ENGLISH LANGUAGE

GRAMMAR
Lesson Two

NOUNS
 OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
identify nouns in sentences
distinguish between proper and common nouns as well
as other types of nouns.
use the nouns appropriately in speech and in writing.
identify the forms of the genitive, and use them in speech
and in writing.
 LESSON TWO
NOUNS
Nouns, the most basic component of language, are naming words.
They help us identify the persons, places, things, qualities or ideas
we talk about. There are about six distinct groups of nouns:
common nouns, proper nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns,
collective nouns, and compound nouns.
It is important to know about nouns and their function in speaking and
writing because so many other parts of speech relate to nouns.
 NOUNS
The Types of Nouns
1. A common noun is a word that names something only in a general
way, like table, pen, waiter, dog, and woman. Common nouns can
be written in a singular form (table, pen, waiter, dog, and woman)
or a plural form (tables, pens, waiters, dogs, and women).
2. Unlike common nouns, proper nouns name a very specific
person, place, or thing. One distinguishing aspect of proper nouns
is that they always begin with a capital letter.
Examples: Robert (the name of a particular person ),
German Shepherd (the name of a particular kind of dog),and
Kumasi (the name of a particular city).
3. Concrete nouns name something that can be detected by your
senses. For instance, toothbrush, cell phone, moonlight, waves,
and breezes are all concrete nouns.
 NOUNS
The Types of Nouns
3. On the other hand, if a noun refers to qualities which do not exist in
the real world and cannot be felt, tasted, seen, heard or touched,
they are categorized as abstract nouns.
Examples: honesty, pride, beauty, swiftness, friendship, height,
speed, faith etc
4. Collective nouns are words used to name groups or collection of
people, places, and things in terms of a unit. For instance, panel,
audience, class, flock, herd, and family are collective nouns.
5. New words can be formed by combining two or more words, thus
creating a compound word. Compounds can be made up of a
number of speech components, including nouns, verbs, adjectives,
and adverbs. Some examples of compound nouns are motorcycle,
onlooker, input, in-laws, and washing machine.
 NOUNS
Definition
A noun names of a person, place, thing, or an idea.
Anything you can see or detect with one of your senses
has a noun to name it.
 People farmer, mechanic, father, Dr. Mark, editors, Annette
 Places church, Ghana, porch, Lagos, classroom, Gambia
 Things scissors, giraffe, pen, smiles, tugboat, skateboard,
braces, drill
 Ideas love, inspiration, courage, anxiety, eagerness,
happiness
 Institutions Islam, Christianity, university, family, tribal
 Months and Days July, December, Monday, April, Tuesday
 NOUNS
Know the difference between a common and a proper noun:
Common Nouns Proper Nouns
town Banjul, Accra, Abuja, Freetown
company American Airline, Coca Cola
language English, French, Spanish
actor Bruce Lee, Marlon Brando
planet Earth, Venus, Mars
month December, April, February
hospital Korle Bu Teaching Hospital
woman/girl Esther, Cynthia
newspaper The Ghanaian Times
country Nigeria, Gambia, Liberia
university Makerere University
 NOUNS
Categories of Nouns
Nouns can be classified further as count nouns, which name
anything that can be counted or nouns that can be singular or plural
(four books, two continents, a few dishes, a dozen buildings);
mass nouns (or non-count nouns), which name something that can't
be counted or things that can be only singular(water, air, energy,
blood, meat, land, furniture)
For singular count nouns, use a, an, the, or one. For plural count
nouns, use a number, the article the, or no article. You may also use
quantity words (a lot, a little, some, many). Never use a or an with a
plural noun.
Do not use an article with count nouns. You may use quantity words (a
lot, a little, and especially some).
 NOUNS
We should note that some words can be either a count noun or a non-
count noun depending on how they're being used in a sentence:
