Download Unit 1: The Nuts and bolts of English Nouns

Unit 1: The Nuts and bolts of English
Nouns Introduction to Nouns There are more nouns than any other type of word in the English language. These words describe people, places and objects. That is, they refer to things. For example: •
The dog barked at the man. There are two nouns in this sentence, dog and man. •
Mark Twain wrote this book. There are two nouns in this sentence, Mark Twain and book. Notice that proper nouns (names) and noun phrases (peanut butter, rock star) equal one noun. Different kinds of Nouns There are different kinds of nouns. Here is a guide with examples: Proper nouns •
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Objects: Buckingham Palace, Ford Fiesta Zetec, Mount Fuji People’s Names: Mark, Amy, Chloe, Chris, James, Catherine, Martin Places: London, Yorkshire, Wales, The Sahara Desert, Japan Concrete nouns These are things you can touch or see and have a position in time and space. For example: •
table, chair, building, electricity, clouds, burglar Abstract nouns There are three types of abstract noun: 1. Nouns that describe qualities, such as: •
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I promise to speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I believe in justice and freedom, but not necessarily in the American way. I trust you understand the importance of the matter. 1
2. Nouns that describe states, such as: •
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The employment situation in the UK is not so good. I live in hope that the world will become a better place. A good language teacher has a lot of knowledge about grammar. I need at least seven hours sleep every night. It is my belief that we are not alone. 3. Nouns that describe events or actions, such as: •
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I have an examination at 11.00am tomorrow. The fall of the Roman Empire did not happen overnight. I will write a reply to your letter later. Her voice was low, almost a whisper. The fight against Communism rose to a height during the 1950s in America. Collective nouns These describe a set or group of things, people or animals. For example, in the following phrases the highlighted nouns are group ones: •
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A swarm of bees A battalion of soldiers A flock of sheep A gaggle of geese A congregation of religious zealots A band of musicians Countable and Uncountable nouns Many nouns can be counted and these are called countable nouns. Generally when we put the word “one”, “a” or “many” in front of a noun it is countable. For example: •
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I have one apple in my hand. There are two apples on the table. There is a desk in my room. There are many desks in the classroom. There is one CD in my bag. There are many CDs in my house. Some nouns can’t be counted and these are called uncountable nouns. For example: •
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water (you can’t say one water, two waters) rice (you can’t say one rice, two rices) bread (you can’t say one bread, two breads) When we quantify a noun or put them in a box or a container, the noun remains uncountable. For example: •
I’d like a glass of water. 2
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May I have a portion of rice? Could you cut me a slice of bread? Here, ‘glass’, ‘portion’ and ‘slice’ are countable nouns but ‘water’, ‘rice’ and ‘bread’ are still uncountable. Sometimes we avoid mentioning the container but it is assumed. For example, “Can I have a cappuccino?” Here, “a cappuccino” refers to a cup of cappuccino, so in this context the noun “cappuccino” is countable. There are some nouns which can be both depending on the context in which you use them. Look at this example: •
This recipe calls for two eggs. (Countable) Here, the word “eggs” is countable. However, in the following sentence the word “egg” is uncountable. Can you see why? •
The nutritionist suggested that I avoid recipes containing egg. (Uncountable) Here, the noun “egg” is uncountable because the word “egg” is used in a non‐specific or generic way. The speaker should avoid recipes containing egg as a product, not a particular egg or eggs. Plural Nouns All countable nouns have plurals. Usually we put an –s or an –es on the end of nouns. For example: •
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towns televisions buses foxes Some nouns have irregular plurals and instead of the “–s“ or “–es” being added, the word changes or sometimes even stays the same. For example: •
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man becomes… men woman becomes… women fish stays the same… fish (although fishes can also be used) foot becomes… feet (although in the imperial measurement we sometimes use the expression ‘six foot one’, instead of using the irregular plural form) 3
Possessive Nouns When a noun is owned by another noun, we add an apostrophe and an “s” to the first noun to indicate the possessive form. For example: •
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Mark’s new digital TV is cool. Martin’s car is pink. Catherine’s house is huge. The first noun is not always a person. Sometimes an inanimate object can ‘own’ or ‘possess’ something. For example: •
