '17 at 19:17
  • "That would be so fun" is something I've heard among college students in the U.S. – Xanne Jun 20 '17 at 20:28
  • Also of possible interest: Origin of the term "fun fact". Instances of that term go back at least to the 1970s. It is also possible that fun as an adjective was influenced by terms such as funhouse, which may originally have been a short form of "house of fun" but may more recently have been understood as suggesting "fun house," where fun functions as an adjective-like modifier. – Sven Yargs Jun 20 '17 at 22:09
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    This has been addressed at Is "funnest" a word? – Edwin Ashworth Jun 20 '17 at 22:29
  • @EdwinAshworth - I think not. The question you link deals only with 'funnest'. It doesn't ask about regional variation, or whether the usage is becoming more common. The responses provided already to this question have added to the information available on the site. – Dan Jun 20 '17 at 22:43
  • The Wiktionary, M-W and NOAD references given there address the use of 'fun' as a modifier and whether it should be termed an 'adjective'. There is even a counter-claim that OED considers 'fun' to be an adjective. I'm guessing you mean ODO when you say OED. / The correct place to enquire further about a question already asked is on that thread. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 20 '17 at 22:47
  • The current OED lists fun as a noun and verb (!); Not as an adjective. Part of my question is looking to find out whether ELU users themselves use/experience 'fun' as an adjective/noun. It is a word with an interesting and changing modern usage. The dictionary quotes are helpful, but not the whole picture. – Dan Jun 20 '17 at 22:57
  • @SvenYargs - fascinating answers there, thanks. How do you describe the way 'fun' works in 'fun facts' ? – Dan Jun 20 '17 at 23:05
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    I read it as a short form of saying "facts that are fun [to know and tell]"—that is, "facts that yield enjoyment in the learning and possessing [of]." But it is difficult for me to see fun in the phrase "fun fact" as anything but a modifier—and in fact, an adjective. – Sven Yargs Jun 20 '17 at 23:10

2 Answers2

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Nowadays it's common to use "fun" as an adjective.

Fun is used for talking about something that is enjoyable or someone that you enjoy being with.

1) Barcelona is a fun city. 2) Our day at the beach was really fun.

The examples are collected from Macmillan dictionary. And by saying " more /most fun ", you will be in the safe side.

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/who-says-fun-cant-be-an-adjective : This article is worth a read.

dz420
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  • That's my experience too (England). Using more and most for comparative and superlative forms of single syllable adjectives is rare but not unknown. This is probably why children coin funner and funnest but they're probably too similar to funnier and funniest to become accepted. – Chris H Jun 20 '17 at 19:00
  • Very interesting link, thanks. Would YOU say "Barcelona is the funnest city I've been to" (if that were the case ;-) )? If not, how would you say this? – Dan Jun 20 '17 at 23:17
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No, definitely not! I might say it is the 'most fun city', but it is not really my (British)style. I would be more likely to say "I had more fun in Barcelona than in any other city" I can spare the extra time and ink for a more 'elegant' sentence!

Roger Blowers
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