LESSON 1: NOUNS. 1

LESSON 1NOUNS

LESSON 1: NOUNS. 2

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

1 Of 8 - NOUNS : A word (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of people,

places, or things common noun, or to name a particular one of these proper noun.

LESSON 1: NOUNS. 3

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

2 Of 8 - PRONOUNS: • A word that can function as a noun

phrase used by itself and that refers either to the participants in the

discourse (e.g. I, you ) or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse (e.g. she, it, this ).

LESSON 1: NOUNS. 4

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

3 Of 8 – VERBS:A word used to describe an action,

state, or occurrence, and forming the main part of the predicate of a

sentence, such as hear, become, happen.

LESSON 1: NOUNS. 5

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

4 Of 8 - ADJECTIVES:

A word naming an attribute of a noun, such as sweet, red, or technical.

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THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

• 5 Of 8 – ADVERBS:A word or phrase that modifies the

meaning of an adjective, verb, or other adverb, expressing manner, place, time, or

degree (e.g. gently, here, now, very ). Some adverbs, for example sentence adverbs, can also be used to modify

whole sentences.

LESSON 1: NOUNS. 7

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

• 6 Of 8 – PREPOSITIONS:A word governing, and usually preceding,

a noun or pronoun and expressing a relation to another word or element in

the clause, as in ‘the man on the platform’, ‘she arrived after dinner’, ‘what

did you do it for ?’

LESSON 1: NOUNS. 8

THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

7 Of 8 - CONJUNCTIONS.A word used to connect clauses or

sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause (e.g. and, but, if ).

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THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

• 8 Of 8 – INTERJECTIONS:An abrupt remark, especially as an aside or interruption - "barracking and interjections

from the protesters"Synonyms: exclamation, ejaculation, sudden

utterance, cry, shout, roar, call; More an exclamation, especially as a part of

speech (e.g. ah!, dear me! ).

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SO…WHAT IS A NOUN?

• NOUNS ARE THE PARTS OF SPEECH THAT NAMES:• A PERSON, A PLACE, A THING, AN IDEA, AN ANIMAL, A QUALITY, AN ACTIVITY.

• HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF NOUNS IN ACTION:• JOHN IS READING ~ DALLAS IS NORTH OF HOUSTON ~

THE ROCK IS VERY HEAVY – PHILOSOPHY IS VERY INTERESTING – MY CAT IS CHASING THE MOUSE ~ OVERCOMING FEAR REQURIES GREAT COURAGE ~

WRITING IS VERY IMPORTANT*• *IN THE LAST SENTENCE WRITING IS A NOUN BECAUSE IT NAMES THE ACTIVITY; IT

IS’INT PERFORMING THE ACTIVITY, WHICH IS WHAT A VERB DOES – FOR EXCAMPLE ~ JOHN IS WRITING HIS NAME ~ HERE IT WORKS AS A VERB BECAUSE IT IS THE

ACTION JOHN IS PERFORMING. MORE ABOUT VERBS LATER.

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QUICK TEST 1: READING AND WRITING IN ENGLISH.

CAN YOU FIND THE NOUNS IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES?CLUE: LOOK FOR A PERSON, PLACE OR THING.

1. Jerry is my English teacher.2. Jerry comes from Ireland.3. Reading is an important skill to learn.4. My class reads stories from all over the world.5. Besides being good readers John and Mary also want to be able to write and speak

English well.6. Reading stories will help me to write English.7. Tom uses a dictionary to look up words he doesn’t know.8. I spend time every day learning new words and using the new words in sentences.9. I write the words and sentences in my notebook.10. Last week, Tom wrote a story in his notebook and then typed it on the computer.

• Lets Look At The Answers And See How Many We Got Right

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QUICK TEST 1 ANSWERS:DID YOU FIND THE NOUNS IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES?

• Jerry is my English teacher.• Jerry comes from Ireland.• Reading is an important skill to learn.• My class reads stories from all over the world.• Besides being good readers John and Mary also want to be able to write and speak English well.• Reading stories will help me to write English.• Tom uses a dictionary to look up words he doesn’t know.• I spend time every day learning new words and using the new words in sentences.• I write the words and sentences in my notebook.• Last week, Tom wrote a story in his notebook and then typed it on the computer.

• As You Can See There Are Many Nouns. We Can Learn About Nouns More Easily By Dividing Them Into Groups. Lets Begin By Grouping

Them Into Proper Nouns And Common Nouns.