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The university’s academic semester begins in September. Japan’s main export is cars. Please stand away from the water’s edge. Sometimes the first noun will be neither a person nor a thing. For example: •
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In two days' time I’ll be gone. She didn’t answer my yesterday’s email If the first noun already ends with an “s”, we simply add ‐’ at the end to indicate the possessive form, although it is acceptable to write another’s on the end of the noun. For example: •
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Chris’ DVDs. (This could also be: Chris’s DVDs.) Bridget Jones’ diary. (This could also be: Bridget Jones’s diary.) Jesus’ disciples. (This could also be Jesus’s disciples.) For plural nouns ending in ‐s, the possessive is formed only by adding ‐'. However, for irregular plurals not ending in ‐s, we add an apostrophe and s. For example: The foxes' tales ('foxes' is a regular plural) The sweets' wrapping ('sweets' is a regular plural) The oxen's owner ('oxen' is an irregular plural) Compound Nouns We often take a noun and put it with another to create a new word or collocation. For example, alarm and clock are two separate nouns, but when together they create a new collocation: alarm clock, which is called a compound noun. 4
Adjectives Introduction to Adjectives Adjectives are words that are used to describe or tell us something about nouns. They often appear before the noun. For example: •
The quick, brown fox jumped over the lazy dog. The adjectives “quick” and “brown” appear before the noun “fox” and the adjective “lazy” appears before the noun “dog”. Comparative and Superlative Adjectives When comparing things we use the comparative form for two things and the superlative form for three or more things. For example, using the adjectives “high”, “tall” and “beautiful”: •
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Mount Snowdon is a high mountain. (The simple form is high) Mount Snowdon is higher than Scafell Pike. (The comparative form is higher) Snowdon is the highest mountain in Wales. (The superlative form is the highest) The Empire State is a tall building. (The simple form is tall) The Empire State is taller than the Rockefeller Centre. (The comparative form is taller) The Empire State is the tallest building in New York. (The superlative form is the tallest) Jennifer Connelly is a beautiful woman. (The simple form is beautiful) Jennifer Connelly is more beautiful than Julia Roberts. (The comparative form is more beautiful) Jennifer Connelly is the most beautiful woman working in Hollywood today. (The superlative form is the most beautiful ) We sometimes use comparative and superlative adjectives to make statements that are true and sometimes we use them to state our opinions. When the comparative adjective has more than two syllables, instead of putting the –
er form at the end of the word, we precede it with the word more. When the superlative adjective has more than two syllables, instead of putting the –
est form at the end of the word, we precede it with the word most. 5
Adjectives which use the –ed form and –ing form Some adjectives use the –ed form (sometimes called past participle adjectives) and some use the –ing form (sometimes called present participle adjectives). Many of our students, even at advanced levels, get confused as to whether they should use the –
ed form or the –ing form of the adjective, explaining why our non‐native students sometimes say things such as: “I am boring” and “The film was bored”. Verbs Introduction to Verbs Verbs are sometimes thought of as ‘doing’ or ‘action’ words. For example: •
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He walks to work. I am a student. There are many verbs in English. Here are some examples: •
write, walk, drive, smile, complain, eat, sleep… and many more Verb Forms Verbs appear in one of the four forms: present simple, past simple, present participle and past participle. For example: •
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I walk to work every morning. (Here the verb is in its present simple form) I walked to the pub last night. (Here the verb is in its past simple form) I was walking to a restaurant when you called me. (Here the verb is in its present participle form) I had walked in that park before. (Here the verb is in its past participle form, which is used after the verbs ‘have’ and ‘be’. It is the same as past simple for regular verbs but it can be different for irregular verbs) Notice that verbs do not appear in a future form. There is no future verb for walk or any other verb in the English language. When we want to talk about a walk in the future, we often say, we will walk or we are going to walk. We will deal with future tense constructions in greater detail in the next module. Regular vs Irregular Verbs There are about 200 verbs in English that are irregular, that is, they don’t conform to the usual “‐ed” past simple and/or past participle construction . Here are some examples: 6
