GRAMMAR 1

Nouns Summary

What is a noun?
A noun tells us what someone or something is called For example, a noun can be the
name of a person (John), a job title (doctor) the name of a thing (radio), the name of a
place (London), the name of a quality (courage), or the name of an action
(laughter/laughing) Nouns are the names we give to people, things, places, etc in order to
identify them. Many nouns are used after a determiner, e g a the this, and often combine
with other words to form a noun phrase e g the man the man next door that tall building
the old broom in the cupboard Nouns and noun phrases answer the questions Who? or
What?

They can function as:

the subject of a verb

My sister sings tonight at the opera house.
- the direct object of a verb
Granma sent a present from Italy this morning
- the indirect object of a verb
Peter gave his girlfriend a bunch of roses
- the object of a preposition
/ left it in the corner
- the complement of be or a related verb like seem
Jodie Foster is an awarded actress
- used 'in apposition'
Adele, the British singer, sang for the Grammy Awards Ceremony
- used when we speak directly to somebody
Charles, would you shut that window, please?

All nouns fall into one of two classes They may be either proper nouns or common nouns:
A proper noun (sometimes called a 'proper name') is used for a particular person, place,
thing or idea which is, or is imagined to be unique It is generally spelt with a capital letter
Articles are not normally used in front of proper nouns,

Proper nouns include for example

Personal names (with or without titles) Andrew Andrew Smith
Mr Andrew Smith President Kennedy
Forms of address Mum Dad Auntie Uncle Fred
Geographical names Asia Berkshire India Wisconsin
Place names Madison Avenue Regent Street
Months, days of the week festivals and seasons: e g April Monday Easter Christmas
Seasons are usually spelt with a small letter but sometimes with a capital letter spring or
Spring

Common nouns
Any noun that is not the name of a particular person, place, thing or idea is a common
noun We can use a/an the or the zero article in front of common nouns

All common nouns fall into one of two sub-classes they may be either countable nouns
(sometimes known as unit or count nouns) or uncountable nouns (sometimes known as
mass or non-count
nouns)
Countable nouns:
If a noun is countable
- we can use a/an in front of it: a book an envelope
- it has a plural and can be used in the question How many?
E.g.: How many stamps' envelopes? - Four stamps/envelopes
- we can use numbers in front of them: one stamp two stamps

Uncountable nouns
If a noun is uncountable
- we do not normally use a/an in front of it: Sugar is expensive
- it does not normally have a plural and it can be used in the question How much?
E.g.: How much meat/oil? - A lot of meat' A little oil
- we cannot normally use a number (one two) in front of it, we normally use partitives with
them. E.g.: Pass me a loaf of bread, please.

Some nouns may be countable or uncountable depending on their use.

Nouns we can think of as 'single items' or 'substances'
e.g. a chicken/chicken an egg/egg. a ribbon/ribbon
When we use these as countable, we refer to them as single items; when we use them
as uncountable, we refer to them as substances.
countable (a single item) uncountable (substance/material)
He ate a whole chicken! Would you like some chicken?
I had a boiled egg for breakfast There's egg on your face
I tied it up with a ribbon I bought a meter of ribbon

Nouns which refer to objects or material

e.g. a glass/glass an ice/ice, an iron/iron, a paper/paper
When we use such nouns as countable, we refer to e.g. a thing which is made of the
material or which we think of as being made of the material; when we use them as
uncountable, we refer only to the material.
countable ('thing') uncountable ('material')
/ broke a glass this morning Glass is made from sand.
Would you like an ice? Ice floats
I've got a new iron Steel is an alloy of iron
What do the papers say? Paper is made from wood

Normally uncountable nouns used as countable

 Many nouns which are normally uncountable can be used as countables if we refer to
particular varieties. When this occurs, the noun is often preceded by an adjective (a nice
wine) or there is some kind of specification (a wine of high quality);
This region produces an excellent wine (i.e. a kind of wine which. .)
Kalamata produces some of the best olive oil in the world, it's an oil
of very high quality (i.e. a kind of oil which...)
The North Sea produces a light oil which is highly prized in the oi>
industry
Normally uncountable nouns used exceptionally as countable can also occur in the plural:
This region produces some awful wines as well as good ones
I go out in all weathers
Note also many words for drinks, which are uncountable when we think of them as substances:
Beer/coffee/tea is expensive these days.
However, we can sometimes use a/an to mean e.g. a glass of, etc. or numbers in front of these
words, or we can make them plural, for example when we are ordering in a restaurant: A (or One)
beer please Two teas and four coffees, please.

Many countable nouns are concrete (having an individual physical existence) for example
Persons, animals, plants a girl a horse a geranium
Objects a bottle a desk a typewriter
Groups an army a crowd a herd
Units of measurement a franc a kilo a litre a metre
Parts of a mass a bit a packet a piece a slice
Concrete uncountable nouns (sometimes having physical but not 'individual' existence) include
words like Materials, liquids, gases cotton milk air 'Grains' and 'powder' barley rice dust flour
Activities camping drinking eating sailing
Languages Arabic Italian Japanese Turkish

A few countable nouns are abstract: e.g. a hope, an idea a nuisance a remark a situation. A
number of abstract nouns can be used only as countables: e.g. a denial a proposal a scheme a
statement Many uncountable nouns are abstract: e.g. anger, equality, honesty