NOUNS

A noun is a word that names something: either a person, place, or thing. In a

sentence, nouns can play the role of subject, direct object, indirect object, subject
complement, object complement, appositive, or adjective.

Functions of Nouns
Subject (S) - a noun or pronoun partnered with a predicate verb.

1. does an action with an action verb

2. exists with a verb of being

3. is renamed or described after a verb of being or a linking verb

4. is acted upon with a passive verb

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Object of Preposition (OP) - a noun or pronoun answering "whom" or "what" after
a preposition in a a prepositional phrase.

Direct Object (DO) - a noun or pronoun answering "whom" or "what" after an action
verb. A direct object "receives" or is the "object" of the action.

Retained Object (RO) - a noun or pronoun answering "whom" or "what" after a passive
verb.

Indirect Object (IO) - a noun or pronoun answering "to whom/what" or "for whom/what"
after an action verb.

An indirect object

 always precedes a direct object

 never has the word “to” or “for” stated

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Subjective Complement (SC) - a noun, pronoun, or adjective that renames or describes
(equals) the subject after a verb of being or a linking verb.

Objective Complement (OC) - a noun, pronoun, or adjective that renames or describes

(equals) the direct object.

Test for OC: insert "to be" between the DO and the OC

Appositive (App) - a noun or pronoun that renames another noun; An appositive is usually
placed next to the noun it renames..

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Gourmet renames the noun Joe. Therefore, gourmet is an appositive of Joe.

When an appositive is not placed next to the noun it renames, the appositive is called
a delayed appositive.

A delayed appositive may rename the word it in some sentence constructions.

In the above sentence, the appositive to meet you renames it. It (to meet you) is a
pleasure.

In this sentence, pleasure is the subjective complement of it.

Therefore, it = pleasure = to meet you.

Object of Preposition (OP) - a noun or pronoun answering "whom" or "what" after a

preposition in a a prepositional phrase.

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 Proper Nouns vs. Common Nouns
Names of people, places and organisations are called proper nouns. We spell proper nouns
with a capital letter:
Mohammed Ali; Birmingham; China; Oxford University, the United Nations

We use capital letters for festivals:

Christmas; Deepawali; Easter; Ramadan; Thanksgiving

We use a capital letter for someone’s title:

I was talking to Doctor Wilson recently.
Everything depends on President Obama.

When we give the names of books, films, plays and paintings we use capital letters for
the nouns, adjectives and verbs in the name:

I have been reading ‘The Old Man and the Sea’.

Beatrix Potter wrote ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’
You can see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.

Sometimes we use a person’s name to refer to something they have created:

Recently a Van Gogh was sold for fifteen million dollars.

We were listening to Mozart.
I’m reading an Agatha Christie.
One important distinction to be made is whether a noun is a proper noun or a common
noun. A proper noun is a specific name of a person, place, or thing, and is always
capitalized.

Example Does Tina have much homework to do this evening?

Tina is the name of a specific person.

Example I would like to visit Old Faithful.

Old Faithful is the specific name of a geological phenomenon.

The opposite of a proper noun is a common noun, sometimes known as a generic noun. A
common noun is the generic name of an item in a class or group and is not capitalized
unless appearing at the beginning of a sentence or in a title.

Example The girl crossed the river.

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 Girl is a common noun; we do not learn the identity of the girl by reading this
sentence, though we know the action she takes. River is also a common noun
in this sentence.
Types of Common Nouns
Common or generic nouns can be broken down into three subtypes: concrete nouns,
abstract nouns, and collective nouns. A concrete noun is something that is perceived by the
senses; something that is physical or real.

Example I heard the doorbell.

Example My keyboard is sticky.
Doorbell and keyboard are real things that can be sensed.

Conversely, an abstract noun is something that cannot be perceived by the senses.

Example We can’t imagine the courage it took to do that.

Courage is an abstract noun. Courage can’t be seen, heard, or sensed in any
other way, but we know it exists.

A collective noun denotes a group or collection of people or things.

Example That pack of lies is disgraceful.

Pack of lies as used here is a collective noun. Collective nouns take a singular
verb as if they are one entity – in this case, the singular verb is.

Example A pride of lions roamed the savanna.

Pride of lions is also a collective noun.

Nouns as Subjects
Every sentence must have a subject, and that subject will always be a noun. The subject of
a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is doing or being the verb in that sentence.

Example Maria is happy.

Maria is the subject of this sentence and the corresponding verb is a form of
to be (is).

Nouns as Objects
Nouns can also be objects of a verb in a sentence. An object can be either a direct object (a
noun that receives the action performed by the subject) or an indirect object (a noun that is
the recipient of a direct object).

Example Give the books to her.

Books is a direct object (what is being given) and her is the indirect object
(who the books are being given to).

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Nouns as Subject and Object Complements
Another type of noun use is called a subject complement. In this example, the noun teacher
is used as a subject complement.

Example Mary is a teacher.

Subject complements normally follow linking verbs like to be, become, or
seem. A teacher is what Mary is.