 He got into trouble. (non-count)
 He had many troubles. (countable)
 Experience (non-count) is the best teacher.
 We had many exciting experiences (countable) in college.
Whether these words are count or non-count will determine whether
they can be used with articles and determiners or not. (We would not
write "He got into the troubles," but we could write about "The
troubles of Lagos."
 NOUNS
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
Collective nouns are used to describe groups of things. In other words,
collective nouns name groups or collections of people, places and
things.
Collective nouns take a singular form but are composed of more than
one individual person or items. Examples: team, crowd, herd, flock,
audience, jury, committee, panel.
Collective nouns have both singular and plural forms:
one committee, six committees.
Example: Six trials are scheduled so the judge called six juries.
Singular collective nouns can have a singular meaning (the group is
acting as a single unit) or a plural meaning (the group is acting as
individuals). Here are two examples that illustrate this point.
 The jury is announcing its decision.
 The jury are stating their opinions.
 NOUNS
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
In the first sentence, the jury is acting as a single unit; everyone agreed
on one decision. In the second case, each juror is acting as an
individual, and there are many different opinions.
The team is buying new uniforms.
The team are buying new uniforms.
In the second set of examples, the first sentence describes a situation
where the team has held several fundraisers and the team as a unit
will order and pay for the clothes. The second sentence reports that
each member of the team will shop for and buy the uniform
him/herself.
(See lesson 2A for a comprehensive table on Collective Nouns)
 Noun Gender
The Noun-Gender tells us about the sex of the noun.
In Grammar-Nouns, there are FOUR GENDERS.
1. Masculine gender:
A noun is said to be in the Masculine gender if it refers to a male character
or member of a species.
Man, lion, hero, boy, king, horse and actor are nouns of masculine gender.
Example:
• A boy is playing in the play-ground.
• Hero of the movie is not a native of this country.
In these sentences the words “boy" and “hero" are masculine-gender
nouns.
The next in the Noun-Gender is feminine gender.
2. Feminine gender:
A noun is said to be in the feminine gender if it refers to a female member
of a species.
 Noun Gender
Woman, lioness, heroine, girl, mare, niece, empress, cow and actress
are few of the feminine-gender nouns that we use.
Example:
• A girl is playing in the play-ground.
• Heroine of the movie is not a native of this country.
In these sentences the words “girl" and “heroine" are feminine-gender
nouns.
The next in the Noun-Gender is common gender.
3. Common gender:
A noun is said to be in Common gender if it refers to a member of
species which can be a male or a female.
Child, student, friend, applicant, candidate, servant, member,
parliamentarian and leader are few of the common-gender nouns.
Example:
• A child is playing in the play-ground.
• A Parliamentarian should have command over his language.
 Noun Gender
In these sentences the words, “child" and “parliamentarian" are nouns
of common gender.
The next in the Noun-Gender is neuter gender.
4. Neuter gender:
A noun is said to be in the neuter gender if it refers to a member of a
species which is neither a male nor a female.
Normally nouns referring to lifeless objects are in neuter nouns.
Chair, table, tree, star, mountain, street, book, car, school, paper,
pencil and computer are few of the neuter nouns which we use
regularly.
Example:
• Computer has brought about drastic changes in our lives.
• Tree is cleansing the air.
• Stars are not visible in the day-time.
• Books are our best friends.
In these sentences the words, “computer", “tree", “stars" and “books"
are the neuter-gender nouns.
 Noun Gender
NOTE:
a. Collective nouns, even if they refer to living-beings, are used as
neuter-nouns.
Example:
i. The army is doing its task.
ii. The police are called to manage the situation.
