Pronouns are words that are used in place of nouns in a sentence. The noun being replaced is known as the antecedent of the pronoun.

Using pro nouns

We commonly use pronouns in speech and writing to avoid sounding unnatural and repetitive by reusing the same noun in a sentence multiple times. Take, for example, the following sentence:

• “John said that John wants to use the computer that belongs to John.”

The sentence is awkward because John is repeated so many times. Instead, we can use personal pronouns to stand in for the name of the antecedent to make the sentence sound more natural, as in:

• “John said that he wants to use the computer that belongs to him.”

In addition to making the sentence sound better, the pronouns provide specific information, telling us that John is in the third person. If the sentence were in the first person, it would read:

• “I said that I want to use the computer that belongs to me.”

(We never use our own names when we talk about what we’re doing in the first person, so we use the personal pronoun I instead of an antecedent.)

As we can see in the examples above, the pronouns are all serving the same function as nouns. They can be the subject of a sentence  or clause,  the

object of a verb, or they can follow linking verbs to rename or re-identify the subject (known as a subject complement).

Categories of Pronouns

There is a wide range of different categories of pronouns that we use in everyday speech and writing. Each kind of pronoun has a unique function in a sentence; many pronouns belong to multiple categories, and can serve different purposes depending on the context. We’ll briefly summarize these categories below, but you can continue on into the chapter to learn more about each.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns, which we looked at briefly above, are used to represent people in a sentence. Unique among pronouns, personal pronouns experience a wide range of inflection, meaning they change form to reflect specific meaning in different contexts.

We already saw in the example above how personal pronouns can inflect according to grammatical person (first person, second person, or third person), but they also change to reflect grammatical number (singular or plural), gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter), and case (subjective, objective, or possessive).

Go to each of the sub-sections of personal pronouns to learn more about all their different forms.

Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are very similar in style and form to personal pronouns—so similar, in fact, that they are listed as a sub-group of personal pronouns in this guide. (They are technically not personal pronouns, but their use and the way they are formed are so similar that it is useful seeing them in direct comparison to personal pronouns.)

We use reflexive pronouns when the subject of a clause is also the object of the clause’s verb. This occurs with certain reflexive verbs. They are formed by adding “-self” (singular) or “-selves” (plural) to the end of my, your, our, him, her, it or them (as well as the indefinite pronoun one). For example:

• “I saw myself in the ”
• “She imagined herself on a tropical ”
• “They consider themselves to be above the ”
• “One should not concern oneself with the business of ”

Intensive Pronouns

Intensive pronouns are identical to reflexive pronouns in form, but, instead of functioning as the object of a verb, they serve to emphasize or reiterate the subject’s role in the verb’s action. For instance:

• “I checked over these documents myself.”
• “The president himself will be in ”

Indefinite Pronouns

We use indefinite pronouns in place of a noun that is not being specified in the sentence. There are many different indefinite pronouns; which one we use depends on whether we are representing a noun that is a person or thing, and whether that noun is singular or plural. Some common examples include:

• “Is everyone here?”
• “I hope all is going well.”
• “Whatever you decide is fine with ”
• “Many are coming to the show ”

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to indicate specific people or things and indicate whether they are a) singular or plural and b) near or not near to the speaker. The most common are this, that, these, and those. For example:

• “This isn’t ” (singular, nearby)
• “Give me that.” (singular, not near)
• “These are really ” (plural, nearby)
• “I forgot to bring those.” (plural, not near)

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions, functioning either as the subject or object of such sentences. There are five primary interrogative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, and what.

• “Who is coming to the party tonight?” (subject)
• “So, which will it be: $10,000, or a new sports car?” (object)
• “Could you tell me whose these are?” (subject)
• “Do you know what we’re doing here?” (object)

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are used to connect relative clauses (also known as adjective clauses) to the main clause in a sentence. Relative clauses either help clarify the antecedent with essential information (in which case they are known as restrictive clauses), or else give extra, nonessential information about it (in which case they are known as non-restrictive clauses).

In a relative clause, the relative pronoun functions in one of three ways: as the subject of the clause, as the object of the clause’s verb, or as a possessive determiner. For example:

• “There’s the woman who always sits next to me on the bus.” (restrictive clause; who functions as the subject)
• “The book that I wrote is being published in ” (restrictive clause; that functions as the object of wrote)

• “The escaped giraffe, which had been on the loose for weeks, was finally ” (non-restrictive clause; which functions as the subject)
• “The person, whose name can’t be revealed, appeared in court ” (non-restrictive clause; whose functions as a possessive determiner, modifying name)

Reciprocal pronouns

We use reciprocal pronouns when two or more people both act as the subject of a verb, and both (or all) individually and equally receive the verb’s action. They can be the object of either the verb itself or a preposition used to complete the verb’s meaning.