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PROPER AND COMMON NOUNS

• Common Nouns: They name a person, place, thing, idea, animal, quality or action.

• Proper Nouns: Names a specific person, place, thing, idea, animal, quality or action.• It is important to learn the difference

because the first letter of proper nouns must be CAPITALISED.

• Lets look at some examples:

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PROPER AND COMMON NOUNS

Common Noun• Girl• City• Holiday• Month• Country• Building

Proper Noun• Rosa• Chicago• Christmas• January• United States• Capitol

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PROPER & COMMON NOUNS

• As you can see Common Nouns name people (girl), places (country), and things (building)

generally. By comparison, Proper Nouns name specific people (Rosa), places (United States),

and things (Capitol).• Lets take a moment and see can we pick out

Common Nouns & Proper Nouns in the following exercise:

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QUICK TEST 2THE BRITISH COLONIES IN 18TH CENTURY AMERICA

1. This land was home to nearly one million Europeans.2. A quarter million Africans and a quarter million native Americans also

lived there.3. Historians divide this area into two regions.

4. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire comprised the colonies of New England.

5. Fishing became an important source of money for small towns along the Atlantic Ocean.

6. A different society developed in the area that is today the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York.

7. These settlers became farmers of the fertile soil of the region.8. The southern colonies included Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina,

South Carolina, and Georgia.9. The climate allowed them to grow tobacco and rice.

10. Merchants in England, Germany, and Spain purchased these crops.

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QUICK TEST 2: ANSWERS.ANSWERS IN RED ARE COMMON NOUNS

ANSWERS IN RED AND UNDERLINED ARE PROPER NOUNS

1. This land was home to nearly one million Europeans.2.A quarter million Africans and a quarter million native Americans also lived there.

3. Historians divide this area into two regions.4. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire comprised the

colonies of New England.5. Fishing became an important source of money for small towns along the Atlantic

Ocean.6. A different society developed in the area that is today the states of Pennsylvania,

Delaware, New Jersey, and New York.7. These settlers became farmers of the fertile soil of the region.8.The southern colonies included Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina,

and Georgia.9. The climate allowed them to grow tobacco and rice.10. Merchants in England, Germany, and Spain purchased these crops.

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CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT NOUNS

• Concrete Noun: Names something that can be touched or seen.

(Also known as a countable noun)• Collective Nouns: A group of people or things for

example: family, jury, group, majority, class, team, nation, band

• Abstract Noun: Names something that cannot be touched or seen: happiness, sadness are good

examples of abstract (Also known as noncountable nouns)

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CONCRETE & ABSTRACT NOUNS

CONCRETE NOUN• Carlos• Computer• San Francisco• Butterfly• Car

ABSTRACT NOUN• Friendship• Humour• Fear• Happiness• Culture

It is important to know the difference between concrete and abstract nouns so that you can use them properly. Abstract nouns are tricky because many

people don’t think of words such as fear and humour as nouns.

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QUICK TEST 3: CITIZENSHIP1. Find The Noun Or Nouns

2. Find The Abstract & Concrete Noun Or Nouns3. Find The Collective Nouns?

2. Fairness and responsibility are traits of a good citizen.3. Fairness means to treat all people equally.4. Your culture greatly determines how you live.5. Culture can include language, customs and religion.6. An ethnic group is a group of people who share the same culture.7. Responsibility is addressing problems that occur in our society.8. Attending school and following school rules are also part of our civic responsibility.9. In this country, students are important citizens.10. Citizens in a democracy vote to elect their representatives.11. 10. education helps citizens to be better voters because they can read about and

understand the problems facing their society.

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ALL THE MARKED WORDS ARE NOUNSABSTRACT NOUNS IN RED - CONCRETE NOUNS IN GREEN

(COLLECTIVE NOUNS ARE UNDERLINED)

1. Fairness and responsibility are traits of a good citizen.2. Fairness means to treat all people equally.3. Your culture greatly determines how you live.4. Culture can include language, customs and religion.5. An ethnic group is a group of people who share the same culture.6. Responsibility is addressing problems that occur in our society.7. Attending school and following school rules are also part of our civic

responsibility.8. In this country, students are important citizens.9. Citizens in a democracy vote to elect their representatives.10. Education helps citizens to be better voters because they can read about

and understand the problems facing their society.