In these sentences the nouns (army and police) refer to only living-
beings. But they are used only as neuter-nouns.
b. Objects noted for their power, strength, and violence are used as
Masculine gender nouns.
The sun, summer, time, death etc… are masculine-gender nouns.
Example:
i. The sun is so scorching now that we cannot go out now to face him
without an umbrella.
ii. The death is cruel. He is as certain as tomorrow.
In these sentences the words “sun" and “death" have been used as
Masculine-gender nouns.
 Noun Gender
c. Objects noted for their beauty, gentleness and grace are used as
feminine-gender nouns.
The moon, the earth, spring, charity etc… are feminine-gender nouns.
Example:
i. The moon is so bright at this time that she induces romantic mood in
us.
ii. The earth is patient. Her beauty is spoiled day-by-day.
The masculine-genders and their respective feminine-genders have
been given below for your reference.
 Noun Gender
Masculine - Feminine
1. Bachelor----- Spinster
2. Bachelor----- Maid
3. Bullock----- Heifer
4. Dog----- Bitch
5. Drone------ Bee
6. Horse----- Mare
7. Nephew----- Niece
8. Jew----- Jewess
9. Wizard----- Witch
10. Heir----- Heiress
11. Manager----- Manageress
12. Poet----- Poetess
13. Shepherd----- Shepherdess
14. Benefactor----- Benefactress
15. Hunter----- Huntress
16. Negro----- Negress
17. Emperor----- Empress
18. Traitor----- Traitress
19. Prince----- Princess
20. Lion----- Lioness
21. Bull----- Cow
22. Ox----- Cow
23. Mayor----- Mayoress
24. Tiger----- Tigress
25. Actor----- Actress
26. Host----- Hostess
27. Uncle----- Aunt
28. Monk----- Nun
29. Gentleman----- Lady
30. Duck----- Duchess
 Noun Gender
Gender of some proper nouns
Masculine Feminine Henry Henrietta
Alexander Alexandra John Joan
Anthony Anthonia Joseph Josephine
Augustine Augustina Louis Louisa
Cecil Cecilia Oliver Olive
Charles Charlotte Patrick Patricia
Christian Christiana/Christine Paul Pauline
Clarence Clara Philip Philippa/Philippine
Denis Denise Robert Roberta
Emmanuel Emma Stephen Stephanie
Eugene Eugenia Tony Tonia
Francis Francisca/Frances Victor Victoria
Frank Franca William Wilhelmina
George Georgina
 Noun Gender
Gender of Common nouns of person
Masculine Feminine host hostess
abbot abbess hunter huntress
actor actress instructor instructress
author authoress Jew Jewess
baron baroness lion lioness
conductor conductress manager manageress
Count countess master mistress
deacon deaconess mayor mayoress
duke duchess murderer murderess
emperor empress patron patroness
enchanter enchantress poet poetess
giant giantess priest priestess
god goddess prince princess
heir heiress prophet prophetess
 Noun Gender
Gender of Common nouns of person
shepherd shepherdess executor executrix
sorcerer sorceress Father mother
steward stewardess fiancé fiancée
tailor tailoress friar Nun
tiger tigress gentleman lady
traitor traitress governor matron
waiter waitress he she
bachelor spinster hero heroine
beau belle him her
boy girl husband wife
Boys-scout girls-guide king queen
bridegroom bride lad lass
Brother sister landlord landlady
earl countess lord lady
 Noun Gender
Gender of Common nouns of person
male female widower widow
man woman wizard witch
masseur masseuse
monk nun
Mr. Mrs.
nephew niece
papa mama
proprietor proprietrix
sir madam
sloven slut
son daughter
sultan sultana
tutor governess
uncle aunt
 Noun Gender
Gender of Animals
Masculine Feminine hound brach
boar sow mallard wild-duck
buck doe ram ewe
bull cow sire dam
bullock heifer stag hind
cock hen stallion mare
colt filly steer heifer
Cob(swan) pen Billy-goat nanny-goat
dog bitch Buck-rabbit doe-rabbit
drake duck Cock-sparrow hen-sparrow
fox vixen He-goat she-goat
gander goose wolf she-wolf
hart hind
Hold(ferret) jill
 Noun Gender
Common Gender may be used for both of male and both of female.
parent cat relation
cousin cattle relative
people child scholar
infant companion sheep
driver comrade singer
baby dear swan
visitor deer teacher
friend fowl tourist
guardian guest traveler
orphan juvenile visitor
adult owner
animal passenger
bird pig
 Noun Gender
Neuter Gender denotes things without life or sex