There are two reciprocal pronouns—each other (traditionally used for two people) and one another (traditionally used for more than two people). For

example:

• “Jake and I call each other every ”
• “My neighbors and I spent a lot of time at each other’s houses when we were ”

Dummy Pronouns

“Dummy” pronouns (more technically known as expletive pronouns) are words that function grammatically as pronouns but do not have antecedents—that is, they do not replace a noun, phrase, or clause. They refer to nothing in particular, instead helping the sentence to function properly in a grammatical context. There are two dummy pronouns, there and it.

• “There is a ship in the ”
• “There were flowers in the ”
• “It looks like it may snow ”
• “Could you tell me what time it is?”

Quiz

(answers)
1. What is the term for a noun that is replaced by a pronoun?
a) Remnant
b) Descendent
c) Antecedent
d) Precedent
2. Which of the following pronouns are used when a subject is also the object
of the same verb?
a) Reflexive pronouns
b) Relative pronouns
c) Personal pronouns
d) Demonstrative pronouns
3. Which of the following pronouns are used to indicate the nearness and
number of a specific noun?
66
a) Reflexive pronouns
b) Relative pronouns
c) Personal pronouns
d) Demonstrative pronouns
4. Pronouns have the same grammatical function as _______ in a sentence.
a) Nouns
b) Adjectives
c) Adverbs
d) Prepositions
5. Identify the type of pronoun (in bold) used in the following sentence:
“Let me know if you need anything.”
a) Reciprocal pronoun
b) Interrogative pronoun
c) Indefinite pronoun
d) Dummy pronoun

PART 6

Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a collection or group of multiple

people, animals, or things. However, even though collective nouns refer to multiple individuals, they still usually function as singular nouns in a sentence. This is because they still are technically referring to one thing: the group as a whole. Here are some examples of collective nouns:

• group – A group is a single unit that is made up of a number of
  individuals, whether people or things.
• collection – A collection is a single unit that typically consists of
  many similar things organized together, such as paintings.
• tribe – A tribe is a single unit that is made up of a group of tribe
  members.
• fleet – A fleet is a single unit that is made up of several vehicles or
  vessels, such as ships.
• band – A band is a single unit that consists of a number of different
  musicians.

Collective nouns are used in sentences to refer to a group of people, animals, or things. Here are some examples of collective nouns being used in sentences:

• “The flock of birds flew south for the ”
• “The organization voted to revoke    the     rules that        it    had previously ”
• “The set of tablecloths had ”

Similarity to plural nouns

Collective nouns are very similar to plural nouns. Plural nouns are nouns that refer to multiple people, places, or things, and they primarily (but not always) end in “-s,” “-es,” or “-ies.” They are derived from singular nouns, and so are truly plural in form and function. For example, the following words are all plural nouns:

• dogs

• cities

• tables

• oceans

• sleds

Both plural nouns and collective nouns can refer to multiple things. The difference is that collective nouns refer to a group of individuals in a single unit, whereas plural nouns refer to multiple individuals. To understand the difference, consider the following sentence:

• “The musicians played the song ”

This sentence contains the plural noun musicians. This word lets the reader know that there are multiple musicians who played the song beautifully. However, consider the following sentence:

• “The orchestra played the song ”

This sentence contains the collective noun orchestra. This word lets the reader know that there is a group of musicians that played the song beautifully. However, it also lets the reader know that the multiple musicians are arranged into a single group. The plural noun musicians in the first sentence does not do that.

Here are two more examples:

• “The soldiers marched very ” (plural noun)
• “The platoon marched very ” (collective noun)

As in the previous examples, both soldiers and platoon indicate multiple people. However, only platoon lets the reader know that the soldiers are organized into a collective unit.

Singular vs. Plural Use

Collective nouns usually function as singular nouns in a sentence, but they are occasionally used as plurals, too. Whether they are used in a singular or plural manner can impact which verbs and pronouns should be associated with the word.

