Grammaire

Introduction

2. 1. Definition

Nouns = “Name” = “Nouns and Noun-Related Parts of Speech”

 

         Nouns are among the simplest words among the parts of speech. A noun is a word describing who “subject” or “what “object” in a sentence. A noun is used to name a person, place, or thing. The word “thing” comprises anything which can be perceived by human senses. Remember, that the term “thing” can be anything-an animal, a device, a point, an object, an event, and so on. In addition, nouns represent qualities, feelings, concepts, activities and measures. Nouns are the most basic unit of speech. See the example and the table below for more details:

·        Persons: Stephanie, Dr. Edelstein, teacher, accountant ………….………….…..

·        Places: Chicago, island, Italy, college……………….………..…………..……..

·        Things: novel, surfboard, bicycle, horse………………...……...………………..

·        Qualities: patience, honesty, enthusiasm……………….....……...………….…..

·        Feelings: happiness, anger, confusion, sadness…………….….….....…....……..

·        Concepts: knowledge, freedom, friendship, travel………......…..…..…………..

·        Activities: snowboarding, dancing, management, eating……...….…..…...…….

·        Measures: day, week, inch, kilometer, million……………...…....…………..…

·        Condition: peace, security, joy ………………………………..….……..………

Nouns are important words in English language. Sentences revolve around nouns because nouns function both as subjects and as objects of verbs. To determine whether a word is really a noun, try using it with the verb “is” or “are”. You should notice that all word nouns would make sense if used in this way. See the examples below:

·        Katia smiled. The bold type word is a noun that refers to a person.

·        Katia smiled at Isabel, Kevin, and their two dogs, Trevor and Lance.

·        Trevor and Lance were watching a show on Animal Planet.

·        That plain red wooden chair in the corner is a priceless antique.

·        The iceberg was massive underneath water.

·        Austin, Texas is known as the “Live Music Capital of the World”.

·        But the New York Times created controversy when it referred to it as the ““Live Music Capital of the South”.

Examples of Nouns
People	Girls, boys, men, women,
Places	Lake, Algeria, district
Things §  Animals §  Objects §  Substances §  Actions §  Measures	·        Dog, cut, fish, cow, fox, ·        Car, plane, house, machine, tools ·        Gold, air, iron ·        Race, dance,  hit, travel, ·        Meter, centimeter, day, hour,
Qualities	Beauty, honesty, happiness, courage,

 

 

Nouns can be found anywhere in a sentence, and most sentences contain several nouns. One way to find nouns is to look for the little words a, an, the. The naming word that comes after them is probably a noun. Sometimes nouns appear without these little words, but you can usually insert them without changing the meaning of the sentence. Try to analyze the nouns in this sentence:

·        John and his daughters visited the continent of Europe and saw some lions. the nouns in this sentence are as follows:

-         The word John is a noun that names a person.

-         The word daughters name people

-         The word continent names a thing

-         The word Europe names a place

-         The word Lions names animals.

Now, examine the following sentences carefully until you feel satisfied that you can identify the nouns, their kinds and for what they stand for in most sentences.

·        Stephan and his brother went to the forest to watch over the lions.

·        His doctor bought a new flat in Algiers last week.

·        Finish your food before the big game starts on your phone.

·        The Smiths lived on a factory until a year ago when the family moved to the capital of the country.

·        Algiers is the capital of Algeria, and Constantine is the cultural capital of the country.

·        Sometimes excellent students spend more time in the library than their exams need.

·        French is the first language of many citizens of Canada.

 

grammar Point A noun is the name of a person, place, animal, thing, idea or emotion. In short, it is a naming word.

 

1. 2. Noun Phrase

 

A noun is often called a noun phrase. A noun phrase can be a single-word noun. But a noun phrase is usually longer than a single word because it consists of an adjective or a determiner plus a noun. See the examples below:

·        Teacher loves their pupils. (noun phrase: teacher = single word noun)

·        A good teacher loves his pupils. (Noun phrase: a good teacher = group of words)

The left-hand column in the table below lists categories of single words that may constitute a Noun Phrase, and which must consequently be its head; the italicized expressions in the right-hand column in the same table are examples of single-word NPs belonging to the corresponding category.

Category of Head Word                              Example

§  Noun, count                                            Girls are playful. §  Noun, non-count                                      Mushroom is nutritious. §  Subject and object personal pronouns       She met he r teacher. §  Genitive personal pronoun                       Mine are vivid. §  Indefinite pronoun/quantifier                    None were found here. §  Wh-word/pronoun                                   Who made the cake?

All of the word categories in the right-hand column are noun-like, so in order to abbreviate and to simplify matters, let’s refer to them all as nominal. Every NP, like every other phrase, must have a head, and any nominal can be the head of an NP.

 

2. Functions of Noun

Nouns have certain functions (jobs) in a sentence: as subject of verb, as direct, object of verb, as indirect object of the verb, as object of preposition and as subjective complement. The examples below will clarify those functions:

·        Teachers teach every day. Teachers word is the subject of the verb teach.