Bag House
Boot Jacket
Box Jotter
Bread Kettle
Butter Knife
Chair Mirror
Chalk Pencil
Chimney Pillow
Church Ruler
Cocoa School
Coffee Seat
Desk Table
Dishes
Door  
Floor
 Noun Gender
Neuter Gender denotes things without life or sex

Exceptions
We often speak of lifeless things as being male or female, e.g.
A sailor refers to his ship as she.
An engineer-driver refers to his engine as she.
A motorist refers to his car as she.
An aviator refers to his aeroplane as she.
We sometimes refers to a cat, dog, horse, and even a child as it.
 NOUNS
ABSTRACT NOUNS
Nouns that cannot be perceived through the five senses are called
abstract nouns or they are words which name something that you
cannot see, hear, touch, smell or taste. It is the opposite of concrete
noun. They include: ideas, thoughts, beliefs, expressions etc.
It is not always easy to spot an abstract noun, and it is common for
grammarians to argue over whether the thing represented by a noun
is perceivable or not. For example, lots of grammar sites claim
laughter is an abstract noun, but this is hotly contested by others
which claim laughter can be heard, making it a concrete noun.
We would agree that laugher is a concrete noun, but what about work
and result? It is possible to make cases for these being concrete
nouns too, but many would consider them to be abstract. Be aware
that the distinction between abstract noun and concrete noun is
sometimes blurry.
 NOUNS
ABSTRACT NOUNS
Nouns that refer to qualities which do not exist in the real world and cannot
be felt, tasted, seen, heard or touched, they are categorized as abstract
nouns.
Examples: honesty, pride, beauty, swiftness, friendship, height, speed,
faith
More Examples of Abstract Nouns
The following are all abstract nouns:
Anger, Anxiety, Beauty, Beliefs, Bravery, Brilliance, Chaos, Charity,
Childhood, Comfort, Communication, Compassion, Courage, Culture,
Curiosity, Deceit, Dedication, Democracy, Determination, Energy,
Failure, Faith, Fear, Freedom, Friendship, Generosity, Gossip,
Happiness, Hate, Honesty, Hope, Imagination, Information, Integrity,
Intelligence, Joy, Justice, Justice, Kindness, Knowledge, Liberty, Life,
Love, Loyalty, Luxury, Misery, Motivation, Opportunity, Pain, Patience,
Peace, Perseverance, Pleasure, Pride, Relaxation, Sacrifice,
Satisfaction, Skill, Strength, Success, Sympathy, Talent, Thought, Trust,
Truth, Warmth, and Wisdom
 NOUNS
MASS/NON-COUNT NOUNS
A non-countable noun (or mass noun) is a noun which does not have a plural
form, and which refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count.
Mass nouns, however, are similar to collective nouns, but refer to non-living
things which cannot be counted: They are always used in the singular even
though they refer to many items. Some grammar books call these mass nouns
as non-count nouns.
Examples: meat, land, furniture, jewellery, money, food, timber, gold, clothing,
equipment.
Certain words and phrases are always used with non-count nouns.
E.g.
an amount of jewellery (non-count) a number of rings (count)
a little meat (non-count) a few steaks (count)
some furniture (non-count) several chairs (count)
less clothing (non-count) fewer shirts (count)
Here is an example of correct usage.
The farmer bought a large number of cows, so he needed a huge amount of
grain
 NOUNS
COMPOUND NOUNS
Compound nouns can present writers with issues regarding spelling, rather
than usage. There are three ways to spell these nouns, which are made
up of two or more words - the closed form, the open form and the
hyphenated form. The closed form refers to two words joined without any
space between them, as in the case of words like bandwagon,
newspaper, and skyscraper. The open form has a space between
several words that create one idea, like water ski and stainless steel.
The hyphenated form uses hyphens (-) between the words, like mother-
in-law and do-gooder.
Be careful to distinguish between words that have different meanings as a
word pair or as a compound word.
The following table lists a few of the most commonly confused compound
words.
WORD PAIR MEANING COMPOUND WORD MEANING
all ready completely prepared already before now
all together as a group altogether completely
every one each individual everyone everybody
 NOUNS
PLURAL NOUNS
Nouns may be singular referring to one, or plural, referring to more
than one. Most nouns change their form by adding “s” when they are
plural. However, there are exceptions to every rule - and exceptions
for the exceptions.