The way we determine in which manner the collective noun should be used is to consider whether the members of the collective noun are being regarded as a single, whole unit, or as multiple individuals. If they are functioning as a whole, then you use singular verb tenses and pronouns; if they are acting individually, then you use plural verb tenses and pronouns.

For example, the following sentence demonstrates singular use of a collective noun:

• “The offense hopes to score a touchdown on its next ”

Here, the collective noun offense refers to the members of the team’s offensive unit functioning as a whole; therefore, it acts as a singular noun in the sentence. As a result, the verb hopes and the pronoun its are also singular.

Compare this to the next sentence, which demonstrates plural use of a collective noun:

• “The jury eat their lunches before they ”

In this sentence, the collective noun, jury, refers to the jury members acting individually. As a result, jury functions as a plural noun in the sentence. This means that the plural pronouns they and their are used, as is the plural form of the verb eat.

Finally, it is worth noting that in British English, it is more common for collective nouns to function as plurals in all instances.

Plural-only collective nouns

Certain collective nouns can only be plural, such as “police.” For example:

“The police is investigating the matter.” (incorrect)

“The police are investigating the matter.” (correct)

However, we can make the noun countable by adding more information to the sentence. If we want to specify a single member of the police, we could say:

• “A police officer is investigating the ”

Here are some other examples of collective nouns that can only be plural:

• people
• children
• poultry
• vermin
• cattle

Collective Nouns and Animals

In the English language, there are many different types of collective nouns that refer to different groupings of animals. There are hundreds of different collective nouns used to describe animal group names, but here are a few common ones:

• flock of birds
• pod of whales
• pack of wolves
• pride of lions
• gaggle of geese
• band of coyotes
• Gatling of woodpeckers
• huddle of penguins
• mob of kangaroos
• school of fish

Quiz

(answers )
1. Which of the following words is a collective noun?
a) birds
b) berries
c) cake
d) team
2. Which word is the collective noun in the following sentence?
“The herd moved north over the mountains.”
a) moved
47
b) north
c) herd
d) mountains
3. Which of the following is not a collective noun?
a) ships
b) group
c) committee
d) government
4. A collective noun is usually _______ in a sentence.
a) plural
b) singular
c) Neither
d) A & B
5. Which of the following is a collective noun that refers to a group of
animals?
a) book
b) snow
c) flock
d) sky

Compound Nouns Definition

A compound noun is a noun consisting of two or more words working

together as a single unit to name a person, place, or thing. Compound nouns are usually made up of two nouns or an adjective and a noun, but other combinations are also possible, as well.

Generally, the first word in the compound noun tells us what kind of person or thing it is or what purpose he, she, or it serves, while the second word defines the person or object, telling us who or what it is. For example:

• water + bottle = water bottle (a bottle used for water)
• dining + room = dining room (a room used for dining)
• back + pack = backpack (a pack you wear on your back)
• police + man = policeman (a police officer who is a man)

Like other nouns, compound nouns can be modified by other adjectives. For example:

• “I need to buy a large water bottle.”
• “That’s a beautiful dining room.”
• “My old backpack is still my ”
• “A lone policeman foiled the attempted ”

You can recognize compound nouns because the meaning of the two words put together is different than the meaning of the words separately. For example, water and bottle have their own separate meanings, but when we use them together they mean a particular type of bottle that we drink water from.

Forming compound nouns

As mentioned, compound nouns are formed by combining two or more words, with the most common combinations being noun + noun or adjective

+ noun. However, combinations using other parts of speech are also possible. Below are the various combinations used to create compound nouns.

Noun + noun

There are a great number of compound nouns formed using the noun + noun

combination. For example:

•    backpack

• bathroom

•    bathtub

• bedroom

•    bus stop

• fish tank

•    football

• handbag

•    motorcycle

• shopkeeper

•    tablecloth

• toothpaste

•    wallpaper

• water bottle

•    website

• wristwatch

Adjective + noun

There are also many compound nouns that are formed using the adjective + noun combination. For example:

•    full moon

• blackberry

•    blackbird

• blackboard

•    cell(ular) phone

• mobile phone

•    hardware

• highway

•    greenhouse

• redhead

•    six-pack

• small talk

•    software

• whiteboard

Other combinations

Although the noun + noun and adjective + noun combinations are the most common, there are also plenty of other possibilities for forming compound nouns. For example:

Writing compound nouns

Compound nouns are very common, both in written and spoken English, and there are spelling, punctuation, and pronunciation norms that we must be aware of if we want to use them correctly.

