Download a closer look at nouns - Professor Flavia Cunha

Introdução aos Sintagmas da Língua Inglesa
Prof.ª Ms Flávia Cunha
2015.1
A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS
WHAT ARE NOUNS?
Nouns are words that name a person, place, or thing in
a sentence, and they are classified according to their
meaning.
A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS
COMMON NOUNS AND PROPER NOUNS•
A word which names a person, place or thing in
general is called a common noun.
e.g. waiter, dog, girl, house, car, and city.
When a word names a particular, or the only, member
of a class or group it is called a proper noun. Proper
nouns are always capitalized.
e.g. Paul (the name of a particular person ),
Doberman (the name of a particular kind of dog),
New Brunswick (the name of a particular province),
and Ottawa (the name of a particular city).
A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS
CONCRETE NOUNS AND ABSTRACT NOUNS•
If a noun names something that can be detected
by the five senses, it is called a concrete noun.
Nouns like table, house, car, brain, cloud, sky are
concrete nouns. On the other hand, if a noun
refers to qualities which do not exist in the real
world and cannot be felt, tasted, seen, heard or
touched, they are categorized as abstract nouns.
Examples: honesty, pride, beauty, swiftness,
friendship, height, speed, faith
A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
Collective nouns name groups or collections of
people, places and things.
Examples:
team,
crowd,
audience,
jury,
committee.
Collective nouns have both singular and plural forms:
one committee, six committees.
Example: Six trials are scheduled so the judge called
six juries.
A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS
MASS NOUNS
Most nouns refer to things that can be counted like apples,
steaks, miles, chairs, bracelets, dollars, and are, therefore
called count nouns. Mass nouns, however, are similar to
collective nouns, but refer to non-living things which
cannot be counted: They are always used in the singular
even though they refer to many items. Some grammar
books call these mass nouns as non-count
nouns/uncountable nouns.
Examples: meat, land, furniture, money, food, gold,
clothing, equipment.
A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS
FORMS OF NOUNS
1. SINGULAR AND PLURAL•
Nouns may be singular referring to one, or plural,
referring to more than one. Most nouns change their form
by adding “s” when they are plural. However, there are
exceptions to every rule - and exceptions for the exceptions.
2. POSSESSIVE NOUNS•
Common and proper nouns can sometimes be further
classified as possessive nouns. A possessive noun shows
ownership, belonging, or that something is part of
something else.
e.g. Libby’s front teeth, Eva’s big smile, Greg’s tiny nose
A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS
EXERCISE: A. Underline all the nouns you can find.
1. The dog chased the cat under the porch.
2. Muffins made with blueberries are delicious.
3. My daughter sold her computer to a friend.
4. Robert drove his car to Saint John and shopped for a new truck.
5. So much snow covered the roads that even truck drivers pulled into
motels.
6. The passengers on the ship witnessed the collision with the iceberg.
7. The Titanic sank in a few hours; many husbands and wives were
separated.
8. Penguins live near the South Pole, but these birds aren’t bothered by
the cold.
9. Many retired couples move to Florida where the weather is warmer.
A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS
B. Write 3 sentences of your own.
Underline all the nouns you
used.
NOUNS SYNTACTIC CHARACTERISTICS
Nouns can be recognized by the following syntactic
characteristics:
 They may be preceded by determiners:
the young boy
my two cats
 They may be modified by adjectives
a large pizza
those lovely flowers
NOUNS SYNTACTIC CHARACTERISTICS
 They may be premodified by other nouns
a university degree
a computer programmer
When a noun is head of a subject noun phrase, it
agrees in person and number with the tensed verb
of the clause:
e.g. Their apologies were accepted.