1. Add -s to the end of most words to make them plural.

pen/pens, bag/bags, snake/snakes, stool/stools
The plural form of nouns like these, referred to as count nouns, is
rather predictable.
2. Add -es to the end of words ending with -ch, -s, -sh, -ss, -x, and -z.
church/churches, bus/buses, dress/dresses, bush/bushes, fox/foxes,
fizz/fizzes
It would be strange to try and pronounce dresss or crashs if we didn’t
put an e in front of the s, which forms another syllable.
 NOUNS
PLURAL NOUNS
3. Change -f, -lf, or -fe at the end of words to -ves.(but not ’ff’ or ‘ffe’)
Loaf/loaves, leaf/leaves, calf/calves, half/halves, life/lives, knife/knives
Note; there are exceptions to this rule, for example, chief/chiefs, giraffe/giraffes,
belief/beliefs, chef/chefs, oaf/oafs, proof/proofs
4. Change -y to -ies when the -y follows a consonant.
Ally/allies, party/parties, army/armies, battery/batteries, gallery/galleries,
penny/pennies, baby/babies, pony/ponies
5. Just add an -s after a -y when the -y is preceded by a vowel.
Alley/alleys, guy/guys, day/days, ray/rays, play/plays, key/keys, boy/boys
6. Add -es to words ending with an -o that follows a consonant.
Zero/zeroes, tornado/tornadoes, embargo/embargoes, potato/potatoes,
echo/echoes, hero/heroes, veto/vetoes
7. Simply add -s to words ending with an -o that follows another vowel.
Tattoo/tattoos, patio/patios, stereo/stereos, video/videos, radio/radios
Note; there are exceptions to this rule. For example, banjo/banjos,
piano/pianos, memo/memos, photo/photos, silo/silos.
 NOUNS
PLURAL NOUNS
8. For hyphenated compound nouns, add an -s to the word that is
changing in number.
passer-by/passers-by, brother-in-law/brothers-in-law.
9. There are no rules for pluralizing irregular nouns; you must
memorize them.
mouse/mice, deer/deer, sheep/sheep, child/children, man/men,
foot/feet, person/people, stimulus/stimuli, tooth/teeth, octopus/octopi,
die/dice, louse/lice, ox/oxen
(See lesson 2B for comprehensive notes on Plural Nouns)
 NOUNS
POSSESSIVE CASE
Definition
In English grammar, possessive case is the case (or function) of an
inflected form of a noun (Santa's, the boss's) showing ownership,
measurement, or source. In addition to the -'s ending (a clitic), the
possessive can be expressed with of, particularly when the
possessor is not alive [ or non-living] (the top floor of the building,
the base of the statue).
The possessive case is also known as the genitive case.
 NOUNS
POSSESSIVE CASE
The form of the possessive/genitive case
A) 's is used with singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in s:
a man's job the people's choice
men's work the crew's quarters
a woman's intuition the horse's mouth
the baker's (shop) the bull's horns
a child's voice women's clothes
the children's room Russia's exports
B) A simple apostrophe (') is used with plural nouns ending in s:
a girls' school the students' hostel
the eagles' nest the Smiths' car
C) Classical names ending in s usually add only the apostrophe:
Pythagoras' Theorem Archimedes' Law Sophocles' plays
 NOUNS
POSSESSIVE CASE
The form of the possessive/genitive case (cont’d)
D) Other names ending in s can take 's or the apostrophe alone;
Mr. Jones's (Mr. Jones' house) Dennis's (or Dennis') poems
E) With compounds, the last word takes the 's:
my brother-in-law's guitar, the runner-up’s score
Names consisting of several words are treated similarly:
Henry the Eighth's wives, the Prince of Wales's helicopter
's can also be used after initials:
the PM's secretary the MP's briefcase the VIP's escort
Note that when the possessive case is used, the article before the
person or thing 'possessed' disappears:
 the daughter of the politician = the politician's daughter
 the intervention of America = America's intervention
 the plays of Shakespeare = Shakespeare's plays
 NOUNS
POSSESSIVE CASE
RULES FOR FORMING POSSESSIVE FORMS OF NOUNS
Conditions Possessive Form Examples
If a noun is singular and add an apostrophe (') -the neighbour's car
does not end in “s” plus s to the noun -- the child's toys
- Gloria's career
- New Brunswick's art