The three written forms of compound nouns

Writing compound nouns is a bit complicated due to the fact that they can take three different forms.

First, open compound nouns (or spaced compound nouns) are those that are written as two separate words, such as washing machine, swimming pool, and water bottle.

Second, there are hyphenated compound nouns, as in check-in, hanger- on, and mother-in-law.

Third, there are closed compound nouns (or solid compound nouns)

—those that are written as one word, such as rainfall, drawback, and toothpaste.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any rules that tell us which of the three forms is acceptable for a particular compound noun. Some compound nouns are commonly written in two forms, as in website / web site or checkout / check- out, while others, such as bus stop, are strictly used in one form. Where more than one is possible, the form that is more commonly used may depend on the variety of English (American English vs. British English, for example),

the style guide of a publication, or the personal preference of the writer.

If you’re not sure which of the three forms to use, it’s important to check a good, up-to-date dictionary. If you are relying on the spellchecker in a word processor, remember that this has its limits. For example, spellcheck is good for checking whether a particular compound noun can be written as one word (closed); however, if we write a compound noun as two words (open) and it should be written as one word (closed), or if we write it with a hyphen and it should be written without a hyphen, spellcheck will not catch the mistakes.

Finally, remember that, no matter which way the compound noun is written, it always functions grammatically as a single unit.

Pluralizing compound nouns

We usually pluralize a compound noun by adding an “-s” or “-es” to the main word, or the defining word, of the compound noun. This is usually the second word, but not always. For example:

BUT

 When it’s not obvious which of the words is the defining word, we pluralize the end of it. For example:

Pronouncing compound nouns

In general, compound nouns are pronounced with the emphasis on the first part of the word. For example:

• BEDroom BLACKbird CHECK-in
• GREENhouse
• MAKEup WATER bottle

Pronouncing compound nouns in this way helps us distinguish words that form a compound noun like blackbird and greenhouse from other instances when the same words would appear together, as in: “Look at that beautiful black bird,” or “I like that green house on the corner.”

Although we normally stress the first word in a compound noun, there are certain exceptions to this pattern. For example, we disregard this rule when pronouncing compound nouns that include titles or proper nouns, as in Secretary GENeral and Mount RUSHmore.

If in doubt, you can use a good dictionary to determine which syllable should be emphasized.

Quiz

(answers )
1. Compound nouns are made up of ________ words.
a) two or more
b) two
c) many
d) one or two
53
2. Closed compound nouns are written ________.
a) as two words
b) as one word
c) with a hyphen
d) with a comma
3. Which of the following sentences does not contain a compound noun?
a) “Did you see that noisy blackbird?”
b) “Let’s go eat breakfast.”
c) “I’d love to live in a green house with a red door.”
d) “Would you like to see my new swimming pool?”
4. Which of the following compound nouns is written incorrectly?
a) spoonful
b) tablecloth
c) hangeron
d) passerby
5. If capital letters show emphasis in pronunciation, which word is
pronounced incorrectly?
a) attorney GENeral
b) PASSERby
c) BACKpack
d) PRIME minister

Nominalization (Creating Nouns) Definition

Nominalization refers to the creation of a noun from verbs or adjectives.

Most of the time, nouns are created from other parts of speech through the use of suffixes. In other cases, the word remains the same but is simply used a different way; this is known as conversion or zero derivation.

Suffixes

Suffixes are certain groupings of letters that can be attached to the end of words to change their meaning. Most verbs and adjectives that become nouns are changed using suffixes.

(Be aware, however, that the examples below only show some of the common ways of using suffixes to change verbs and adjectives to nouns; they are not all concrete rules, and the lists of possible suffixes are not exhaustive ones. The best way to learn the spellings of such nouns is by using a good dictionary, or by encountering them in everyday speech and writing.)

Verbs

There are certain patterns that we follow to decide which suffix is needed in order to create a noun from a verb.

Gerunds

The most straightforward way of turning a verb into a noun is through the use of gerunds. These are made by adding the suffix “-ing” to the end of the verb. For example:

• “Walking is very ”
• “I enjoy reading.”
• “Listening is an important aspect of any ”
• “My sleeping has been very disrupted ”
• “Baking is my favorite ”
• “I hate running.”

Note that if the gerund takes any additional information, such as an object, adverb, or prepositional phrase, then this entire group of words (known as a gerund phrase) acts as a noun. To learn more about gerunds and gerund phrases, go to the section on Gerunds in the chapter about Other Parts of Speech.

