Chapter 1 Nouns standard definition of a noun is a word that names a person, place, or thing. A Persons Heidi Jake man girl clerk Kevin Bacon typist brother Shakespeare Spaniard airman soldier wife daughter Places Paris church cellar New York Great Britain Laos the South Texas the Middle East home COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
8 / Parts of Speech school Lake Superior Earth the moon Antarctica Things motorcycle dogs trip honesty love rhododendron honor life neatness wisdom magazine table To Kill a Mockingbird opera the Pulitzer Prize Classifying Nouns Nouns are sometimes classified in the following ways: Common Proper Abstract Concrete Collective COMMON NOUNS Nouns that are the names of things in general are called common nouns. A common noun does not begin with an uppercase letter unless it is the first word of a sentence. Some examples of common nouns include the following:
Nouns / 9 nail car teacher cat fish vehicle racket bath match story Common nouns are often subdivided into two groups: Count nouns Mass nouns Count Nouns Count nouns are nouns that identify individual items, either singly or as members of groups. In other words, the single entities can be counted. Examples of count nouns include the following: cat boxes tree fish herd class toe marble bean A determiner is a word that introduces a noun phrase. Determiners specify number or quantity (all, both, two, many, several) or convey the denotation of a noun phrase (a/an, the, my, this). They are discussed in more detail in Chapter 5, Function Words, under the heading Determiners. Determiners patterning with count nouns can be singular or plural, depending on the number of the noun: That cow is my uncle s favorite. Those dogs appear friendly.
10 / Parts of Speech Mass Nouns Sometimes called non-count nouns, mass nouns identify undifferentiated mass that is, things not usually considered countable as individual items. Examples of mass nouns include the following: sugar grass water soda news food dirt fame blame education Mass nouns are usually singular and modified by words such as much, more, less, and some. Although mass nouns are not usually considered countable, countability can be achieved with certain mass nouns through the use of partitive expressions, such as a bit of, some pieces of, and the like. Following are examples of sentences containing partitive expressions (in italics) with mass nouns (in bold): Billy offered Jan a piece of advice. There wasn t a shred of evidence to support Joseph s theory about the robbery. Some partitive expressions work only with certain mass nouns: a ball of wax/yarn a lump of coal/sugar a cup of coffee/milk a case of beer/wine Measurements can also be used as partitive expressions with mass nouns: a spoonful of sugar a ton of manure PROPER NOUNS A noun that refers to a specific thing identified with an individual name is a proper noun. The first letter of a proper noun is capitalized. The following are some examples of proper nouns:
Nouns / 11 Peyton Manning Rover Indonesia Moby Dick Wisconsin History 110 Mountain Dew Skittles Proverbs Asia Grand Prix ABSTRACT NOUNS Nouns that name a quality, an attribute, an idea, or anything not having physical properties are abstract nouns. Such words as goodness, love, health, and mercy are included in this category. Many abstract nouns employ the suffixes-ness (goodness), -ty (loyalty), and -th (health) to name ideas and intangible qualities. CONCRETE NOUNS Nouns that name things that have physical properties that is, things that are tangible items are concrete nouns. Some examples of concrete nouns include the following: wood rain Mr. Peterson ghost car wind pencil Jennifer lie Saturday Borderline cases exist, such as ghost and lie, because ghosts, supposedly, can be seen, and lies can be heard. As you ve probably noticed, nouns fit into more than one noun category. For example, Mr. Peterson is both a proper noun and a concrete noun.
12 / Parts of Speech COLLECTIVE NOUNS A collective noun is a singular noun that refers to more than one thing as members of a single unit. For example, the collective noun herd refers to a single unit made up of individual members cows, for example. Some additional examples include the following: jury bunch throng committee company band tribe platoon family Congress Recognizing the Various Types of Nouns The following sentences contain examples of various types of nouns: The little puppy that the family obtained from the animal shelter was fun to play with. puppy: common (count), concrete family: common (count), concrete, collective shelter: common (count), concrete Politicians often make speeches that include such themes as patriotism, love of country, dedication, and self-sacrifice. politicians: common (count), concrete speeches: common (count), concrete (you can hear speeches) themes: common (count), concrete patriotism: common (mass), abstract love: common (mass), abstract country: common (count), concrete dedication: common (mass), abstract self-sacrifice: common (mass), abstract
Nouns / 13 All Americans should help to protect the environment by recycling materials that are reusable. Americans: proper, concrete environment: common (mass), concrete materials: common (count), concrete Reading these books will fill you with admiration for the talents of the authors. books: common (count), concrete admiration: common (mass), abstract talents: common (count), concrete authors: common (count), concrete My parents lived in perfect harmony for years in the same house. parents: common (count), concrete harmony: common (mass), abstract years: common (count), concrete house: common (count), concrete The tribe of head-hunters led the explorers through the jungle. tribe: common (count), concrete, collective head-hunters: common (count), concrete explorers: common (count), concrete jungle: common (count), concrete The lost hikers felt both joy and relief when they sighted the lodge. hikers: common (count), concrete joy: common (mass), abstract relief: common (mass), abstract lodge: common (count), concrete The class sighed with relief when Professor Jones announced that she had postponed the test for a week. class: common (count), concrete, collective relief: common (mass), abstract Professor Jones: proper, concrete test: common (count), concrete week: common (count), concrete
