Definition

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Whatever exists, we assume, can be named, and that name is a noun. A proper noun, which names a specific person, place, or thing (Carlos, Queen Marguerite, Middle East, Jerusalem, Malaysia, Presbyterianism, God, Spanish, Buddhism, the Republican Party), is almost always capitalized. A proper noun used as an addressed person's name is called a noun of address. Common nouns name everything else, things that usually are not capitalized. A group of related words can act as a single noun-like entity within a sentence. A Noun Clause contains a subject and verb and can do anything that a noun can do:
What he does for this town is a blessing.

A Noun Phrase, frequently a noun accompanied by modifiers, is a group of related words acting as a noun: the oil depletion allowance; the abnormal, hideously enlarged nose. There is a separate section on word combinations that become Compound Nouns such as daughter-in-law, half-moon, and stick-in-the-mud.

Categories of Nouns
Nouns can be classified further as count nouns, which name anything that can be counted (four books, two continents, a few dishes, a dozen buildings);mass nouns (or non-count nouns), which name something that can't be counted (water, air, energy, blood); and collective nouns, which can take a singular form but are composed of more than one individual person or items (jury, team, class, committee, herd). 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:
a.

He got into trouble. (non-count)

b. c. d.

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 Ireland." Some texts will include the category of abstract nouns, by which we mean the kind of word that is not tangible, such as warmth, justice, grief, andpeace. Abstract nouns are sometimes troublesome for non-native writers because they can appear with determiners or without: "Peace settled over the countryside." "The skirmish disrupted the peace that had settled over the countryside." See the section on Plurals for additional help with collective nouns, words that can be singular or plural, depending on context.

Forms of Nouns
Nouns can be in the subjective, possessive, and objective case. The word case defines the role of the noun in the sentence. Is it a subject, an object, or does it show possession?

The English professor [subject] is tall. He chose the English professor [object]. The English professor's [possessive] car is green.

Nouns in the subject and object role are identical in form; nouns that show the possessive, however, take a different form. Usually an apostrophe is added followed by the letter s (except for plurals, which take the plural "-s" ending first, and then add the apostrophe). See the section on Possessives for help with possessive forms. There is also a table outlining the cases of nouns and pronouns.

Almost all nouns change form when they become plural, usually with the simple addition of an -s or -es. Unfortunately, it's not always that easy, and a separate section on Plurals offers advice on the formation of plural noun forms.

PRONOUNS Definition
Generally (but not always) pronouns stand for (pro + noun) or refer to a noun, an individual or individuals or thing or things (the pronoun's antecedent) whose identity is made clear earlier in the text. For instance, we are bewildered by writers who claim something like

They say that eating beef is bad for you.

They is a pronoun referring to someone, but who are they? Cows? whom do they represent? Sloppy use of pronouns is unfair. Not all pronouns will refer to an antecedent, however.

Everyone here earns over a thousand dollars a day.

The word "everyone" has no antecedent. The problem of agreement between a pronoun and its antecedent and between a pronoun and its verb is treated in another section on Pronoun-Antecedent Consistency. The quizzes on pronoun usage are also listed at the end of that section. This section will list and briefly describe the several kinds of pronouns.

Personal Pronouns

Unlike English nouns, which usually do not change form except for the addition of an s ending to create the plural or the apostrophe + s to create the possessive, personal pronouns (which stand for persons or things) change form according to their various uses within a sentence. Thus I is used as the subject of a sentence (I am happy.), me is used as an object in various ways (He hit me. He gave me a book. Do this for me.), and my is used as the possessive form (That's my car.) The same is true of the other personal pronouns: the singular you and he/she/it and the plural we, you, and they. These forms are called cases. An easily printable chart is available that shows the various Cases of the Personal Pronouns. Personal pronouns can also be characterized or distinguished by person. First person refers to the speaker(s) or writer(s) ("I" for singular, "we" for plural). Second person refers to the person or people being spoken or written to ("you" for both singular and plural). Third person refers to the person or people being spoken or written about ("he," "she," and "it" for singular, "they" for plural). The person of a pronoun is also demonstrated in the chart Cases of the Personal Pronouns. As you will see there, each person can change form, reflecting its use within a sentence. Thus, "I" becomes "me" when used as an object ("She left me") and "my" when used in its possessive role (That's my car"); "they" becomes "them" in object form ("I like them") and "their" in possessive ("That's just their way"). When a personal pronoun is connected by a conjunction to another noun or pronoun, its case does not change. We would write "I am taking a course in Asian history"; if Talitha is also taking that course, we would write "Talitha and I are taking a course in Asian history." (Notice that Talitha gets listed before "I" does. This is one of the few ways in which English is a "polite" language.) The same is true when the object form is called for: "Professor Vendetti gave all her books to me"; if Talitha also received some books, we'd write "Professor Vendetti gave all her books to Talitha and me." For more on this, see cases of pronouns. When a pronoun and a noun are combined (which will happen with the plural first- and second-person pronouns), choose the case of the pronoun that would be appropriate if the noun were not there.