Nouns of agency and profession

When we turn a verb into a noun to represent someone (or occasionally something) who is an agent of that action, or who performs the action in a professional capacity, we typically use the suffixes “-or,” “-er,” or “-r.” For example:

• “My fiancée is an actor.” (Someone who acts.)
• “I’m training to be a teacher.” (Someone who teaches.)
• “The writer is very well ” (Someone who writes.)
• “The company is a major employer in the ” (Something that employs

people.)

• “The projector was broken ” (Something that projects.)

Nouns of recipience

For verbs that become nouns to represent someone who is the recipient of an action, we often use the suffix “-ee.”

Perhaps the most common example of this in modern English is employee

(someone who others employ), as in:

• “The employee is disputing his ” Other examples include:
• “The bank must approve you as the payee.” (Someone who is paid.)
• “There is one more interviewee waiting to be ” (Someone who is

interviewed.)

Nouns of general action

We can use a variety of different suffixes to describe an action in general. The most common of these are “-tion,” “-sion,” “-ance,” “-ment,” and “-ence”; in some instances, we change the ending of the verb slightly in order to take the suffix.

For example:

• “His acceptance of the position was received ” (The verb accept

becomes the noun acceptance.)

• “Thank you for the invitation!” (The verb invite becomes the noun

invitation.)

• “In conclusion, we should see a spike in profits ” (The verb conclude

becomes the noun conclusion.)

• “Government must derive from the will of the population.” (The verb govern becomes the noun government; the verb populate becomes the noun population.))

• “Attendance is at an all-time ” (The verb attend becomes the noun

attendance.)

• “I was surprised by my enjoyment of the ” (The verb enjoy becomes the noun enjoyment.)
• “Use the textbook as your reference if you’re ” (The verb refer

becomes the noun reference.)

Some other suffixes that work in this way are “-al” and “-ure,” as in:

• “Failure to find a solution is not an ” (The verb fail becomes the noun failure.)
• “The review will include a quick perusal of your ” (The verb peruse

becomes the noun perusal.)

Adjectives

We change adjectives into nouns when we want to speak of them as general ideas or concepts. Adjectives can take a variety of different suffixes, depending on how they are spelled.

“-ness”

We often use the suffix “-ness” for many adjectives. Most of the time, we can simply add the suffix on to the end of the adjective without making any changes to its spelling. For example:

• “The hardness of diamond makes it a great cutting ” (The adjective

hard becomes the noun hardness.)

• “The child’s meekness is quite sweet.” (The adjective meek becomes the noun meekness.)
• “His gruffness is not ” (The adjective gruff becomes the noun

gruffness.)

• “I don’t care for the roughness of my ” (The adjective rough

becomes the noun roughness.)

• “I don’t think you understand the seriousness of the ” (The adjective serious becomes the noun seriousness.)
• “Please don’t underestimate my gratefulness.” (The adjective grateful

becomes the noun gratefulness.)

However, when we use this suffix with an adjective ending in “-y,” we change

“y” to “i”:

• “We’re waiting for some steadiness in the ” (The adjective steady

becomes the noun steadiness.)

• “The teacher puts her students’ happiness above all ” (The adjective

happy becomes the noun happiness.)

Some adjectives ending in a “-t” preceded by a long vowel sound can take this suffix as well:

• “Her greatness is without ” (The adjective great becomes the noun greatness.)
• “The flatness of the Earth was disproven long ” (The adjective flat

becomes the noun flatness.)

“-y”

Other adjectives that end in a “-t” preceded by a consonant will take  the suffix “-y” to become nouns. For example:

• “This project will be fraught with difficulty.” (The adjective difficult

becomes the noun difficulty.)

• “That’s enough of your modesty.” (The adjective modest becomes the noun modesty.)
• “Honesty is a very important ” (The adjective honest becomes the noun honesty.)

“-ity”

When adjectives end in “-e,” they often take the suffix “-ity” to become nouns. However, there is often a change to the spelling of the word. Usually, we simply drop “e” and replace it with “-ity,” as in:

• “There is a scarcity of food in the city.” (The adjective scarce becomes the noun scarcity.)
• “Kindness is a rarity in this ” (The adjective rare becomes the noun

rarity.)

When the word ends in “ble,” though, we have to change “le” to “il,” as in:

• “This project is your responsibility.” (The adjective responsible becomes the noun responsibility.)

• “I have no question of your ability.” (The adjective able becomes the noun

ability.)