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SINGULAR & PLURAL NOUNS

SINGULAR• DOG• BOOK• CAMERA

PLURAL• DOGS• BOOKS• CAMERAS

Concrete Nouns can be singular or plural. A singular noun refers to a single person, place, thing, idea, animal, quality or action. A plural noun refers to more

than one person, place, thing, idea, animal, or action. Usually you can make a concrete noun a plural by adding an –s to the end of the word.

Abstract Nouns are always plural, as a result their spelling never changes. But not all concrete nouns form their plurals so easily, but you can learn a FOUR

rules with the most difficult ones.

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RULE NO. 1 If the last word of the sound is –s, -ch, -sh, or –x, you must add an –es to change the singular concrete noun to a plural noun, and so that it can be

easily pronounced. Here are some examples:

SINGULAR

• CLASS• MATCH• DISH

PLURAL• CLASSES• MATCHES• DISHES

Rule No. 1 will guide you in forming the plural for many nouns, but there are still many nouns remaining. Or

instance, some nouns end with the letter –y, and these nouns have their own rule.

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RULE NO. 2When a noun ends in a consonant followed by a –y, to

form the plural, drop the –y and add –ies. For Example:

SINGULAR• BABY• LADY• COUNTRY• CITY• PITY

PLURAL• BABIES• LADIES• COUNTRIES• CITIES• PITIES

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RULE NO. 3However, if the final-y is preceded by a vowel, you form the plural by simply

adding an –s. here are some examples:-

SINGULAR• BOY• DONKEY• BAY

PLURAL• BOYS• DONKEYS• BAYS

These three rules explain how to form plurals when the concrete noun ends in –s, -ch, -sh, -x,

and –y.Lets see how well you can now form plural nouns

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QUICK TEST 4: FREQUENTLY USED NOUNSWrite on a sheet of paper the plural versions of

these singular nouns:

CHURCH FLOWER WISH BIRTHDAY DAY

WORD HOUSE SPEECH FAMILY SCHOOL

Now Lets Look At Some Nouns Whose Plurals Are A Bit More Difficult To Form.

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RULE NO. 4For most concrete nouns ending in –fe or m-f, you can form the plural by

first dropping the –fe or –f and then adding a –v and an –es. Here are some examples…

SINGULAR

• WIFE• SCARF• LEAF

PLURAL

• WIVES• SCARVES• LEAVES

This rule covers most of the Nouns ending in –fe or –f.There are some Nouns ending in –f that form their plurals just by adding an –s.Chief becomes Chiefs – Others are: belief, reef, cliff, cuff, proof, roof, scruff, staff,

surf and whiff.

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OTHER ‘TRICKY’ NOUNSNouns ending in –o are a little confusing. Best to check a dictionary…..

Tomato = TomatoesPiano = Pianos

Some CONCRETE NOUNS have the same spelling in singular and plual forms:Deer = DeerFish = Fish

Some NOUNS completely change their spelling:Man = MenFoot = Feet

Child = Children

REMEMBER: HAVING A DICTIONARY TO HAND IS ALWAYS THE SAFEST OPTION.

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SOME UNUSUAL CONCRETE NOUNS

English has some unusual NOUNS that don’t have a plural:

FURNITURE – SUGAR – AIR – HARDWARE – FLOUR – WATER – MONEY – DUST – TIMBER

While the following concrete nouns are always plural:

TROUSERS – CATTLE – SCISSORS – CLOTHES - FRUIT

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QUICK TEST 5: MORE FREQUENTLY USED NOUNS

Use the rules we have discussed to help you change this list of concrete nouns from singular nouns to plural nouns.

Write the plural of the singular noun on a piece of paper:

TOMATOKNIFEHALF

MOUSERODEOWATERTHIEFMAN

COMPUTERSELF

TOMATOESKNIFESHALVES

MICERODEOSWATER

THIEVESMEN

COMPUTERSSELVES

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POSSESSIVE NOUNS 1Possessive Nouns are important because you need to be able to

express that a Noun possesses something, that is, it owns something.

Gerry owns a boat – Gerry’s boat.Gerry owns a house = The teacher’s house

Gerry has courage = Gerry’s courage.The underlined words are all possessive nouns.

