What is a Noun?

noun

is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns areusually the first words which small children learn.A noun can function in a sentence as asubject, adirect object, anindirect object, asubject complement, anobject complement, anappositive,anadjectiveor anadverb.

Noun Gender

Many common nouns, like "engineer" or "teacher," can refer to men or women. Once,many English nouns would change form depending on theirgender-- for example, aman was called an "author" while a woman was called an "authoress" -- but this useof

gender-specific nouns

is very rare today. Those that are still used occasionallytend to refer to occupational categories

Noun Plurals

Most nouns change their form to indicatenumberby adding "-s" or "-es There are other nouns which form thepluralby changing the last letter before adding"s". Some words ending in "f" form the plural by deleting "f" and adding "ves," andwords ending in "y" form the plural by deleting the "y" and adding "ies.Other nouns form the plural irregularly. If English is your first language, you probablyknow most of these already: when in doubt, consult a good dictionary.Possessive NounsIn thepossessive case, a noun orpronounchanges its form to show that it owns or is closely related to something else. Usually, nouns become possessive by adding acombination of anapostropheand the letter "s". You can form the possessive case of asingularnoun that does not end in "s" byadding an apostrophe and "s". You can form the possessive case of a singular noun that ends in "s" by adding anapostrophe alone or by adding an apostrophe and "s". You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that does not end in "s" by addingan apostrophe and a "s” . You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that

does

end in "s" by adding anapostrophe:

Types Of Nouns

There are many different types of nouns. As you know, you capitalise some nouns, such as"Canada" or "Louise," and do not capitalise others, such as "badger" or "tree" (unless theyappear at the beginning of a sentence). Here are the types of nouns:

Proper Nouns

You always write a

proper noun

with a capital letter, since the noun represents thename of a specific person, place, or thing. The names of days of the week, months,historical documents, institutions, organisations, religions, their holy texts and theiradherents are proper nouns. A proper noun is the opposite of a common noun.

Common Nouns

common noun

is a noun referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense --usually, you should write it with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. Acommon noun is the opposite of a proper noun.

Concrete Nouns

concrete noun

is a noun which names anything (or anyone) that you can perceivethrough your physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell. A concrete nounis the opposite of a abstract noun.

Abstract Nouns

abstract noun

is a noun which names anything which you can

not

perceivethrough your five physical senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun

Countable Nouns

countable noun

(or

count noun

) is a noun with both a singular and a plural form,and it names anything (or anyone) that you can

count

. You can make a countablenoun can be made plural and attach it to a plural verb in a sentence. Countablenouns are the opposite of non-countable nouns and collective nouns.

Non-Countable Nouns

non-countable noun

(or

mass noun

) is a noun which does not have a pluralform, and which refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count. Anon-countable noun always takes a singular verb in a sentence. Non-countable nounsare similar to collective nouns, and are the opposite of countable nouns.

Collective Nouns

collective noun

is a noun naming a group of things, animals, or persons. Youcould count the individual members of the group, but you usually think of the groupas a whole is generally as one unit. You need to be able to recognise collective nounsin order to maintain subject-verb agreement. A collective noun is similar to a non-countable noun, and is roughly the opposite of a countable noun.

What is a Pronoun?

pronoun

can replace anounor another pronoun. You use pronouns like "he," "which,""none," and "you" to make yoursentencesless cumbersome and less repetitive.Grammarians classify pronouns into several types, including the personal pronoun, thedemonstrative pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the indefinite pronoun, the relativepronoun, the reflexive pronoun, and the intensive pronoun.

Personal Pronouns

personal pronoun

refers to a specific person or thing and changes its form toindicateperson,number,gender, andcase.

Subjective Personal Pronouns

subjective personal pronoun

indicates that the pronoun is acting as thesubject of the sentence. The subjective personal pronouns are "I," "you," "she," "he," "it,""we," "you," "they."

Objective Personal Pronouns

objective personal pronoun

indicates that the pronoun is acting as anobjectof averb,compound verb,preposition, orinfinitive phrase. The objective personal pronouns are: "me," "you," "her," "him," "it," "us," "you," and "them."

Possessive Personal Pronouns

possessive pronoun

indicates that the pronoun is acting as a marker of possession and defines who owns a particular object or person. The

possessivepersonal pronouns

are "mine," "yours," "hers," "his," "its," "ours," and "theirs."Note that possessive personal pronouns are very similar topossessive adjectiveslike"my," "her," and "their."

Demonstrative Pronouns

demonstrative pronoun

points to and identifies a noun or a pronoun. "This" and"these" refer to things that are nearby either in space or in time, while "that" and"those" refer to things that are farther away in space or time. The demonstrative pronouns are "this," "that," "these," and "those." "This" and "that"are used to refer tosingularnouns ornoun phrasesand "these" and "those" are used to refer topluralnouns and noun phrases. Note that the demonstrative pronouns areidentical todemonstrative adjectives, though, obviously, you use them differently. Itis also important to note that "that" can also be used as a relative pronoun.

Interrogative Pronouns

interrogative pronoun

is used to ask questions. The interrogative pronouns are"who," "whom," "which," "what" and the compounds formed with thesuffix"ever"("whoever," "whomever," "whichever," and "whatever"). Note that either "which" or"what" can also be used as aninterrogative adjective, and that "who," "whom," or"which" can also be used as a relative pronoun. You will find "who," "whom," and occasionally "which" used to refer to people, and"which" and "what" used to refer to things and to animals."Who" acts as the subject of a verb, while "whom" acts as the object of a verb,preposition, or averbal.

Relative Pronouns

You can use a

relative pronoun

is used to link onephraseorclauseto another phrase or clause. The relative pronouns are "who," "whom," "that," and "which." Thecompounds "whoever," "whomever," and "whichever" are also relative pronouns. You can use the relative pronouns "who" and "whoever" to refer to the subject of aclause or sentence, and "whom" and "whomever" to refer to the objects of a verb, averbal or a preposition.

Indefinite Pronouns

indefinite pronoun

is a pronoun referring to an identifiable but not specifiedperson or thing. An indefinite pronoun conveys the idea of all, any, none, or some. The most common indefinite pronouns are "all," "another," "any," "anybody,""anyone," "anything," "each," "everybody," "everyone," "everything," "few," "many,""nobody," "none," "one," "several," "some," "somebody," and "someone." Note thatsome indefinite pronouns can also be used asindefinite adjectives.

Reflexive Pronouns

You can use a

reflexive pronoun

to refer back to the subject of the clause orsentence. The reflexive pronouns are "myself," "yourself," "herself," "himself," "itself,""ourselves," "yourselves," and "themselves." Note each of these can also act as anintensive pronoun.

Intensive Pronouns

intensive pronoun

is a pronoun used to emphasise itsantecedent. Intensivepronouns are identical in form to reflexive pronouns.

What is a Verb?

The verb is perhaps the most important part of thesentence. A

verb

orcompound verb asserts something about thesubjectof the sentence and express actions, events, or statesof being. The verb or compound verb is the critical element of thepredicateof a sentence.In each of the following sentences, the verb or compound verb is

highlighted

:Dracula

bites

his victims on the neck. The verb "bites" describes the action Dracula takes.