If a noun is singular and if a new syllable is -Doris's store

ends in “s”, be guided formed in the -- my boss's approval
by the way you say the pronunciation of the -- Dennis's car
word possessive, add an -- witness's description
apostrophe plus “s”
if adding an extra “s” -John Hastings' store
would make the word -Doris' parables
seem awkward or hard - Phillips' farm
to pronounce, add - Mary Parsons' garden
only an apostrophe
 NOUNS
POSSESSIVE CASE
RULES FOR FORMING POSSESSIVE FORMS OF NOUNS
Conditions Possessive Form Examples
If a noun is plural, add only an -students' lounge
and already has an s apostrophe (') -- witnesses' story
at the end - librarians' club
- the Jones' party
- the ladies’ room
If a noun is plural and add apostrophe (') s -oxen's hooves
does not end in “s” - men's choir
- women's wear
- children's toys
 NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & VERBS

NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES NOUNS

    absent absence
  act   action
  add   addition
  agree   agreement
    angry anger
  arrive   arrival
  attend   attention
    bad badness
    beautiful beauty
  begin   beginning
  behave   behavior
    brave bravery
  breathe   breath
 NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & VERBS

NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES NOUNS

    bright brightness
    broad breadth
brother     brotherhood
    busy business
child     childhood
  choose   choice
    clean cleanliness
  collect   collection
  correct   correction
    cruel cruelty
    dark darkness
    deep depth
  describe   description
 NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & VERBS

NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES NOUNS

  die   death
  divide   division
  do   deed
  draw   drawing
    dry dryness
  enjoy   enjoyment
  enter   entrance
  explain   explanation
  fail   failure
    fat fatness
  feed   food
    fit fitness
    foolish foolishness
 NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & VERBS

NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES NOUNS

    free freedom
friend     friendship
  give   gift
    glad gladness
    good goodness
    great greatness
  grow   growth
    happy happiness
  hate   hatred
  heal   health
    high height
    honest honesty
    hungry hunger
 NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & VERBS

NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES NOUNS

  imagine   imagination
  instruct   instruction
  invent   invention
  invite   invitation
  judge   judgement
    kind kindness
king     kingdom, kingship
  know   knowledge
  laugh   laughter
    lazy laziness
leader     leadership
  lend   loan
  like   likeness
 NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & VERBS

NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES NOUNS

  live   life
    long length
  lose   loss
    mad madness
man     manhood
  marry   marriage
member     membership
  mix   mixture
mother     motherhood
  move   movement
  multiply   multiplication
neighbor     neighborhood
    new newness
 NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & VERBS

NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES NOUNS

  obey   obedience
  occupy   occupation
parent parental parentage
percent percent percentage
  permit   permission
  please   pleasure
poet     poetry
    proud pride
  prove   proof
  punish   punishment
    ready readiness
  remember   remembrance
    sad sadness
 NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & VERBS

NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES NOUNS

    safe safety
scholar     scholarship
  see   sight
  sell   sale
    sharp sharpness
    sick sickness
  sit   seat
    slow slowness
    soft softness
  speak   speech
    strong strength
  succeed   success
    sweet sweetness
 NOUNS
FORMING NOUNS FROM NOUNS, ADJECTIVES & VERBS
NOUNS VERBS ADJECTIVES NOUNS
  teach   teaching
  tell   tale
    thick thickness
  think   thought
    thirsty thirst
    tight tightness
    true truth
    valuable value
    warm warmth
    weak weakness
  wed   wedding
  weigh   weight
    wide width
    wise wisdom
    young youth
 NOUNS
NOUNS (NAMES OF PERSONS) DERIVED FROM NOUNS

