Re: I need help with Functionality versus Function

[Lisa Higgins <lisarea -at- LUCENT -dot- COM>]

So then, Nurre, Vickie is all like:

> Help! The project manager I work with wants to use Functionality as a
> noun - "The functionality to be delivered..." I think it should be "The
> functions to be delivered..." My thought is functionality is an adverb,
> not a noun. But I can't think of an example using functionality as an
> adverb. Is this now considered a noun? Or what is it exactly, and what
> is its correct use? Thanks in advance for your information. Vickie,
> vnurre -at- aegonusa -dot- com

The adverb you're looking for is probably 'functionally.'
'Functionality' is definitely a noun, albeit a kind of awkward one.
It is, however, an industry standard.

There is a subtle difference between 'functionality' and 'function,'
too. 'Functionality' seems to refer to a universal concept, and
'function' to an existential one. Practically, this means that
'functionality' would refer to a group of objects as a whole and
would be a non-count noun, and  'function' would refer to a single
object and would be a count noun.

Yeah, there are probably better, simpler ways to phrase this; but it
is an industry standard and shouldn't cause confusion among your
readers, so I'd recommend leaving it be and maybe cursing the gods or
something in the car on the way home.

Lisa.
lisarea -at- lucent -dot- com