A related usage of nouns is called an object complement.

Example I now pronounce you husband and wife.

Husband and wife are nouns used as object complements in this sentence.
Verbs that denote making, naming, or creating are often followed by object
complements.

Appositive Nouns and Nouns as Modifiers

An appositive noun is a noun which immediately follows another noun in order to further
define or identify it.

Example My brother, Michael, is six years old.

Michael is an appositive here, further identifying the subject of the sentence,
my brother.

Sometimes, nouns can be used adjectivally as well.

Example He is a speed demon.

Speed is a normally a noun, but here it is acting as an adjective to modify
demon.

Plural Nouns
Plural nouns, unlike collective nouns, require plural verbs. Many English plural nouns can be
formed by adding -s or -es to the singular form, although there are many exceptions.

Example cat—cats
Example These two cats are both black.
Note the plural verb are.

Example tax—taxes
Example house—houses

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 Count nouns

Countable nouns are nouns which can be counted, even if the number might be
extraordinarily high (like counting all the people in the world). Countable nouns can be used
with a/an, the, some, any, a few, and many.

Count nouns have two forms: singular and plural.

Singular count nouns refer to one person or thing:
a book; a teacher; a wish; an idea
Plural count nouns refer to more than one person or thing:
books; teachers; wishes; ideas

Count nouns have two forms: singular and plural.

Singular count nouns refer to one person or thing:
a book; a teacher; a wish; an idea
Plural count nouns refer to more than one person or thing:
books; teachers; wishes; ideas

Singular count nouns

Singular count nouns cannot be used alone. They must have a determiner:
the book; that English teacher; a wish; my latest idea

Plural forms
We usually add –s to make a plural noun:
book > books; school > schools; friend > friends
We add -es to nouns ending in –ss; -ch; -s; -sh; -x
class > classes; watch > watches; gas > gases; wish > wishes; box > boxes
When a noun ends in a consonant and -y we make the plural in -ies...
lady > ladies; country > countries; party > parties
…but if a noun ends in a vowel and -y we simply add -s:
boy > boys; day > days; play > plays
Some common nouns have irregular plurals:
Man > men; woman > women; child > children; foot > feet;
person > people

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Plural count nouns do not have a determiner when they refer to people or things as
a group:
Computers are very expensive.
Do you sell old books?
There is a cat in the garden.
There are some birds in the trees.

For positive sentences we can use a/an or some (with a plural verb form)
There isn’t a dog in the garden.
There aren’t any birds in the tree.

For negatives we can use a/an or any (with a plural verb form).
Is there an orange on the tree?
Are there any chairs in the garden?
How many chairs are there?

In questions we use a/an, any or how many.

We can use a few and many with countable nouns:
I've got a few dollars.
I haven't got many pens.

The words for some minor ailments are countable. Examples are: a cold, a sore
throat, a headache etc.
I have got a headache. (NOT I have got headache.)

In British English, some common ailments like toothache, earache, stomach-

ache and backache are usually uncountable. In American English, they can be
countable or uncountable.
I have got bad toothache. (GB) I have got a bad toothache. / I have got bad toothache.
(US)

He ordered A COFFEE. (countable, because it's referring to a cup of coffee)

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 Would you like SOME COFFEE? (uncountable because it's referring to the drink in
general)
The FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS about human nature. (countable, because it's referring to
facts or beliefs that are true)

There's no TRUTH in the rumours. (uncountable, because it refers to the quality or state
of being true)
Uncount nouns

Uncountable nouns are nouns that come in a state or quantity which is impossible to count;
liquids are uncountable, as are things that act like liquids (sand, air). They are always
considered to be singular, and can be used with some, any, a little, and much.

Some nouns in English are uncount nouns.

We do not use uncount nouns in the plural and we do not use them with the indefinite
article, a/an.
We ate a lot of foods > We ate a lot of food
We bought some new furnitures > We bought some new furniture
That’s a useful information > That’s useful information
We can use some quantifiers with uncount nouns:
He gave me some useful advice.
They gave us a lot of information.

Uncount nouns often refer to:

 Substances: food; water; wine; salt; bread; iron
 Human feelings or qualities: anger; cruelty; happiness; honesty; pride;
 Activities: help; sleep; travel; work
 Abstract ideas: beauty; death; fun; life

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Common uncount nouns
 There are some common nouns in English, like accommodation, which are
uncount nouns even though they have plurals in other languages:

advice baggage equipment furniture homework information

knowledge luggage machinery money news traffic

 Let me give you some advice.
How much luggage have you got?
 If we want to make these things countable, we use expressions like:

a piece of... pieces of... a bit of... bits of... an item of... items of...
Let me give you a piece of advice.
That’s a useful piece of equipment.
We bought a few bits of furniture for the new apartment.
She had six separate items of luggage.
but we do not use accommodation, money and traffic in this way.

These are called uncountable nouns, because they cannot be separated or counted.
some things are seen as a whole or mass.