Uniquely, we also use the “-ity” suffix to change the adjective hilarious to hilarity, even though other adjectives with similar endings (such as serious, grievous, callous, etc.) take the suffix “-ness.”

“-ance” and “-ence”

We often use the suffix “-ance” for adjectives ending in “-ant,” as in:

• “This is of the utmost importance.” (The adjective important becomes the noun importance.)
• “Your ignorance is ” (The adjective ignorant becomes the noun ignorance.)

We often use the suffix “-ence” for adjectives ending in “-ent,” as in:

• “We demand greater independence.” (The adjective independent becomes the noun independence.)
• “Silence is expected during ” (The adjective silent becomes the noun

silence.)

Conversion

When we use a verb or adjective as a noun without changing its spelling in any way, it is called conversion or zero derivation.

Verbs

Conversion is especially common with verbs, and there are many instances where the same word may function as a verb or a noun, depending on the context. For example:

• “Please answer the phone, ” (verb)
• “We’ll need an answer by ” (noun)
• “I run each morning before ” (verb)
• “I’m going for a run later ” (noun)
• “Meteorologists are forecasting a snowstorm ” (verb)
• “The forecast said there would be rain in the ” (noun)

Less commonly, there are instances in which, instead of changing a word’s spelling, we change where we pronounce a stress on the word’s syllables to indicate a shift from a verb to a noun; this change is known as a suprafix. Let’s look at some examples (with the stressed syllable underlined):

• “You need to convert pounds into ” (verb)
• “The church always welcomes recent converts to its ” (noun)
• “Make sure you record the meeting so we can review it ” (verb)
• “I love listening to old records.” (noun)
• “Please don’t insult my ” (verb)
• “We will not forget this insult to our company.” (noun)

The word use can also function as either a noun or a verb, but instead of changing the stress on a syllable, we change the actual pronunciation of the word, as in:

• “We plan to use a diagnostic test to evaluate the problem.” (verb—use is pronounced “yooz”)
• “There is only one use for this ” (noun—use is pronounced “yuce”)

Nominal adjectives

We can also convert adjectives into nouns without changing spelling, but we generally do so by adding the article the before the word. These are known as nominal adjectives. For example:

• “The wealthy have an obligation to help the poor.”
• “We all want the best for ”
• “This law protects the innocent.”

To learn more about how and when these are used, go to the section about

Nominal Adjectives in the chapter on Adjectives.

Infinitives

Lastly, verbs can serve the function of nouns by being used in their infinitive form—that is, the base form of the verb with the particle to. Infinitives are not technically an example of nominalization, because they can also act as adjectives and adverbs, but it’s worth looking at how they work when they function as nouns. For example:

As the subject of a clause

• “To err is human; to forgive is ”
• “To study mathematics at Harvard was her ultimate ”
• “To live in the city means adjusting to a completely different ”

As the object of a verb

• “I’m not going unless you agree to go with me.”
• “You appear to be correct.”
• “Please be quiet; I’m trying to study.”

As an object complement

(An object complement is a word or group of words that describe, rename, or complete the direct object of the verb.)

• “I don’t expect you to approve of my decision.”
• “She’s forcing me to work through the weekend.”
• “We need you to make a few more copies.”

Quiz

(answers )
1. Which of the following is used to change the spelling of a verb or adjective
that is made into a noun?
a) prefixes
b) suffixes
c) infixes
d) circumfixes
2. What is the name for nominalization in which the spelling of the verb or
adjective does not change?
a) inversion
b) conscription
c) conversion
d) elision
3. Which of the following suffixes is commonly used to change a verb to a
noun to reflect agency or profession?
61
a) “-or”
b) “-ing”
c) “-ance”
d) “-ence”
4. Which of the following nominalized verbs (in bold) is a gerund?
a) “Adherence to the rules is expected of all students.”
b) “We weren’t expecting her refusal of our offer.”
c) “Winning isn’t everything, you know.”
d) “We need to hire a few more employees.”

PART 5

Nouns fall into one of two broad categories: common nouns and proper nouns.

Common Nouns

All nouns serve to name a person, place, or thing.

Those that identify general people, places, or things are called common

nouns—they name that which is common among others. For example:

• “He sat on the chair.”
• “I live in a city.”
• “We met some people.”
• “She went into politics.”
• “Our teacher is ”
• “Let’s go down to the lake.”