Remember: if the noun ends with an –s, add an apostrophe ( ‘ ) after it to show possession. If it doesn’t, add an apostrophe and then add an –s as in these examples:

Girl = Girl’sGerry = Gerry’s

Teacher = Teacher’s

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POSSESSIVE NOUNS 2To make a plural NOUN possessive, check the last letter – if the NOUN ends in –s add an apostrophe after it to show possession. If it doesn’t, add an apostrophe and then add an –s as in the examples here:

Plural Noun Possessive Plural Nouns

Dogs Dogs’Children Children’sWives Wives’Mice Mice’s

Let’s test this and help you to better understand possessive nouns:

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QUICK TEST 6: FREQUENTLY USED POSSESSIVE NOUNS

Write the possessive form of each of these nouns:

TigersTree

Ms. SmithThief

ThievesLeaf

LeavesTeachersKeyboard

Maria

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ANSWERS TO QUICK TEST 6Tigers’Tree’s

Ms. Smith’sThief’s

Thieves’Leaf’s

Leaves’Teachers’

Keyboard’sMaria’s

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Using Multiple Possessive NounsBut what happens when you have more than one noun possessing something?

Wrong: Gerry is Michael’s and Mary’s teacher.Right: Gerry is Michael and Mary’s teacher.

Wrong: Michael’s and Mary’s trip was fun.Right: Michael and Mary’s trip was fun.

We know Michael and Mary went on the same trip from the way the sentence is written. If they had gone on different trips the sentence

would read:

Michael and Mary’s trips were fun.The noun ‘trip’ would have been written in the plural.

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MULTIPLE NOUNS POSSESSING DIFFERENT THINGS

Wrong: Michael and Mary’s computers are broken.Right: Michael’s and Mary’s computers are broken.

Wrong: The Jones and Smith’s houses are in Tianjin.Right: The Jones’ and Smith’s houses are in Tianjin.

But if Jones and Smith owned the same house:

The Jones and Smith’ house is in Tianjin.

Lets see if you understand the idea of possessive nouns…

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QUICK TEST 7: USING POSSESSIVE NOUNS

Each Of These Sentences Contains Possessive NounsCan You Say If They Are Right Or Wrong?

Mr. Parsons is Alfredo and Jesse's soccer coach.CORRECT

Let’s go over to John’s and Sally’s house.INCORRECT

Let’s go over to John and Sally’s house.Bill and Obi’s pants are blue.

INCORRECTBill’s and Obi’s pants are blue.

The Tigers and the Lions’ uniforms look similar.INCORRECT

The Tigers’ and the Lions’ uniforms look similar.Ms. Jones, Mr. Clark’s, and Ms. Kelly’s classes were cancelled.

INCORRECTMs. Jones’, Mr. Clark’s, and Ms. Kelly’s classes were cancelled.

Sandy’s and Kelly’s fathers are police officers.CORRECT

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QUICK TEST 7 CONTINUED…..Sandy’s and Kelly’s fathers are police officers.

CORRECTRicky is Henry and Bobby’s brother.

CORRECTRoberta is Selena Pena’s and Juan Pena’s daughter.

INCORRECTRoberta is Selena Pena and Juan Pena’s daughter.

Rex is Tito and Frank’s dog.CORRECT

Roman’s and Jill’s bus rides were exciting.CORRECT

LESSON 1: NOUNS. 39

FUNCTIONS OF NOUNS IN SENTENCESYOU HAVE LEARNED WHAT NOUNS ARE, HOW TO FORM THEIR PLURALS,

AND HOW TO CHANGE NOUNS SO THAT THEY SHOW POSSESSION.

THESE SKILLS WILL HELP YOU UNDERSTAND ENGLISH AND BE BETTER UNDERSTOOD WHEN YOU SPEAK AND WRITE IN ENGLISH.

NOW WE MUST LEARN HOW TO USE NOUNS.

NOUNS ARE USED IN MANY WAYS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. TO UNDERSTAND THIS YOU MUST KNOW A LITTLE ABOUT VERBS (ONE OF THE 8

PARTS OF SPEECH) – WE WILL LEARN A LOT ABOUT VERBS LATER BUT FOR NOW ALL WE NEED TO KNOW IS THAT VERBS ARE WORDS THAT SHOW

ACTION.

YOU CAN USE NOUNS MANY WAYS LETS LOOK AT THE MOST COMMON FOUR WAYS THEY ARE USED:

LESSON 1: NOUNS. 40

1. NOUNS AS SUBJECTS OF SENTENCES

Nouns can be subjects of sentences. A sentence is a group of words that tells a complete thought. The subject is all the words that describe whom or what the sentence is about.