NOUNS SUFFIX NAME OF PERSON

gang - ster gangster
trick - ster trickster
bar -(i) ster barrister
auction - eer auctioneer
planet -eer planeteer
engine - eer engineer
execution - er executioner
teenage - er teenager
pension - er pensioner
 NOUNS
NOUNS (NAMES OF PERSONS) DERIVED FROM NOUNS

NOUNS DIMINUTIVE SUFFIX WORD

star -let starlet
book - let booklet
kitchen - ette kitchenette
 NOUNS
FUNCTIONS OF A NOUN
Nouns and noun phrases perform several grammatical functions in the
English language. The following lesson lists the grammatical
functions and provides examples to illustrate their use.
Nouns and Noun Phrases
Nouns in English are traditionally described as naming "persons,
places, things, and ideas." Pronouns are a subcategory of nouns.
Nouns phrases are formed by a noun or pronoun and modifiers,
complements, or determiners, prepositional phrases, noun clauses,
and verb phrases.
Nouns and noun phrases perform several grammatical functions in the
English language.
The following sections discuss the grammatical functions and include
examples to illustrate use.
 NOUNS
FUNCTIONS OF A NOUN

Subject
Nouns and noun phrases first function as the subject of clauses. A
subject is a word, phrase, or clause which performs the action of or
acts upon the verb. Clauses contain both a subject and a predicate.
The following italicized noun phrases are examples of subjects:
 The puppy has chewed on the bone.
 Weeds are taking over the garden.
 You and I hike in the park.
Although other grammatical forms can function as the subject of
clauses, nouns and noun phrases most frequently perform the
function.
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FUNCTIONS OF A NOUN
Subject (Agent)
In other words, the person or element that is performing the action of the verb is
called the subject. The subject is the element in the sentence with which the
verb has grammatical agreement. The doer, perpetrator, actor, performer, or that
which is responsible for carrying out the event in the sentence is the subject.
Example:
Sylvia is taking out the garbage.
Do you have any money?
Where are my glasses?
They are in Greece this summer.
Does this picture strike your fancy?
Where did Rufus leave his books?
Who will help me?
That was an interesting proposition.
No one explained that to me.
Sally always sends her friends a card on their birthday.
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Subject (Agent)
The subject is also that element which exists when used with verbs
denoting states of being such as be, become, remain, appear as,
etc.
 The students were seldom angry.
 Despite the glacial action many stones remained on the
mountainside.
 In her twenties, the rather ugly girl became a strikingly beautiful
young woman.
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FUNCTIONS OF A NOUN
Subject Complement
Nouns and noun phrases secondly function as subject complements. A
subject complement is a word, phrase, or clause that follows a
copular verb and describes the subject. Copular verbs are also
called linking and state-of-being verbs and include verbs like be,
become, and seem. The following italicized noun phrases are
examples of subject complements:
 The man was a nurse.
 Our dog is a German Shepherd.
 Her mother will become the school librarian.
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FUNCTIONS OF A NOUN
Direct Object
Nouns and noun phrases can also function as direct objects. A direct
object is a word, phrase, or clause that follows a transitive verb and
answers the question "who?" or "what?" receives the action of the
verb. The following italicized noun phrases are examples of direct
objects:
 Herbivores eat plants.
 The child finally swallowed the sour-tasting medication.
 Your boyfriend just kissed the girl in the ostentatious hat.
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FUNCTIONS OF A NOUN
Direct Object
In other words, the element in the sentence that the subject is acting on
is called the direct object. The direct object is the person or thing to
which the action is being directed. The subject transfers the action of
the verb to the direct object. The direct object is never connected
into the sentence via some mitigating words such as a preposition,
rather it is acted upon directly hence the term direct object.
 We washed the dog last night.
 Did you bring me any ice cream?
 I hate this work.
 Where do you keep your money?
 Sharon has a beautiful new car.
 Why did they leave that old house?
 You shouldn’t have driven your car off the bridge.
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FUNCTIONS OF A NOUN
Object Complement
Similarly to subject complements, nouns and noun phrases can
function as object complements. An object complement is a word,
phrase, or clause that directly follows and describes the direct object.
The following italicized noun phrases are examples of object
complements:
 The Provost named my supervisor the new Dean.
 We elected you team leader.
 Your cousins named their daughter Rainbow!