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I eat breakfast every morning. (Past simple: ate, Past participle: eaten) I go for a run before breakfast. ( Past simple: went, Past participle: gone ) I drink coffee around 9.00 am. ( Past simple: drank, Past participle: drunk ) I get the paper every morning. ( Past simple: got , Past participle: got or gotten ) He spends a lot of money. ( Past simple: spent , Past participle: spent ) Auxilliary Verbs Sometimes, you will find sentences where there are two verbs close together. One will usually be the main verb and one will be the auxiliary verb. The auxiliary verb usually comes before the main verb. Only a few verbs are used as auxiliary verbs in the English language. They are sometimes thought of as supporting verbs. 1. Primary There are three Primary Auxiliary verbs in English: •
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Be Have Do They can be used as main verbs. Look at the following sentences: •
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I am Mark. (from the verb ‘be’) I have a good job. (from the verb ‘have’) They do a lot of work. (from the verb ‘do’) They can also be used as auxiliary verbs. We use be (was / were / are / am / is) as an auxiliary verb when we construct structures where the tense is continuous. Look at the following sentences using watch as the main verb: •
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I was watching LOST last week. I am watching LOST tonight. Martin is watching LOST with me. We use have (have / has / had) as an auxiliary verb when we construct structures where the tense is perfect. Look at the following sentences using eat as the main verb: •
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I have eaten sushi. Has Martin eaten sushi? When I arrived at the restaurant, Martin had eaten all the sushi. 7
We use do (do / did / does) for question forms, negative sentences and for emphasis. Look at the following sentences using like as the main verb: •
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Do you like chocolate? Martin didn’t like chocolate when he was young. Yes, Martin does like chocolate! 2. Modal There are 11 true modal verbs in the English language. In the sentences below those verbs are in bold: •
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I can play the piano. (Main verb: play) Could you close the door please? (Main verb: close) May I use the bathroom? (Main verb: use) I might visit my friends in Japan next year. (Main verb: visit) I must finish this book. (Main verb: finish) I will do the washing up. (Main verb: do) I would speak to him, if I were you. (Main verb: speak) You should eat more fruit. (Main verb: eat) Cinderella shall go to the ball. (Main verb: go) I ought to be careful of my weight. (Main verb: be) I used to ride my bike so much when I was younger. (Main verb: ride) If you look at these sentences you will recognise that there are certain things that modal verbs cannot do: They don’t work as past tense verbs. For example: ‘canned’ – ‘coulded’ – ‘mayed’ – ‘mighted’ – ‘musted’. (However there are a couple of exceptions to this rule which we will look at later in this course.) They don’t work as continuous or –ing form verbs. For example: ‘shoulding’ – ‘shalling’ – ‘oughting to’ – ‘useding to’. They can’t stand alone as main verbs. For example: ‘I can the piano’ – ‘Could you the door?’ – ‘May I the bathroom?’ – ‘I might my friends next year.’ You cannot create an infinitive form with modal verbs. That is, you can’t place the word “to” in front of them. For example: ‘to can’ – ‘to would’ – ‘to shall’ – ‘to ought to’ – ‘to must’ – ‘to should’. 8
Subject and Object Introduction to Subject and Object Look at this sentence: •
Chloë lost her keys. There are three main parts to this sentence: 1. The main verb is “lost”. 2. “Chloë” is the subject of the verb, that is, the ‘doer’ of the action. 3. “Her keys” is the object of the verb, that is, the thing to which the action of the verb is done. In a longer sentence the subject and object may not be as conspicuous but you can always find them by looking for the ‘doer’ of the action and the ‘recipient’ of the action. For example, My friend Mike, who always amazes me with his extravagant purchases, bought a $500 golden pen yesterday. The ‘doer’ of the action is Mike (the subject), the action itself is ‘bought’ (the main verb) and the ‘recipient’, i.e. the thing to which the action is done is ‘pen’ (the object). The object can be either a thing or a person, e.g. in the sentence ‘She married Bill’, ‘Bill’ is the object. Gerunds and Infinitives Every gerund, without exception, ends in ing. Gerunds are not, however, all that easy to identify. Gerunds function as nouns. Thus, gerunds will be subjects, subject complements, direct objects, indirect objects, and objects of prepositions. Read these examples of gerunds: Since Francisco was five years old, swimming has been his passion. Swimming = subject of the verb has been. Francisco's first love is swimming. Swimming = subject complement of the verb is. Francisco enjoys swimming more than spending time with his girlfriend Diana. Swimming = direct object of the verb enjoys. 9