Ideas and experiences: advice, information, progress, news, luck, fun, work
Materials and substances: water, rice, cement, gold, milk
Weather words: weather, thunder, lightning, rain, snow
Names for groups or collections of things: furniture, equipment, rubbish, luggage

Other common uncountable nouns include: accommodation, baggage, homework,

knowledge, money, permission, research, traffic, travel.

Some nouns always have plural form but they are uncountable because we
cannot use numbers with them.
I bought two pairs of trousers.
Not: I bought two trousers.
Other nouns of this type are: shorts, pants, pyjamas, glasses (for the eyes), binoculars,
scissors.

Quantity expressions (a bit/piece)

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To refer to one or more quantities of an uncountable noun, expressions such as a bit of,
a piece of, an item of or words for containers and measures must be used.

Determiners (my, some, the)

Uncountable nouns can be used with certain determiners (e.g. my, her, some, any, no,
the, this, that) and expressions of quantity (e.g. a lot of, (a) little).

Many abstract nouns are typically uncountable, e.g. happiness, truth,

darkness, humour.
Some uncountable nouns can be used in the plural as well, depending on the meaning
or context of the word.
Be careful with the noun hair which is normally uncountable in English, so it is not used
in the plural. It can be countable only when referring to individual hairs.
I found a hair in my soup! (refers to a single strand of hair)

COMMON PROBLEMS WITH COUNT/UNCOUNT NOUNS

1: Uncount nouns used as count nouns

Although substances are usually uncount nouns...
Would you like some cheese?
Coffee keeps me awake at night.
Wine makes me sleep.
... they can be also used as count nouns:

I’d like a coffee please. = I’d like a [cup of] coffee.

May I have a white wine.
They sell a lot of coffees.
I prefer white wines to red.
They had over twenty cheeses on
sale.
This is an excellent soft cheese.
= May I have a [glass of] white wine.
= They sell a lot of [different kinds of] coffee.
= I prefer [different kinds of] white wine to red.
They had over twenty [types of] cheese on
=
sale.
= This [kind of] soft cheese is excellent.

2: Some nouns have both a count and an uncount form:

We should always have hope.
George had hopes of promotion.
Travel is a great teacher.
Where did you go on your travels?

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3: Nouns with two meanings
Some nouns have two meanings, one count and the other non count:
His life was in danger.
There is a serious danger of fire.
Linguistics is the study of language.
Is English a difficult language?
It’s made of paper.
The Times is an excellent paper.
Other words like this are:

business death industry marriage power property

tax time victory use work

4: Uncount nouns that end in -s

Some uncount nouns end in -s so they look like plurals even though they are singular
nouns.
These nouns generally refer to:
Subjects of study: mathematics, physics, economics, etc.
Activities: gymnastics, athletics, etc.
Games: cards, darts, billiards, etc.
Diseases: mumps, measles, rabies, etc.

Economics is a very difficult subject.

Billiards is easier than pool or snooker.

5: Group nouns
Some nouns, like army, refer to groups of people, animals or things, and we can use
them either as singular nouns or as plural nouns.
army audience committee company crew enemy
family flock gang government group herd
media public regiment staff team

We can use these group nouns either as singular nouns or as plural nouns:

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 My family is very dear to me.
I have a large family. They are very dear to me. (= The members of my family…)
 The government is very unpopular.
The government are always changing their minds.
Sometimes we think of the group as a single thing:
 The audience always enjoys the show.
 The group consists of two men and three women.
Sometimes we think of the group as several individuals;
 The audience clapped their hands.
 The largest group are the boys.

The names of many organisations and teams are also group nouns, but they
are usually plural in spoken English:
 Barcelona are winning 2-0.
 The United Oil Company are putting prices up by 12%.

6: Two-part nouns
A few plural nouns, like binoculars, refer to things that have two parts.
glasses jeans knickers pincers pants pliers
pyjamas scissors shorts spectacles tights trainers
trousers tweezers

These binoculars were very expensive

Those trousers are too long.
To make it clear we are talking about one of these items, we use a pair of …
I need a new pair of spectacles.
I’ve bought a pair of blue jeans.
If we want to talk about more than one, we use pairs of … :
We’ve got three pairs of scissors, but they are all blunt.
I always carry two pairs of binoculars.

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 Proper Nouns

Names of people, places and organisations are called proper nouns. We spell proper
nouns with a capital letter:

Mohammed Ali; Birmingham; China; Oxford University, the United Nations

We use capital letters for festivals:

Christmas; Deepawali; Easter; Ramadan; Thanksgiving

We use a capital letter for someone’s title:

I was talking to Doctor Wilson recently.

Everything depends on President Obama.

When we give the names of books, films, plays and paintings we use capital letters for
the nouns, adjectives and verbs in the name:

I have been reading ‘The Old Man and the Sea’.

Beatrix Potter wrote ‘The Tale of Peter Rabbit’
You can see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.

Sometimes we use a person’s name to refer to something they have created:

Recently a Van Gogh was sold for fifteen million dollars.

We were listening to Mozart.
I’m reading an Agatha Christie.

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