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Indirect Object (Beneficiary)
Nouns and noun phrases can also function as indirect objects. An indirect
object is a word, phrase, or clause that follows a *ditransitive verb and
answers the question "to or for whom?" or "to or for what" is the action of
the verb performed. The following italicized noun phrases are examples
of indirect objects:
 Our groomer gave the dog a bath.
 My professor loaned me a book.
 The groom bought his new bride a wedding present.
In other words the person or animate being who receives the direct
object is called an indirect object. Sometimes called beneficiaries,
these elements are typically animate beings. The beneficiary is the
element in a sentence that receives the direct object.
Beneficiaries are found in sentences where the verb indicates in
some way an action of giving or telling. Sentences with an indirect
object usually contain a direct object as well.
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FUNCTIONS OF A NOUN
Indirect Object (Beneficiary)
 The committee is forwarding us the report. (forwarding has the
notion of giving. )
 He often pours her a cup of coffee before she gets up. (pouring
conveys giving. )
 They told their son the good news about his scholarship.
 (Note: They informed their son of the good news.... son is a direct
object, news is the object of a preposition)
Beneficiaries often show up after the words to and for when the sense
of the verb means giving or telling. Some grammars of English do
not allow words following to or for to be called indirect objects.
Please see the discussion below concerning the objects of
prepositions.
*Ditransitive verb describes a verb that can be followed by two
objects, one of which has the action of the verb done to it and the
other of which has the action of the verb directed towards it.
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Prepositional Complement
Nouns and noun phrases function as prepositional complements. A
prepositional complement is a word, phrase, or clause that directly
follows the preposition in a prepositional phrase. Prepositional
complements are also called complements of prepositions and
objects of prepositions. The following italicized noun phrases are
examples of prepositional complements:
 That little boy gave his toy to his baby brother.
 The mother warned her children not to go into the woods.
 During his vacation, the man decided to move to the Tropics.
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Noun Phrase Modifier
Although adjectives are traditionally defined as words that describe
nouns, nouns and noun phrases can function as noun phrase
modifiers. A noun phrase modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that
describes another noun or noun phrase. The following italicized noun
phrases are examples of noun phrase modifiers:
 The bedroom walls are all oak panels.
 Books are repaired in the Conservation Lab.
 Mylar encapsulation is a technique for protecting brittle paper.
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Determinatives
Like other determiners, nouns and noun phrases can also function as
determinatives. A determinative is a noun or noun phrase plus the
possessive *clitic [apostrophe s (‘s) or s apostrophe (s’)] that
indicates possession of or some other relationship to another noun
or noun phrase. The following italicized noun phrases are examples
of determinatives:
 The cat is eating the dog's food.
 My parents' house is in the same part of town as mine.
 Why did your mother-in-law's cat run away?

* Clitic - ['klɪtɪk] (noun) [Grammar] an unstressed word that normally

occurs only in combination with another word, for example 'm in I'm.
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Determinatives
Nouns and noun phrases functioning as determinatives can
simultaneously function as subject complements. The following
italicized noun phrases are examples of bother determinatives and
subject complements:
 This bowl is the dog's.
 The two parking lots north of town are the university's.
 Those books by the door are the library's.
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FUNCTIONS OF A NOUN
Appositive
Nouns and noun phrases also function as appositives. An appositive is
a word, phrase, or clause that modifies or explains another noun or
noun phrase. The following italicized noun phrases are examples of
appositives:
 Eagle-Eye Cherry, the musician, is an individual, not a group.
 Your aunt Lily is an eccentric lady.
 John Smith, the colonial captain, founded Jamestown in 1607.
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Adverbial
Nouns and noun phrases can function as adverbials. An adverbial is a
word, phrase, or clause that describes an entire clause by providing
information such as time, place, manner, condition, reason, or
purpose. Adverbials answers such questions as "when?" "where?"
"why?" and "how?" The following italicized noun phrases are
examples of adverbials:
 Today I need to go to bed early.
 I get to sleep in late Sunday morning.
 The puppy ran home.