Gerunds vs Present Participles Gerunds can also appear in compound nouns, such as: •
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Swimming pool Shopping centre Racing pigeon ...and in phrases where there is no main verb, such as: •
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How about giving me a lift? No smoking! The gerund should not be confused with the present participle, which has the same form (verb‐ing) The –ing form is always present participle if it is preceded by the auxiliary verb be: In the present tense: •
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am are is In the past tense: •
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was were If the –ing form is preceded by be, it is part of the continuous tense structure. Continuous tenses will be dealt with in detail in a future module. Here are some examples. Note that these sentences do not contain any gerunds, only present participles. •
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We’re seeing a movie tonight. Would you like to come? (Making arrangements with someone) I’m watching TV at the moment. (On the phone to a friend) Charles was teaching in class when a student asked a question. (Describing something that was in progress sometime in the past which was interrupted by something else) Mark is running his own business at the moment. (Describing a current state or situation) We were playing squash yesterday. (Describing an event that was in progress in the past) Sometimes a present participle is not preceded by a form of ‘to be’. For example, in the sentence “I saw him dancing” “dancing” is a present participle as it doesn’t operate as a noun. As a test, try replacing it by “something”. You cannot say “I saw him something”, therefore it is neither a noun nor a gerund. On the other hand, you can say “I enjoy something”, therefore in the sentence “I enjoy dancing” “dancing” is a gerund. Another example: 10
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He loves looking up at the clouds (“He loves something” – gerund) He lay looking up at the clouds (NOT “He lay something” – present participle) These grammar points on use of gerunds are by no means exhaustive. This area of grammar is quite complex, so a good read through the section on gerunds in a decent grammar book would not go amiss. In the meantime, have a look at the next exercise. Adverbs, Pronouns and Prepositions Introduction to Adverbs Adverbs are words that modify verbs, that is, they describe verbs. They also show to what degree something has been done. Many adverbs end in ‐ly. For example: •
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Annie walked quietly into the room. My house was completely destroyed in the earthquake. He blatantly ignored my request. Sometimes we use adverbs that do not end in ‐ly and we often refer to these as irregular adverbs. For example: •
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I’ve heard enough of your get rich quick schemes! Martin screwed the lid on the peanut butter jar tight. You’re going to have to drive your car fast to get there on time. An adverb can also modify other words such as adjectives. •
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The whole lesson was extremely boring. (The adjective is boring) The stones were hot enough to fry an egg on them. (The adjective is hot) The man was completely unaware of the crime. (The adjective is unaware) An adverbial can often be a phrase or a group of words that function as an adverb. For example: •
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Get down here as quickly as possible. We get together twice a week for dinner. The children could run around to their heart’s content. Adverbs of Manner, Time and Place There are different types of adverbs and they do a lot of work. However, in this module we are going to examine just four types of adverb: 11
Adverbs of Manner These adverbs concentrate on how something is done. For example: •
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Please don’t speak so quickly. I can’t hear what you are saying. The man walked hurriedly to the train station. The man next door plays his music so loudly. He must be deaf. Adverbs of Time These adverbs concentrate on when something is done. •
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Shall I come round now? I saw Martin last week. I saw him yesterday. Adverbs of Place These adverbs concentrate on where something is done. •
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Shall we meet here again another time? There it is! Can you see it? I was walking through the mountains and everywhere I could hear the sound of grazing sheep. Adverbs of Frequency These adverbs concentrate on how often something is done. •
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I usually go to the cinema every week. I always catch the train to work. Martin plays chess occasionally. We often use adverbials which generally give more information when we use these kinds of adverbs, such as: •
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I go to the cinema about four times a month. I catch the train to work most days. Martin plays chess a couple of times a year. Introduction to Pronouns A pronoun often refers to a noun that has been mentioned previously. For example: •