We students are demanding that the administration give us two hours for lunch. The administration has managed to put us students in a bad situation.

With the second person, we don't really have a problem because the subject form is the same as the object form, "you":

"You students are demanding too much." "We expect you students to behave like adults."

Among the possessive pronoun forms, there is also what is called the nominative possessive: mine, yours, ours, theirs.

Look at those cars. Theirs is really ugly; ours is beautiful. This new car is mine. Mine is newer than yours.

Demonstrative Pronouns
The family of demonstratives (this/that/these/those/such) can behave either as pronouns or as determiners. As pronouns, they identify or point to nouns.

That is incredible! (referring to something you just saw) I will never forget this. (referring to a recent experience) Such is my belief. (referring to an explanation just made)

As determiners, the demonstratives adjectivally modify a noun that follows. A sense of relative distance (in time and space) can be conveyed through the choice of these pronouns/determiners:

These [pancakes sitting here now on my plate] are delicious. Those [pancakes that I had yesterday morning] were even better. This [book in my hand] is well written; that [book that I'm pointing to, over there, on the table] is trash.

A sense of emotional distance or even disdain can be conveyed with the demonstrative pronouns:

You're going to wear these? This is the best you can do?

Pronouns used in this way would receive special stress in a spoken sentence.
When used as subjects, the demonstratives, in either singular or plural form, can be used to refer to objects as well as persons.

This is my father. That is my book.

In other roles, however, the reference of demonstratives is non-personal. In other words, when referring to students, say, we could write "Those were loitering near the entrance during the fire drill" (as long as it is perfectly clear in context what "those" refers to). But we would not write "The principal suspended those for two days"; instead, we would have to use "those" as a determiner and write "The principal suspended those students for two days."

Relative Pronouns
The relative pronouns (who/whoever/which/that) relate groups of words to nouns or other pronouns (The student who studies hardest usually does the best.). The word who connects or relates the subject, student, to the verb within the dependent clause (studies). Choosing correctly between which and that and between who and whom leads to what are probably the most Frequently Asked Questions about English grammar. For help with which/that, refer to the Notorious Confusables article on those words (including the hyperlink to Michael Quinion's article on this usage and the links to relevant quizzes). Generally, we use "which" to introduce clauses that are parenthetical in nature (i.e., that can be removed from the sentence without changing the essential meaning of the sentence). For that reason, a "which clause" is often set off with a comma or a pair of commas. "That clauses," on the other hand, are usually deemed

indispensable for the meaning of a sentence and are not set off with commas. The pronoun which refers to things; who (and its forms) refers to people; that usually refers to things, but it can also refer to people in a general kind of way. For help with who/whom refer to the section on Consistency. We also recommend that you take the quizzes on the use of who and whom at the end of that section. The expanded form of the relative pronouns whoever, whomever, whatever are known as indefinite relative pronouns. A couple of sample sentences should suffice to demonstrate why they are called "indefinite":

The coach will select whomever he pleases. He seemed to say whatever came to mind. Whoever crosses this line first will win the race.

What is often an indefinite relative pronoun:

She will tell you what you need to know.

Indefinite Pronouns
The indefinite pronouns (everybody/anybody/somebody/all/each/every/some/none/one) do not substitute for specific nouns but function themselves as nouns (Everyone is wondering if anyis left.) One of the chief difficulties we have with the indefinite pronouns lies in the fact that "everybody" feels as though it refers to more than one person, but it takes a singular verb. (Everybody isaccounted for.) If you think of this word as meaning "every single body," the confusion usually disappears. The indefinite pronoun none can be either singular or plural, depending on its context.None is nearly always plural (meaning "not any") except when something else in the sentence makes us regard it as a singular (meaning "not one"), as in "None of the food is fresh." Some can be singular or plural depending on whether it refers to something countable or noncountable. Refer to the section on Pronoun Consistency for help on

determining the number of the indefinite pronouns (and the number [singular/plural] of the verbs that accompany them). There is a separate section on the uses of the pronoun one. There are other indefinite pronouns, words that double as Determiners:
enough, few, fewer, less, little, many, much, several, more, most, all, both, every, each, any, either, neither, none, some

Few will be chosen; fewer will finish. Little is expected.