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns, on the other hand, are used to identify a unique person, place, or thing. A proper noun names someone or something that is one of a kind, which is signified by the use of a capital letter, no matter where it appears in a sentence.

Names

The most common proper nouns are names, as of people, places, or events. For example:

• “Go find Jeff and tell him dinner is ”
• “I lived in Cincinnati before I moved to New York.”
• “My parents still talk about how great Woodstock was in ”

Brands

Proper nouns are also used for commercial brands. In this case, the object that’s being referred to is not unique in itself, but the brand it belongs to is. For example:

• “Pass me the Hellmann’s ”
• “I’ll have a Pepsi, ”
• “My new MacBook is incredibly ”

Appellations

When a person has additional words added to his or her name (known as an

appellation), this becomes part of the proper noun and is also capitalized. (Some linguists distinguish these as proper names, rather than proper nouns.) For example:

• “Prince William is adored by ”
• “Italy was invaded by Attila the Hun in ”

Job Titles and Familial Roles

Many times, a person may be referred to according to a professional title or familial role instead of by name. In this case, the title is being used as a noun of address and is considered a proper noun, even if it would be a common noun in other circumstances. For example:

• “How are you doing, Coach?”
• “I need your advice, President.”
• “Mom, can you come with me to the playground?”
• “Pleased to meet you, Doctor.”

Quiz

(answers start )
1. Common nouns identify people, places, or things that are ___________?
a) Especially unique or one-of-a-kind
b) Generic among other similar nouns
c) Addressed by the speaker
d) Uncountable
2. Things referred to by their brand use which kind of nouns?
a) Common nouns
b) Proper nouns
3. Nouns of address are used in the same way as which kind of nouns?
a) Common nouns
b) Proper nouns

PART 4

Nouns are words that indicate a person, place, or thing.

In a sentence, nouns can function as the subject or the object of a verb or preposition. Nouns can also follow linking verbs to rename or re-identify the subject of a sentence or clause; these are known as predicate nouns.

The Subject

The subject in a sentence or clause is the person or thing doing, performing, or controlling the action of the verb. For example:

• “The dog chased its ” (The noun dog is performing the action of the verb chase.)
• “Mary reads a book every ” (The proper noun Mary is performing the action of the verb read.)

Objects

Grammatical objects have three grammatical roles: the direct object of a verb, the indirect object of a verb, or the object of a preposition.

Direct objects

Direct objects are what receive the action of the verb in a sentence or clause. For example:

• “The dog chased its tail.” (The noun tail is receiving the action of the verb

chase.)

• “Mary reads a book every ” (The noun book is receiving the action of the verb read.)

Indirect objects

An indirect object is the person or thing who receives the direct object of the verb. For instance:

• “Please pass Jeremy the salt.” (The proper noun Jeremy is receiving the

direct object salt, which receives the action of the verb pass.)

• “I sent the company an application for the job.” (The noun company is receiving the direct object application, which receives the action of the verb sent.)

Objects of prepositions

Nouns are also used after prepositions to create prepositional phrases. When a noun is part of a prepositional phrase, it is known as the object of the preposition. For example:

• “Your backpack is under the table.” (The noun table is the object of the preposition under, which creates the prepositional phrase under the table.)
• “I am looking for work.” (The noun work is the object of the preposition

for, which creates the prepositional phrase for work.)

Predicate Nouns

Nouns that follow linking verbs are known as predicate nouns (sometimes known as predicative nouns). These serve to rename or re-identify the subject. If the noun is accompanied by any direct modifiers (such as articles, adjectives, or prepositional phrases), the entire noun phrase acts predicatively.

For example:

• “Love is a virtue.” (The noun phrase a virtue follows the linking verb is to rename the subject love.)
• “Tommy seems like a real bully.” (The noun phrase a real bully follows the linking verb seems to rename the subject Tommy.)
• “Maybe this is a blessing in disguise.” (The noun phrase a blessing in disguise follows the linking verb is to rename the subject this.)

(Go to the section on Subject Complements in the part of the guide that covers Syntax to learn more about predicate nouns.)

Categories of Nouns

There are many different kinds of nouns, and it’s important to know the different way each type can be used in a sentence. Below, we’ll briefly look at the different categories of nouns. You can explore the individual sections to

learn more about each.

Common and Proper Nouns

Nouns that identify general people, places, or things are called common nouns—they name or identify that which is common among others.

Proper nouns, on the other hand, are used to identify an absolutely unique person, place, or thing, and they are signified by capital letters, no matter where they appear in a sentence.