Mr. Turner phoned. He is arriving at 10 o’clock. He is a pronoun, which is used to avoid repeating Mr. Turner’s name. There are around a dozen subclasses of pronouns. A good grammar book will provide a more detailed list than you will find here. However, in the following exercises we will concentrate on just five subclasses. Personal Pronouns These are: I‐ you ‐ he ‐ she ‐ it ‐ we – they – me – him – her – us – them 12
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I like reading. He took us to the zoo. She is beautiful. Possessive Determiner Pronouns These are: my‐ your ‐ his ‐ her ‐ its ‐ our ‐ their (These are sometimes called possessive adjectives.) •
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Those are my books. Your bag is in the classroom. This is his CD. Possessive Independent Pronouns These are: mine‐ yours ‐ his ‐ hers ‐ its ‐ ours ‐ theirs •
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These books are mine. This bag is yours. These CDs are theirs. Reflexive Pronouns These are: myself ‐ yourself ‐ himself ‐ herself ‐ourselves ‐ yourselves ‐ themselves •
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I cut myself shaving this morning. I’m not doing it for you. Do it yourself! She got here all by herself. Interrogative Pronouns These are question words that include: who ‐ whose ‐ what ‐ which (The question words where ‐ when ‐ how ‐ why are adverbs and are not included here) •
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Who left their bag on my chair? Whose book is this? What were you thinking of? Which of these do you think is best? Introduction to Prepositions A preposition usually goes before a noun or pronoun and links it with another word or phrase. They often show where things are in relation to each other. For example: •
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The book is lying on the table. I looked at the painting. The money is in my pocket. The supermarket is opposite the post office. My house is by the sea. She moved through the crowd. There are many types of preposition in the English language. We will deal with just three in this module. 13
Prepositions of Time •
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Let’s meet at one o’clock. He arrived before me. My friends will come on Wednesday. Prepositions of Place •
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Students are taught in a classroom. The book is on the desk. Let’s look at the top of the page. Prepositions of Movement •
The road goes down the hill, under the bridge, through the tunnel, past the lake and over the mountains. •
The burglar went over the wall, through the back door and into the house. •
You’ll need to go past the bank on the left, down the hill and through the traffic lights. Then you’ll see it. Clauses A clause is a group of words which contain a subject and a verb. Sometimes a clause by itself can make a short sentence. Sometimes clauses are put together to make longer sentences. We will deal with three types of sentences. Simple Sentences Look at the first example: •
Chris ate fish and chips. In this sentence there is one main clause: “Chris ate fish and chips”. The subject is “Chris” and the verb is “ate”. Sentences with one main clause are called simple sentences. Compound Sentences Look at the second example: •
Chris ate fish and chips but Amy drank a bottle of beer. In this sentence there are two main clauses: “Chris ate fish and chips” and “Amy drank a bottle of beer”. These pieces of information are equally important. In the first clause the subject is “Chris” and the verb is “ate”. In the second clause the subject is “Amy” and the verb is “drank”. Sentences with two main clauses are called compound sentences. The clauses 14
in a compound sentence are usually separated by the conjunctions 'and', 'or', 'but', and 'yet'. Complex Sentences Look at the third example: •
Chris, who works at the Odeon cinema, ate fish and chips. In this sentence, there are two clauses: one is a main clause, while the other is a subordinate clause. The main clause is “Chris ate fish and chips”, because this is the focus of the sentence. The subordinate clause is “who works at the Odeon cinema”, because it is an aside, an extra piece of information. If we take out the subordinate clause, it will still leave the sentence complete. However if we take out the main clause, the subordinate clause will not make sense on its own. Sentences with one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses are called complex sentences. Subordinate Clauses A subordinate clause can precede, interrupt or even follow a main clause. In these examples the subordinate clause precedes the main clause: •
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Although Chris wasn’t hungry, he ordered fish and chips. Despite feeling ill, Catherine decided to go to work. Even though he didn’t want to, Mark took his daughter to college. In these examples, the subordinate clause interrupts the main clause: •
