1. A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words.

A
compound noun is usually [noun + noun] or [adjective + noun], but there are
other combinations (see below). It is important to understand and recognize
compound nouns. Each compound noun acts as a single unit and can be
modified by adjectives and other nouns.

There are three forms for compound nouns:

 open or spaced - space between words (tennis shoe)

 hyphenated - hyphen between words (six-pack)
 closed or solid - no space or hyphen between words (bedroom)

2. The work that a noun performs in a sentence is referred to as its grammatical

function. In this article, we are going to take a detailed look at the five
grammatical functions of nouns.

A noun can perform any of the following five functions:

 Subject of a verb
 Object of a verb
 Complement of a verb
 Object of a preposition
 Be in apposition to another noun

Let us now take a look at the functions above one by one.

Noun functioning as the subject of a verb

A noun will function as the subject of a verb when it is the subject of the sentence and
comes before the main verb of the sentence. More often than not, the noun will begin
the sentence.

Example: Stacy killed a snake last night. (Here, the noun “Stacy” is functioning as
the subject of the verb “killed.”)

Other examples are as follow:

 John teaches English in China.

 Children can be very naughty sometimes.
  Obama was voted President.
 The politician is a liar.

Noun functioning as an object of a verb

A noun functions as an object of a verb when it comes after an action verb and
receives the action of the verb. A noun functioning as an object of a verb in a
sentence will always be the recipient of an action.

Example: Tom slapped Jerry. (Here, since the noun “Jerry” is coming after the action
verb “slapped” and receiving the action of the verb, we say it is the object of the verb
“slapped.”)

Noun functioning as the complement of a verb

A noun will function as the complement of a verb when it comes after a linking verb
or a state-of-being verb and receives no action from the verb. Some examples of
linking verbs in the English language include the following: is, are, am, be, are, was,
were, been, being, seem, taste, appoint, become, feel, smell, sound, appear, etc.

Example: John is a liar. (Here, the noun “liar” is functioning as the complement of
the verb “is.”)

3. There are three articles in the English language: the, a, and an. These are
divided into two types of articles: definite (the) and indefinite (a, an). The
definite article indicates a level of specificity that the indefinite does not. “An
apple” could refer to any apple; however “the apple” is referring back to a
specific apple.

Thus, when using the definite article, the speaker assumes the listener knows the
identity of the noun’s referent (because it is obvious, because it is common
knowledge, or because it was mentioned in the same sentence or an earlier sentence).
Use of an indefinite article implies that the speaker assumes the listener does not have
to be told the identity of the referent.

There are also cases where no article is required:

 with generic nouns (plural or uncountable): cars have accelerators, happiness

is contagious, referring to cars in general and happiness in general (compare
the happiness I felt yesterday, specifying particular happiness);
 with many proper names: Sabrina, France, London, etc.
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