The lion ran through the tall grass.The noun lion is the subject of the sentence because the rest of the sentence is telling you about the lion. It ran through the tall grass.

Our teacher is very nice.The noun teacher is the subject of the sentence because the teacher is whom the rest of the sentence is telling you about.

John and Michael love to play soccer.The nouns John and Michael are the subjects of the sentence because the rest of the sentence tells you about them. They love to play soccer.

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2. NOUNS AS DIRECT OBJECTS OF SENTENCES.

Nouns can be direct objects of sentences. The direct object follows the verb and answers the question who or what about the subject:

Albert’s father caught a fish.The noun fish is the direct object. It answers the question: what did the subject of the sentence (Albert’s father) catch?

John is my brother.The noun brother is the direct object. It answers the question who is John?

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3. NOUNS AS INDIRECT OBJECTS OF SENTENCES.

Nouns can be indirect objects of sentences. An indirect object is the noun that tells us for whom or to whom the action was done. You will usually write it between the VERB and the direct object:

Mr. Hannan handed Peter the chalk.

The noun Peter is an indirect object because it tells you to whom Mr. Hannan handed the chalk. In this sentence, it appears after the VERB handed and before the direct object chalk.

The students paid the cashier the money.

The noun cashier is an indirect object because it tells you to whom the students paid the money. Can you identify the verb and the direct object in the above sentence?

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4. NOUNS AS OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS IN SENTENCES.

Nouns can be objects of prepositions in sentences. A preposition is a word that shows a relationship between a noun and a pronoun and another noun or pronoun:

The food is on the table.

In this sentence, on is a preposition. It shows the relationship between the two nouns, food and table. We refer to the noun or pronoun connected to the prepositional phrase as the object of the preposition. Here, on the table is a prepositional phrase, and the noun table is the object of the preposition, on.

We will discuss prepositions in greater detail later in the course. The main point to remember now is that every prepositional phrase begins with a

preposition and ends a with a noun or pronoun.

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IMPORTANT.A PHRASE IS ANY GROUP OF RELATED WORDS THAT, UNLIKE A SENTENCE, HAS NO SUBJECT-PREDICTATE COMBINATION. THE

WORDS IN A PHRASE ACT TOGETHER SO THAT THE PHRASE ITSELF FUNCTIONS AS A SINGLE PART OF SPEECH. A PHRASE

CANT STAND ALONE AS A SENTENCE.

In short……

A phrase is a small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit, typically forming a component of a clause.

"‘to improve standards’ is the key phrase here“

NEVER CONFUSE A PHRASE FOR A SENTENCE OR VICE VERSA.

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REMEMBER….Prepositional phrases act as either adjectives or adverbs which means they modify or

tell about a noun in the sentence or a verb. Adjectives and adverbs will be discussed in later classes.

The man in the black pants is my father.The prepositional phrase ‘in the black pants’ is acting as an adjective because it tells

you something about the subject of the sentence, the man.

The students in the class cheered for their teacher.

This sentence contains two prepositional phrases. 1. The first prepositional phrase ‘in the class’ contains the noun class. The phrase

acts as an adjective because it describes the subject of the sentence, the students.

2. The second prepositional phrase ‘for their teacher’ contains the noun teacher. This prepositional phrase acts as an adverb because it tells you about the verb

cheered.

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QUICK TEST 8: HURICANESREAD THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES:1. The storms form in the southern Atlantic

Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

2. In the Northern Hemisphere, hurricanes rotate in a counter-clockwise direction around an ‘eye.’

3. When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds, and heavy waves can damage buildings, homes and cars.

4. The heavy waves are called a storm surge.5. Storm surges are very dangerous and are the

main reason why you must stay away from the ocean during a hurricane.

6. A meteorologist studies the weather.7. Meteorologists have been studying hurricanes

for about one hundred years.8. Evidence indicated that hurricanes have been

occurring ever since our atmosphere formed.9. The Mayan god ‘Hurakan’ became our word

‘hurricane.’10. Their god Hurakan blew his breath across the

water.

1. Can you identify ALL the nouns?

2. Can you identify subject nouns?

3. Can you identify direct objects?

4. Can you identify indirect object?

5. Can you identify object of the prepositon?

LESSON 1: NOUNS. 47

END OF LESSON ONE

IN LESSON 2 WE WILL DISCUSS

PRONOUNS.

Thank you for your attention.