Nouns of Address

Nouns of address are used in direct speech to identify the person or group being directly spoken to, or to get that person’s attention. Like interjections, they are grammatically unrelated to the rest of the sentence

—they don’t modify or affect any other part of it. For example:

• “James, I need you to help me with the ”
• “Can I have some money, Mom?”
• “This, class, is the video I was telling you ”
• “Sorry, President, I didn’t see you there.”

Concrete and Abstract Nouns

Concrete nouns name people, places, animals, or things that are physically tangible—that is, they can be seen or touched, or have some physical properties. Proper nouns are also usually concrete, as they describe unique people, places, or things that are also tangible. For example:

• table
• rocks
• lake
• countries
• people
• Africa
• MacBook
• Jonathan
  Abstract nouns, as their name implies, name intangible things, such as concepts, ideas, feelings,  characteristics, attributes, etc. For instance:
• love
• hate
• decency
• conversation
• emotion

Countable       and Uncountable Nouns

Countable nouns (also known as count nouns) are nouns that can be considered as individual, separable items, which means that we are able to count them with numbers—we can have one, two, five, 15, 100, and so on. We can also use them with the indefinite articles a and an (which signify a single person or thing) or with the plural form of the noun.

Countable nouns contrast with uncountable nouns (also known as non- count or mass nouns), which cannot be separated and counted as individual units or elements. Uncountable nouns cannot take an indefinite article (a/an), nor can they be made plural.

Correct	Incorrect
“Would you like tea?”	“Would you like a tea?”

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a collection or group of multiple people, animals, or things. However, even though collective nouns refer to multiple individuals, they still function as singular nouns in a sentence. This is because they still are technically referring to one thing: the group as a whole. For example:

• “The flock of birds flew south for the ”
• “The organization voted to revoke    the     rules that        it    had previously ”
• “The set of tablecloths had ”

Attributive                           Nouns                           (Noun Adjuncts)

Attributive nouns, also called noun adjuncts, are nouns that are used to modify other nouns. The resulting phrase is called a compound noun. For example:

• “The boy played with his toy soldier.”

In this sentence, toy is the noun adjunct, and it modifies the word soldier, creating the compound noun toy soldier.

To learn more about attributive nouns, go to the section on Adjuncts in the chapter on The Predicate.

Compound Nouns

A compound noun is a noun composed of two or more words working together as a single unit to name a person, place, or thing. Compound nouns are usually made up of two nouns or an adjective and a noun.

• water + bottle = water bottle (a bottle used for water)
• dining + room = dining room (a room used for dining)
• back + pack = backpack (a pack you wear on your back)
• police + man = policeman (a police officer who is a man)

Noun Phrases

A noun phrase is a group of two or more words that function together as a noun in a sentence. Noun phrases consist of a noun and other words that modify the noun. For example:

• “He brought the shovel with the blue handle.”

In this sentence, the shovel with the blue handle is a noun phrase. It collectively acts as a noun while providing modifying words for the head noun, shovel. The modifiers are the and with the blue handle.

Nominalization (Creating Nouns)

Nominalization refers to the creation of a noun from verbs or adjectives.

When nouns are created from other parts of speech, it is usually through the use of suffixes. For example:

• “My fiancée is an actor.” (The verb act becomes the noun actor.)
• “His acceptance of the position was received ” (The verb accept

becomes the noun acceptance.)

• “The hardness of diamond makes it a great material for cutting ” (The adjective hard becomes the noun hardness.)
• “This project will be fraught with difficulty.” (The adjective difficult

becomes the noun difficulty.)

Quiz

(answers start )

1. A noun can be which of the following?
a) The subject
b) An object
c) Predicative
d) A & B
e) B & C
f) All of the above

2. What category of nouns is used to identify the person or group being
directly spoken to?
a) Common nouns
b) Nouns of address
c) Attributive nouns
d) Abstract nouns
3. Identify the type of noun (in bold) used in the following sentence:
“Your indifference is not acceptable.”
a) Proper noun
b) Countable noun
c) Collective noun
d) Abstract noun
4. What category of nouns is used to modify other nouns?
a) Common nouns
b) Nouns of address
c) Attributive nouns
d) Abstract nouns
5. Which of the following is commonly used to create a noun from a verb or
adjective?
a) Prefix
b) Suffix
c) Attributive noun
d) Predicative noun

PART 3