NounsGrammar Review

Noun

•A word that names something: a person, a place, a thing, or an idea•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-JAdVkRPhQ

CLASSES OF NOUNS

COMMON NOUNS: flower, cloud, boy, chair, painting

PROPER NOUNS: Mount Sentinel, Jacob, Ms. Martin, Mona Lisa

ABSTRACT NOUNS: peace, love, harmony, pride, anger

CONCRETE NOUNS: grass, whisper, Lance Armstrong

COLLECTIVE NOUN: United States, Los Angeles Lakers, team, crowd, community

FORMS OF NOUNS

SINGULAR NOUNS: actor, stadium, bully, child

PLURAL NOUNS: actors, stadiums, bullies, children

MASCULINE NOUNS: uncle, brother, rooster, bull

FEMININE NOUNS: aunt, sister, woman, hen NEUTER (w/out gender): tree, cobweb, fish INDEFINITE (either): doctor, parent,

plumber

NOUN AS THE SUBJECT

Example: Mrs. Martin’s cat ate all of the watermelon.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3cHNObcEh8)

Example: “Patsy’s heart was beating very wildly beneath his jacket.”

Paun Dunbar, “The Finish of Patsy Barnes”

The cat is doing the eating, so it’s the subject of the sentence.

Heart is the subject of the sentence; it is what is doing the beating.

We call this kind of noun a SUBJECTIVE NOUN (just remember SUBJECT)

NOUNS AS POSSESSIVES

The dog’s food was gone in a flash!

“Like the spider’s claw, a part of him touches a world he will never enter.”

Loren Eiseley, “The Hidden Teacher”

The noun dog shows ownership (note the ‘s). Who is in possession of the food?

Again, this type of noun shows ownership. The spider “owns” the claw.

DIRECT OBJECT/INDIRECT OBJECT

The direct object is the thing being acted on. This answers

the question “what”?

You must have a direct object to have an indirect object. It tells to whom or for whom something is done. This answers the

question “to/for whom?”

DIRECT OBJECT/INDIRECT OBJECT

Marna always gives Mylo science fiction books for his birthday.

Books = direct object of the verb (answers the question of “what?”

Mylo = indirect object of the verb “gives” (answers the question of “to/for whom?”)

DIRECT OBJECT/INDIRECT OBJECT

The principal wrote her a letter.

Elroy read his class the story.

Mrs. Martin gave everyone in the class one thousand dollars.

I envy his good fortune.

He read the newspaper.

Subject? Direct object?

(what?) Indirect object

(to/for whom?)