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The two categories of parts of speech especially affected by
conversion are nouns and verbs. Verbs made from nouns are the
most numerous amongst the words produced by conversion: e. g.
to hand, to back, to face, to eye. Nouns are frequently made from
verbs: do (e. g. This is the queerest do I've ever come across. Do –
event, incident), go (e. g. He has still plenty of go at his age. Go –
energy), make, run, find, catch, cut, walk, worry, show, move, etc.
Verbs can also be made from adjectives: to pale, to yellow, to cool,
to grey, to rough (e. g. We decided to rough it in the tents as the
weather was warm), etc. Other parts of speech are not entirely
unsusceptible to conversion as the following examples show: to
down, to out (as in a newspaper heading Diplomatist Outed from
Budapest), the ups and downs, the ins and outs, like, n. (as in the
like of me and the like of you), to ooooh and aaaah, the whys and
wherefores, etc.
In the group of verbs made from nouns some of the regular
semantic associations are as indicated in the following list:
1. The name of a tool or implement: a pin — to pin; a
pencil — to pencil.
2. The name of an animal: a monkey — to monkey; a
fish — to fish.
3. The name of a part of the human body: a face — to
face; a back — to back.
4. The name of a profession or occupation: a cook —
to cook; a nurse — to nurse.
5. The name of a place: a room — to room; a table —
to table.
6. The name of a container: a can — to can; a bottle
— to bottle.
7. The name of a meal: a lunch — to lunch; a
breakfast — to breakfast.

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