·        Teachers teach students every day. Students word is the direct object of the verb teach.

·        The teacher sent the headmaster an invitation. The headmaster word is the indirect object of the verb sent.

·         The conference of that teacher is very interesting. The word teacher is the object of preposition of.

·        My son is the best doctor in the world. Doctor is the head word of subjective complement “the best doctor in the world”.   

 

3. Properties or Characteristics of Nouns

All nouns have four characteristics called "properties": (1) gender, (2) person, (3) number, and (4) case. Let us look at these properties one by one.

3. 1. Gender

In the English language, is "natural," not grammatical. That is, the gender of a noun is determined not by the grammatical form of the word, but by the sex of the person, place, or thing that is named. Gender, in English, denotes male sex, female sex, either sex, or neither sex.

§  Masculine gender denotes male sex. Examples of masculine nouns are as follows: boy, brother, bull, cock, colt, father, stallion, husband, king, man, son, and uncle.

§  Feminine gender denotes female sex. Examples of feminine nouns: girl, sister, cow, hen, filly, mother, mare, wife, queen, woman, daughter, and aunt.

§  Common gender denotes either sex. Examples of common gender nouns: birds, cattle, children, citizens, driver, friend, lawyer, neighbor, parent, relative, singer, and worker.

§  Neuter gender denotes neither male nor female sex. Examples of neuter gender nouns: books, cabinet, city, desk, house, ink, lamp, pen, river, and tree.

 

3. 2. Person

 

"Person" is a characteristic or form which lets us know whether the word relates to the speaker, to the person spoken to, or to the person or thing spoken about.

§  A first person noun refers to a person who is doing the speaking. Example: "I, John, was on the island of Patmos" (Revelation 1:9). In this sentence, the noun "John" is in the first person because John is the speaker.

§  A second person noun refers to a person who is being addressed. Example: "Friends, Romans, and countrymen; lend me your ears." In this famous speech from Julius Caesar, the nouns "friends," "Romans," and "countrymen" are in the second person because they name people who are being spoken to.

§  A third person noun refers to a person, place, or thing being spoken about. Example: "In the beginning, God created the earth and sky." The noun "God" is third person because he is the person being discussed.

3. 3. Number

"Number" is that something in the form of a noun that tells us whether the noun refers to only one person, place, or thing, or to more than one. The singular noun names only one person, place, or thing. The plural noun names more than one person, place, or thing. Consider the following pairs or words: "book versus books", "apple versus apples", "cat versus cats", "dog versus dogs", "roads versus roads"

         Some nouns do not have a plural form. These nouns are called non-countable  nouns. Material things like bread, butter, coffee, gold, oxygen, silver, and dust are not usually counted. Instead, they are measured. We do not say, "Give me two breads." We say, "Give me two loaves of bread," or "two slices of bread."

         Abstract nouns are non-count nouns. Abstract nouns include concepts like freedom and liberty; emotions like love, greed, and hate; fields of study like biology, chemistry, and engineering; qualities like beauty, excellence, and peace. None of these abstract nouns has a plural form.

3. 4. Case

"Case" is the relation of a noun or pronoun to other words in the sentence. English nouns have three cases: (a) Nominative, (b) Objective, and (c) Possessive.

§  The nominative case is the use of a noun (or pronoun) as the subject of a sentence, or as the predicate following a linking verb. ("Nominative" means "pertaining to a name." See Introductory Lesson concerning the "subject" and "predicate.") When a noun (or pronoun) is the subject of a sentence, it is called the "subject nominative." Example: "The moon is shining." In this sentence, "moon" is the subject nominative. When a noun (or pronoun) is the predicate of the sentence following a linking verb, it is called the "predicate nominative." Example: "God is love." In this sentence, the noun "love" is the predicate nominative.

§  The objective case is the use of a noun (or pronoun) as an object in a sentence. That is, if a noun (or pronoun) receives the action of a transitive verb, the noun is in the objective case. Example: "I like you." In this sentence, "I" is the subject, "like" is the transitive verb, and "you" is the object that receives the action. A transitive verb is a verb whose action carries over to another person, place, or thing. The person, place, or thing upon which the action has an effect is "the object" of the verb. Example: "John hit Mary." The noun "Mary" is the object of the verb "hit" and is, therefore, in the objective case. Or, if a noun (or pronoun) follows a preposition, it is in the objective case. Example: "Mary went to town." The noun "town" is the object of the preposition "to" and is in the objective case.

§  The possessive case is the use of a noun (or pronoun) to show ownership or relationship. Examples: Amy's dress; Lisa's doll; Debbie's hair; Dan's saw; Matthew's shoes; Tina's book, Rick's motorcycle. As we noticed in Lesson Two, a singular possessive noun is formed by adding an apostrophe (') and an "s" to the noun. Examples: boy's hat; girl's bicycle; teacher's book; citizen's rights. A plural noun ending in "s" is formed by adding the apostrophe only. Examples: boys' hats; girls' bicycles; teachers' books; citizens' rights.