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I have the sentence: "Profits from abread are down because of a recession in Japan. However, our performance overall has been good, and revenues have increased."

I'd like to know, what type of speech does "overall" have in this sentence.

Personally, I think that "performance" is noun acting like an adjective and "overall" should be noun. Am I wrong? Could you help me, please?

sitnikovme
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  • Possible duplicate of Do the adjectives always precedes the noun or pronoun? – Spencer Mar 12 '17 at 17:38
  • I don't see why this use of "overall" shouldn't be considered adjectival, cf. "I'm worried about our overall performance / performance overall". There are a few other adjectives than can occur as postmodifiers, e.g., "the only modification possible"; those responsible"; "everything useful". Adverbs can modify nouns, but only postpositively, so I wonder if a case can be made for "overall " being an adverb here. – BillJ Mar 12 '17 at 19:06
  • @BillJ Well, that is a possibility, i.e. that it is actually an adjective. The point I'm trying to make is that we have "overall performance = general performance," while "performance overall = performance in general," and that makes me think "overall" after the noun may be an adverb, placed in that position for the reasons I mentioned in my answer. – Gustavson Mar 12 '17 at 19:09
  • @BillJ Please see comments below Gustavsons answer. Different references seem to have different opinions on this usage. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 12 '17 at 19:11
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    @Cascabel I never trust dictionaries when it comes to grammar! "Overall" is clearly an adverb in Overall, our performance has been good, and in Our performance has been good, overall, where in both cases it's an adjunct in clause structure. In the OP's example, the meaning and function seem the same whether it's used attributively or postpositively, i.e. that of an adjective modifying "performance: "our performance in total, taking everything into account". – BillJ Mar 12 '17 at 19:30
  • @BillJ I understand and share to some extent your distrust of dictionaries in grammatical aspects. However, I think there is a subtle difference between "our overall performance" and "our performance overall." In the second case, I perceive an adverbial nuance that is absent in the first one. Take the example of the adverb "overall" in this sentence: The college has few ways to assess the quality of education overall. I found here: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/overall – Gustavson Mar 12 '17 at 20:13
  • I think "overall quality of education" (I believe "overall" refers to "quality," not to "education" there) means "general quality of education," while "quality of education overall" is more like "in general, taken as a whole." – Gustavson Mar 12 '17 at 20:13

2 Answers2

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The word performance is a noun; overall, correspondingly, is the adjective. Performance can never be used as the latter, and, likewise, overall is purely a descriptive term—it may be used as either an adjective or an adverb, but its use as a noun is incorrect.

Personally, I prefer overall performance to performance overall. It may or may not be considered a significant grammatical error, though I’d still modify the sentence—simply because, as it is now, people are liable to make the same (or otherwise similar) mistake.

Kit
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  • There are many examples of '[our etc] peformance overall' on the internet, and it doesn't seem to invite misinterpretations. I'd say it's an idiomatic usage. – Edwin Ashworth May 13 '17 at 10:22
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"overall" there is not an adjective but an adverb, as it can be assimilated to "in general" and can also be placed at the beginning or at the end of the clause without any change of meaning:

  • Overall, our performance has been good.
  • Our performance has been good, overall.

The writer probably decided to place it in mid position because there is "However" at the beginning and there is another clause after the one containing the word in question, so placing it at the beginning or at the end as is usually the case with the adverb "overall" would have clashed with the elements mentioned.

If it were an adjective, it would have been placed before the noun: Our overall performance has been good.

See, among others, these examples of the adverb "overall" after the noun here: http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/overall

• There are more women in positions of power-though their numbers overall are still pitifully few.

• Six out of 10 Labour supporters, and 69 % of voters overall, opposed joining the euro.

Community
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Gustavson
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  • Adjectives are not always placed before the noun – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 12 '17 at 18:21
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    @Cascabel I know, but I don't think that is the case with "overall". – Gustavson Mar 12 '17 at 18:22
  • This is confusing. The Longman you reference has it as adjective prepositive, but the Cambridge has it as adverb [before noun] ! – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 12 '17 at 18:55
  • @Cascabel An adverb before a noun! First time I see this. I just can't believe it. Let's look for other references. – Gustavson Mar 12 '17 at 18:58
  • MW Learners has "overall" as an adjective only before the noun. My impression is that postpositive use is incorrect. It is quite possible that is what your Longman reference had in mind. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Mar 12 '17 at 19:05
  • @Cascabel The Oxford dictionary only presents the adjective preposed and the adverb in clearly adverbial functions: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/overall – Gustavson Mar 12 '17 at 19:06
  • @Gustavson Thanks. Now I understand this case like that. "Overall" is a sentence adverb (that's why it can be placed before "has"), which modifies only first clause of the sentence. "Overall" is placed in the middle position because we have "however" at the beginning, which modifies the whole sentence. But I'm not sure. I think sentence adverb should be separated by commas. – sitnikovme Mar 12 '17 at 20:32
  • @sitnikovme Well, I made my point, but there's been some controversy over it. I think it is an adverb, but could accept it is an adjective with a different meaning from the one it has before the noun. A similar case would be "alone." "alone" is an adverb after a noun as in "The case will cost thousands of pounds in legal fees alone." – Gustavson Mar 12 '17 at 20:39
  • I find it difficult to understand "overall" as anything but an adjective in "Six out of 10 Labour supporters, and 69 % of voters overall, opposed joining the euro." However, once the rule that the adjective "overall" must precede the noun, if it occurs afterward it is either an error or an adverb. – Xanne Mar 13 '17 at 00:00
  • @Xanne In that example in particular I find it to be "more adverbial" than in others. Its interpretation as "in general" or "as a whole" is so clear. It is true that some adjectives can come after nouns (e.g. "available"), but those of us who have taken part in this thread have had different views about posposed "overall" being an adverb or an adjective. – Gustavson Mar 13 '17 at 00:08
  • I'd say that there is a gradience involved, with 'overall' in '... performance overall ...' somewhere along an adjective ... adverb continuum. (You hint at this with 'an adverbial nuance'.) Thus, I'd differentiate between 'overall performance' and 'performance overall' as you do, but I'd also differentiate between the fronted-adverb variant and 'performance overall'. Not that there's a great deal of difference in meaning, but possibly a slight shift in emphasis. Thinking more nounly (of the results) or more verbly (of the performing involved). But then 'performance' is quite a verby noun. – Edwin Ashworth May 13 '17 at 10:25