See the section on Pronoun Consistency for help in determining the number (singular/plural) characteristics of these pronouns.

Intensive Pronouns
The intensive pronouns (such as myself, yourself, herself, ourselves, themselves) consist of a personal pronoun plus self or selves and emphasize a noun. (I myself don't know the answer.) It is possible (but rather unusual) for an intensive pronoun to precede the noun it refers to. (Myself, I don't believe a word he says.)

Reflexive Pronouns
The reflexive pronouns (which have the same forms as the intensive pronouns) indicate that the sentence subject also receives the action of the verb. (Students who cheat on this quiz are only hurting themselves. You paid yourself a million dollars? She encouraged herself to do well.) What this means is that whenever there is a reflexive pronoun in a sentence there must be a person to whom that pronoun can "reflect." In other words, the sentence "Please hand that book to myself" would be incorrect because there is no "I" in that sentence for the "myself" to reflect to (and we would use "me" instead of "myself"). A sentence such as "I gave that book to myself for Christmas" might be silly, but it would be correct.

Be alert to a tendency to use reflexive pronoun forms (ending in -self) where they are neither appropriate nor necessary. The inappropriate reflexive form has a wonderful name: the untriggered reflexive. "Myself" tends to sound weightier, more formal, than little ol' me or I, so it has a way of sneaking into sentences where it doesn't belong.

Bob and myself I are responsible for this decision. These decisions will be made by myself me. If you have any questions, please contact myself me or Bob Jones.

When pronouns are combined, the reflexive will take either the first person

Juanita, Carlos, and I have deceived ourselves into believing in my uncle.

or, when there is no first person, the second person:

You and Carlos have deceived yourselves.

The indefinite pronoun (see above) one has its own reflexive form ("One must have faith in oneself."), but the other indefinite pronouns use either himself or themselves as reflexives. (There is an entire page on the pronoun one.) It is probably better to pluralize and avoid the clumsy himself or herself construction.

No one here can blame himself or herself. The people here cannot blame themselves.

Interrogative Pronouns
The interrogative pronouns (who/which/what) introduce questions. (What is that? Who will help me? Which do you prefer?) Which is generally used with more specific reference thanwhat. If we're taking a quiz and I ask "Which questions give you the most trouble?", I am referring to specific questions on that quiz. If I ask "What questions give you most trouble"? I could be asking what kind of questions on that quiz (or what kind of question, generically, in general) gives you trouble. The interrogative pronouns also act as Determiners: It

doesn't matter which beeryou buy. He doesn't know whose car he hit. In this determiner role, they are sometimes called interrogative adjectives. Like the relative pronouns, the interrogative pronouns introduce noun clauses, and like the relative pronouns, the interrogative pronouns play a subject role in the clauses they introduce:

We know who is guilty of this crime. I already told the detective what I know about it.

Reciprocal Pronouns
The reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another. They are convenient forms for combining ideas. If Bob gave Alicia a book for Christmas and Alicia gave Bob a book for Christmas, we can say that they gave each other books (or that they gave books to each other).

My mother and I give each other a hard time.

If more than two people are involved (let's say a whole book club), we would say that they gave one another books. This rule (if it is one) should be applied circumspectly. It's quite possible for the exchange of books within this book club, for example, to be between individuals, making "each other" just as appropriate as "one another." Reciprocal pronouns can also take possessive forms:

They borrowed each other's ideas. The scientists in this lab often use one another's equipment.

Clauses - Restrictive and Nonrestrictive

1. Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses Defined. Restrictive clauses limit the possible meaning of a preceding subject. Nonrestrictive clauses tell you something about a preceding subject, but they do not limit, or restrict, the meaning of that subject. Compare the following examples.

