A. Nouns
George and Spot walked to Antonio's to order a large pepperoni pizza.
George is a person.
Antonio's is a place.
Pizza is a thing.
Spot is an animal.
B. Functions of Nouns in the Sentence
Nouns can function as subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions, and subject complements.
Examples:
Spot chased a cat down the street.
Spot = the subject for the verb chased.
George walks Spot every evening. Then, George gives Spot a big bone.
Spot = direct object of the verb walks and indirect object of the verb gives.
While eating a piece of pizza, George dripped tomato sauce onto Spot.
Spot = the object of the preposition onto.
For George, Spot is a friend.
Friend = subject complement of the linking verb is.
C. Classes of Nouns.
Nouns have different classes: proper and common, concrete and abstract, count and non-count, and collective.
1. Proper and Common Nouns
Proper nouns name specific, one-of-a-kind items while common nouns identify the general varieties. Proper nouns always begin with capital letters; common nouns, on the other hand, only require capitalization if they start the sentence or are part of a title.
Read these two versions:
George and Spot dined at Antonio's.
George, Spot, Antonio's = proper nouns.
A boy and his pet dined at a pizza restaurant.
Boy, monster, restaurant = common nouns.
2. Concrete and Abstract Nouns
You classify concrete and abstract nouns by their ability to register on your five senses. If you can see, hear, smell, taste, or feel the item, it's a concrete noun. If, however, you cannot experience the item with any of your senses, it's abstract. Here are two examples:
Pizza is George's favorite food.
Pizza = concrete because you can see, hear, smell, feel [though you get your fingers greasy], and thankfully taste it.
George never tips the delivery boy from Antonio's; politeness is not one of George's strong points.
Politeness = abstract [you cannot see politeness, or hear, smell, taste, or touch the quality itself].
3. Count and Noncount Nouns
Many nouns can be singular or plural; these are count nouns. Noncount nouns, on the other hand, have only a singular form; to make them plural is illogical.
Read the sentences that follow:
George ate two pizzas and one apple pie.
Pizzas and apple pie = count nouns.
After overindulging at Antonio's, George got severe indigestion.
Indigestion = noncount. You cannot write, "George got eleven indigestions."
4. Collective Nouns
Collective nouns name groups. Although the group is a single unit, it has more than one member. Some examples are army, audience, board, cabinet, class, committee, company, corporation, council, department, faculty, family, firm, group, jury, majority, minority, navy, public, school, society, team, and troupe.
Collective nouns are especially tricky when you are trying to make verbs and pronouns agree with them. The reason is that collective nouns can be singular or plural, depending on the behavior of the members of the group.
For example, if the members are acting as a unit—everyone doing the same thing at the same time—the collective noun is singular and requires singular verbs and pronouns. Read this example:
Despite the danger, the SWAT team pursues the drug dealers through the streets of the city.
In this sentence, the members of the collective noun team are acting as one unit; each officer is engaged in the same activity at the same time. The verb is conjugated as singular.
After getting ambushed by the drug dealers, the team give their guns in and worry about their lives.
Here, the team members are acting individually. All the members gave their own guns and each one was worried about their own life. The collective noun team is plural.
Note:
Keep in mind that a single noun can fall into more than one class. Here is an example:
The drug dealers spared the officers' lives.
Dealers = common, concrete, and count.
5. Gender of Nouns
Nouns in English can be masculine, feminine, common, or neuter.
Masculine for male living beings:
lion
waiter
husband
son
fox
dog
Feminine for female living beings:
lioness
waitress
wife
daughter
vixen
bitch
Common for living beings but unclassified:
cousin
sibling
parent
fish
Neuter is for inanimate objects:
chair
table
pencil
car
sky
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