14 / Parts of Speech Members of our family have always attempted to tell the truth or to remain silent. members: common (count), concrete family: common (mass), concrete, collective truth: common (count) (truth is sometimes pluralized, as in We hold these truths to be self-evident... ), abstract We learned just enough French and German to get by during our stay in Europe last year. French: proper, concrete German: proper, concrete stay: common (count), concrete Europe: proper, concrete year: common (count), concrete Making Nouns Plural Most nouns are made plural by adding an s: cat dog sneeze tray file cats dogs sneezes trays files Alas, many nouns do not fit this pattern: Nouns that end in s, z, x, ch, and sh are made plural by adding es to the singular form: bus mass buzz fox lunch wish watch buses masses buzzes foxes lunches wishes watches If a noun s singular form ends in a consonant plus y, you must change the y to i and then add es:
Nouns / 15 baby fly sky babies flies skies Proper nouns that end in y are exceptions to the rule to replace y with ies: Correct: the Kennedys Incorrect: the Kennedies Some nouns that end in o are made plural by the addition of es: hero tomato heroes tomatoes Because this rule is inconsistent, you should check your dictionary for the correct plural form of nouns ending in o. You should be alert for variant spellings of the plural forms of some nouns. For example, cargo can take either the s or es to form the plural. Bus can be spelled with one s or two in its plural form (buses or busses). For some nouns that end in f or fe, the ending is changed to ves to form the plural: wife shelf elf wives shelves elves Because this rule is inconsistent, you should check your dictionary for the correct plural form of words ending in f and fe. Some nouns mutate to form the plural: man woman tooth foot goose mouse louse brother ox child men women teeth feet geese mice lice brethren oxen children A few nouns undergo no visible change, but plurals are implied: fish, deer, sheep, aircraft, and so on. With nouns that do not change form when they are made plural, you can determine plurality or singularity by identifying the verb or determiner that patterns with each noun, as in these examples:
16 / Parts of Speech One deer is in the field. Those sheep are my uncle s favorite animals. Some nouns are plural in form but singular in meaning and, therefore, take singular verbs: Politics makes strange bedfellows. Mathematics is an interesting area of study. The news is certainly disturbing. Some plural nouns refer to instruments or items of clothing that consist of two joined parts (slacks, scissors, pliers, cutters, sunglasses, shorts, briefs, boxers, and so on). These nouns take a plural verb: Plaid trousers are making a comeback. Helen s glasses were a little too weak. Other nouns are plural in form but can be either singular or plural, depending on the meaning intended by the speaker or writer: Oats is a healthful breakfast. (The cereal grain, oats, is construed as a single entity.) The oats are too wet to harvest today. (The grains of oats are construed as individual items.) Ethics is the study of a system of morals. That man s ethics are questionable at best. The word media gives many speakers unnecessary problems. Media is simply the plural form of medium. The following are examples: The media are presenting the story inaccurately. The medium favored by many artists is painting. Many words of Latin origin that once formed their English plurals in the traditional Latin manner may now utilize either regular English forms or the Latin forms: antenna curriculum syllabus memorandum narcissus cactus radius antennas (or antennae) curriculums (or curricula) syllabuses (or syllabi) memorandums (or memoranda) narcissuses (or narcissi) cactuses (or cacti) radiuses (or radii)
Nouns / 17 Be careful: Arbutus is not usually pluralized with a Latin suffix, while thesis still has only the Latin plural form, theses. How can you be certain whether the form of a noun is singular, plural, or both? The answer is simple: Consult a good dictionary. Making Nouns Possessive Many nouns are inflected to show possession. When a word shows possession, it indicates a relationship between someone who possesses something and the thing that individual possesses. This inflection typically takes the form s, as in cat s tail, teacher s book, and girl s jacket. The of construction can also be used, as in back of the bus, roof of the house, and head of the class. To make a plural noun possessive, first write the plural form of the noun. Next, add an apostrophe if the plural form ends in s; otherwise, add an apostrophe and an s: the kids room children s toys women s shoes In certain tongue-twister words, acceptable shortcuts can be taken. For instance, the possessive form of Venus may be written Venus and then pronounced Venus s : Venus diameter and mass are similar to Earth s. To determine whether this shortcut is appropriate, examine the word in question. If the word is one syllable, add the s inflection; if the word has more than one syllable or ends with a z sound, add an apostrophe only: Jess s mother answered the phone. Mr. Jiminez car is in the shop. Inflection refers to an affix (always a suffix in English) that expresses a grammatical relationship, such as the plural s in mothers and the ed ending in bathed. When a noun becomes possessive, it is called a determiner. Determiners are discussed in more detail in Chapter 5, in the section titled Determiners.
18 / Parts of Speech Derivational Suffixes Many nouns are created by adding particular suffixes to other nouns or to other parts of speech. Notice the suffixes (called derivational suffixes because they cause a noun to be derived from another part of speech) on the following words: honesty Persian truth disappointment happiness departure Words such as Asian, Russian, and motherhood are nouns that have been derived from other nouns. General Observations about Nouns A noun is a word that names a person, place, or thing. Nouns fit into more than one of the five classifications listed. For example, tree is both a common noun and a concrete noun; justice is both a common noun and an abstract noun; English 328 is both a proper noun and a concrete noun. A common noun is usually not capitalized unless it is the first word of a sentence. Proper nouns are usually capitalized wherever they appear in sentences. The name of a school class (history, geometry, and so on) is not capitalized unless it is the first word of a sentence, the name of a language (French, Spanish, English), or followed by a numeral or letter to form a proper noun (History 101, Physics B, Astronomy A). Although most nouns are made plural through the addition of an s at the end of the word, many nouns do not fit this pattern. Some nouns borrowed from other languages can be made plural as they were in the contributing language: crisis alumna thesis crises alumnae theses Many nouns are inflected with s to show possession. Many nouns are created by adding particular suffixes to other nouns or to other parts of speech.