Correct Restrictive Use: The suspect in the lineup who has red hair committed the crime. Note how the subject "suspect" in this sentence is restricted in two ways: we know that this suspect is both in the lineup and has red hair. As a result, we know that the other suspects, who are not in the lineup, could not have committed the crime. Moreover, of those suspects in the lineup, we know that the one suspect in the lineup with red hair committed the crime. If there were more than one suspect in the lineup with red hair, the above usage would be incorrect because it implies a different meaning. Correct Nonrestrictive Use: The suspect in the lineup, who owns a red car, committed the crime. In this example, the restrictive clause "in the lineup" tells us that of all possible suspects in the world, the one who committed the crime is in the lineup. However, while the nonrestrictive clause "who owns a red car" tells us something about the suspect, it does not foreclose the possibility that there are several different suspects in the lineup with red cars. The car color may tell us something useful, but it does not restrict us to only one possibility. 2. When choosing between "that" and "which," use "that" to introduce a restrictive clause and "which" to introduce a nonrestrictive clause. Although some writers use "which" to introduce a restrictive clause, the traditional practice is to use "that" to introduce a restrictive clause and "which" to introduce a nonrestrictive clause. When writing a restrictive clause, do not place a comma before "that." When writing a nonrestrictive clause, do place a comma before "which."

Correct Restrictive Use: The store honored the complaints that were less than 60 days old. Correct Nonrestrictive Use: The store honored the complaints, which were less than 60 days old. These sentences have different meanings as well as different punctuation. In the restrictive sentence, the store honored only those complaints less than 60 days old, but not those over 60 days old. In the nonrestrictive sentence, the store honored all the complaints, all of which were less than 60 days old. 3. Place proper punctuation around nonrestrictive clauses, but do not place punctuation around restrictive clauses. When a nonrestrictive clause appears in the middle of a sentence, place commas around it. When a nonrestrictive clause appears at the end of a sentence, place a comma before it and a period after it. Do not punctuate restrictive clauses.

NOUN PHRASE
A noun phrase comprises a noun (obviously) and any associated modifiers:

The long and winding road A noun phrase any associated modifiers

The modifiers that accompany a noun can take any number of forms and combination of forms: adjectives, of course ("the tall and brilliant professor"); a participial phrase ("the road following the edge of the frozen lake"); an infinitive phrase ("the first man to walk on the moon"); a modifying clause ("the presentation that he had made the day before"); and prepositional phrases ("the building next to the lodge, over by the highway"). [See below for definitions of participial, infinitive, and prepositional phrases.] Usually, a noun phrase will be all of a piece, all the words that compose it being contiguous with the noun itself. It is possible, however, for a noun phrase to be broken, to become what we call discontinuous. Sometimes part of the noun phrase is delayed until the end of the sentence so that that portion of the phrase (usually modifying phrases participial or prepositional) can receive end weight or focus. In our first example, for instance (noun phrase in dark red) ,

Several accidents have been reported involving passengers falling from trains .

we could have put the entire noun phrase together: "Several accidents involving passengers falling from trains have been reported recently." Shifting the modifying phrases of the red-colored part of the phrase to the end puts additional emphasis on that part. Here are some other examples:

A rumor circulated among the staff that he was being promoted to Vice

President . (instead of "A rumor that he was being promoted to Vice President circulated among the staff.")

The time had come to stop spending money foolishly and to put something away

for the future . (instead of "The time to stop spending money foolishly and to put something away for the future had come.")

That hard drive was faulty that you sold me . (instead of "That hard drive that

you sold me was faulty.")

What business is it of yours? (instead of "What business of yours is it? ")

Clearly, there is nothing inherently wrong with a discontinuous noun phrase. One very good reason for a discontinuous noun phrase is to achieve a balance between a subject and its predicate:
DETERMINERS..

Determiners are used in front of nouns to indicate whether you are referring to something specific or something of a particular type. Determiners are different to pronouns in that a determiner is always followed by a noun. Therefore personal pronouns ( I , you , he , etc.) and possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, etc.) cannot be determiners. The definite and indefinite articles a/an/the are all determiners. You use a specific determiner when people know exactly which thing(s) or person/people you are talking about. The specific determiners are: the definite article : the demonstratives : this, that, these, those possessives : my, your, his, her, its, our, their

For example:"The dog barked at the boy." "These apples are rotten." "Their bus was late." You use general determiners to talk about people or things without saying exactly who or what they are. The general determiners are: the indefinite articles : a, an few a few a little all another any both each either enough every fewer less little more most much neither no several some

many other

For example:"A man sat under an umbrella." "Have you got any English books that I could have?" "There is enough food to feed everyone."

Either and Neither Either and neither are used in sentences concerning a possible choice between two items. Either can mean one or the other (of two) or each of two. For example:I've got tea and coffee, so you can have either. (One or the other) The room has a door at either end. (Both) Neither means not the first one and not the second one. For example:Neither of the students were listening.