WEEK ONE Lesson1: The Basic Concepts of English 1: Noun

Introduction
I know that what comes to your mind on seeing the word ‘noun’ is that traditional
definition of the noun as the name of any animal, place or thing. That definition is
not comprehensive because it does not capture all that a noun would reflect. In
this lesson, you will learn the correct definition of the noun and its functions not
excluding the rules that guide its formation and usage.
Learning Outcome
By the end of this lesson you should be able to:
1.1 know and explain what the noun is;
1.2 explain the various types of nouns in English;
1.3 familiarise yourself with nouns that appear difficult to second language
learners; and
1.4 use nouns correctly in spoken and written English.
1.1. The Noun
The grammatical class ‘noun’ refers to the class of words that name. Linguists
generally define nouns as naming words. In this class, we have the following:
i. Names of persons– Mr Olugbenga, Mrs Halimat, Ibrahim,
Chukwudi etc.
ii. Animals, rabbit, snake, lion, dog, cat and so on.
iii. Plants – mango, iroko, mahogany, hibiscus, etc.
iv. Things – television, chair, table, fan, book etc
v. Place – Lagos, Ibadan, Sokoto, Enugu, Benue
vi. Concepts or ideas- philosophy, love, sleep wisdom, etc.
vii. Activities- hunting, reading, farming, cooking
 1. Nouns could be either count or non-count; concrete or abstract. A noun is
said to be count noun if it can take an‘s’ to form a plural (more than one).
It is non-count noun if it cannot take an‘s’ the plural marker for its plural. A
number of nouns in the English language are non-count and so should not
take the plural marker (-s). However, to refer to specific instances,
partitives such as: an item of, a member of or a piece of, a method of, a
type of could be used. The nouns in this group include, among others:

advice, furniture, luggage, ammlessonion, machinery, hardware, offspring,

baggage, information, personnel, behaviour, jargon, slang, cutlery, bedding,
jewelry, software, junk, stationery, equipment, evidence, underwear, bread,
rubbish, game (wild animal) staff (group of workers), debris, capital (money),
property (possession), wear (of clothes), knowledge, transport, training,
accommodation and clothing.

Some of such nouns are used in the sentences below. Consider them.
(i) Musa gave a loaf of bread to Mallam Abdullahi.
(ii) This is related to the institute’s earlier pieces of
research.
(iii) The methods of transport introduced will bring
comfort to the commlessony.
(iv) Chief Evans exhibited certain attributes that made
him undignified.
(v) There is no scientific evidence to show that boys
are better than girls.
(vi) Susan was needed to give a piece of clothing to
her friend.
(vii) Two members of staff have been promoted.
(viii) The principal will give you some pieces of
information.
You should note (and this is important) that the noun equipment, being a set,
does not accept the plural form of the verb in usage. Thus the correct expression
is: (a) The equipment is yet to be supplied. (b) The equipment works well. The
same applies with the noun, machinery. Consider the sentence: The new
machinery had been ordered and it will soon be delivered.

2. Ensure that nouns take appropriate determiners before them. For instance,
it is incorrect to say, “*Give me book”. Rather, say, “Give me the book.” The
article, a or an must be used appropriately considering the phoneme in
pronunciation (whether vowel or consonant) before which such nouns occur.
Thus it is appropriate to say:
a hotel an honour
a hostel an honourable
a hospital an hour
a European an x-ray
a house an heir

Nouns could be either count or non-count; concrete or abstract. A noun is said to

be count noun if it can take an‘s’ to form a plural (more than one). It is non-
count noun if it cannot take an‘s’ the plural marker for its plural.

3. Some nouns end in – s but they do not suggest plural. Such nouns include
but are not limited to: billiards, bowls, darts, draughts, checkers (i.e. games)
news, mumps, classics, Lessoned Nations, Algiers, Athens (countries).
Consequently, these nouns take the singular forms of verbs in usage. i.e. Mumps
is a disease common among children.
4. Certain nouns appear singular in form but are actually plural in sense.
Examples of such nouns include: the living, the poor, the helpless, police, cattle,
vermin, clergy. Thus it is appropriate to say:
The police are set to fight corruption.
The poor are faceless and helpless.
5. Some nouns do not change their forms for both the singular and plural.
Examples include: Ceylonese, Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese, Portuguese,
Vietnamese (all countries) sheep, grouse, plaice, and salmon.
6. Summation plurals consist of tools and articles of dressing that come in two
equal parts. Examples include: scales, shears, trousers, tweezers, pants, bellows,
pincers, and binoculars. When in these forms, they are used in the plural.
Consider the sentences below:
The trousers I am wearing are dirty.
The scales are needed to measure immediately.
However, they could be made singular by the use of a pair i.e. my pair of glasses
is new; my glasses are broken; my pairs of glasses are ready to be collected
(when there are more than one pair).
7. Other nouns that must be used in the plural include: regards, barracks,
minutes (of meetings), guts, goods, banns, ashes, arms (weapon) amends, arrears,
brains, alms, wages, savings, pains, customs, manners, looks, stairs, earnings,
fireworks, means, dregs, frames (i.e. of glasses), surroundings (everything that is
around or near somebody or something). Note that you shake hands, and make
friends.

8. Note the following strange nouns formed from verbs:

Uplift (verb) - uplift (noun)
Follow + (verb) - following (noun)
The news of Ayomide’s promotion gave his wife a much needed uplift.
9. Take note of these forms:
Alumna (feminine, singular) alumnae (feminine, plural)
Alumnus (masculine, singular) alumni (masculine, plural)

10. Observe that the phrase is: “the finish (of the fabric)” not *“the finishing (of
the fabric)”.
11. Note that the correct expression is seating arrangement or capacity and
not *sitting arrangement or capacity
12. Note that the word is emphasis and not *emphasy. Thus, the correct
expression is: The teacher laid emphasis on the complex term.
13. The appropriate idiomatic expression is to be on the phone.
14. It is important to note the expression: ins and outs (of something)[that is,
all the details of something]

Summary and Conclusion

In this lesson you have learnt about nouns and I believe that you can use them
correctly. In the following lesson, we shall look at articles and determiners.

Tutor Marked Assignment

Construct two sentences each with following nouns:
i. Trousers
ii. Glass (cups)
iii. Glasses (for reading)
iv. Water
v. waters