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Chris, who works at the Odeon cinema, ate fish and chips. Catherine, who stayed up late the night before, woke up feeling ill. Mark, who had a shed load of work to do, took his daughter to college. In these examples, the subordinate clause follows the main clause: •
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Chris ate fish and chips, which he purchased from the local takeaway near the Odeon cinema. Catherine decided to go to work, despite feeling ill. Mark took his daughter to college, even though he had many things to do. Conjunctions, Determiners and Numbers Conjunctions Introduction A conjunction is a joining word that links clauses together to make compound and complex sentences. For example: •
James wasn’t feeling hungry, but he managed to eat a portion of chips. 15
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Although Mark was feeling tired, he continued working through the night. Main Clause Conjunctions The conjunctions linking main clauses include words such as: and ‐ but ‐ or ‐yet •
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James writes music but he doesn’t conduct the orchestra. You can have fish and chips or you can have pie and chips. We found a small scratch on the table, and the manager offered us a discount. Note: these conjunctions do not necessarily link two clauses; they may be found within a clause and join single words or phrases. For example, “She was tired but happy”, “Would you like coffee or tea?” Subordinate Clause Conjunctions Conjunctions linking subordinate clauses include words such as: after ‐ although ‐ if ‐
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I haven’t seen him since he ran off with my girlfriend. Although she was tired, she wanted to go out. When Bill met Louise, he knew he had found the woman of his dreams. Sometimes conjunctions are made of short phrases called conjunction phrases such as: as soon as ‐ as if ‐ so that ‐ in as much as •
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She looked at me as if she had never seen me before. Mark put the schedule on the classroom wall, so that everyone could see it. As soon as James heard that Paul McCartney was performing in concert, he booked a ticket. Determiners There are many types of determiners used in the English language. They are words that appear before nouns and tell us something about the noun. We will look at four types of determiners in this section. Articles The most common determiners are the definite article, which is ‘the’ and the indefinite article which is ‘a’ (or ‘an’ before vowels). Here are a few examples: •
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Could you get a chair from the other classroom, please? The moon is full tonight. Would you mind closing the door? A taxi pulled up beside me. The man in the taxi asked me where I was going. The definite article ‘the’ (which originated from ‘that’) refers to something that both the speaker and the listener already know about as it was mentioned before, or something that is unique – for example, the sun (there is only one sun), the chair standing in the corner (there is only one chair in that particular corner). 16
The indefinite article ‘a’ refers to something new, which hasn’t been previously mentioned. It has a meaning similar to ‘any’, ‘one of many identical objects’, etc. Quantifiers Some determiners quantify a noun, that is they tell us how much there is or how many there are of the noun. For example: •
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There are many students in my class. There is one desk in my class. All children need love. How much does it cost? Some people are very lucky in life. However, in the following example the only determiner is ‘any’ while ‘some’ is a pronoun: ‘Do you have any money? Yes, I have some’. ‘Any’ is a determiner because it determines the noun ‘money’. ‘Some’ doesn’t determine any noun in the sentence but it stands for ‘some money’, therefore it is a pronoun. Pronouns Some pronouns act as determiners in that they tell us who the noun belongs to. For example: •
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His girlfriend is extremely beautiful. My daughter needs love. This is your book. Don’t mention her ears. She’s very sensitive about them. Our class starts at 2.00 pm. This and That Some determiners tell how near or how far a noun is. For example: •
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Look at that car. This is a nice car. I love driving this car. Look at these jeans. I’d love a pair. But what about those gloves over there? Introduction to Numbers Introduction There are two kinds of number words in English: Cardinal numbers, for example: •
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Review In this module you have learnt that English words are divided into the following categories: •
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Nouns Adjectives Verbs Adverbs Pronouns Prepositions Conjunctions Determiners Numbers You have also learnt about gerunds and infinitives, which are derived from verbs but function as nouns. You have been introduced to the grammar of English sentences, including main and subordinate clauses, the subject of a sentence and the object of a sentence. Within each unit you have encountered some other terms too. 18