Mantex

Tutorials, Study Guides & More

>> Home / Archives for Parts of speech

Nouns – how to use them correctly

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Nouns – definition

nouns Nouns are the words we use for the names of objects, feelings, states of being, natural things, and groups.

Examples
objects lamp, hat, gate, spoon, book
feelings joy, sadness, fear, anger
states of being confusion, agreement, war
natural things thunder, electricity, gravity, speed
groups herd, pack, catalogue, crowd
Use

redbtn We went to town and bought a lamp

redbtn The joy she felt was clear for all to see.

redbtn The trouble was caused by a power failure.

redbtn Thunder could be heard from a distance of three miles.

redbtn The cow with the curly horn was the most spectacular of the herd.

redbtn Nouns constitute much of the content of both speech and writing. They can usefully be categorised as follows:

  • Common nouns
  • Proper nouns
  • Abstract nouns

redbtn Common nouns. This is the term for objects such as ‘book’, ‘coat’, ‘window’, ‘apple’, ‘man’, ‘woman’.

redbtn Proper nouns. This is the term for names of people, places, days of the week, months of the year. Proper nouns are written with an initial capital letter:

John Smith November
Tuesday Buckingham Palace

redbtn Abstract nouns. This is the term for feelings such as ‘anger’, ‘joy’, ‘fear’, ‘sadness’, and for other intangible phenomena such as ‘beauty’, ‘philosophy’, ‘gravity’, ‘humour’.

redbtn Plurals of nouns are formed in a variety of ways in English.

redbtn Speech. Many nouns are made plural by the addition of a voiced /z/ or voiceless /s/ sibilant or ‘s’ sound as in tins /z/ mats /s/ sweets /s/ cows /z/

redbtn Writing. In writing the examples above would be pluralised by the simple addition of the letter ‘s’.

redbtn Other nouns require an extra syllable to form a plural, according to their use in speech or writing.

redbtn Speech. The plural of the terms ‘house’, ‘ostrich’, and ‘entrance’ are formed as follows:

hou/z/e/z/ ostrich/e/z/ entrance/z/

redbtn Writing. The written form of these plurals is constructed by adding the letter ‘s’ — except in the case of ‘ostrich’ where ‘e’ and ‘s’ are added.

redbtn In these cases, the written version is echoing the spoken word where, for ease of articulation, a vowel sound is added when forming the plural.

redbtn Irregular plurals. English has many words which are borrowings from other languages. The result of this is a number of irregular plurals:

SINGULAR PLURAL
analysis analyses
crisis crises
appendix appendices
narcissus narcissi
amoeba amoebae

redbtn English also has compounds such as the following, called ‘plurals in the first element’:

mothers-in-law [not mother-in-laws]
spoonsful [not spoonfuls]
passers-by [not passer-byes]
courts-martial [not court-martials]

redbtn However, there are also examples of the converse. That is, where the plural is formed in the final element in terms such as:

girlfriends grownups takeoffs

redbtn Archaic plurals. Some plurals are formed by the addition of ‘en’, because of the origin of the word in Old English:

children oxen brethren

redbtn The term ‘chicken’ is the archaic plural of the word ‘chick’. Over the centuries however, it has come to stand for the singular. The plural is now formed by the addition of a final ‘s’ in ‘chickens’.

redbtn Collective nouns. This is the term for one single term which refers to a group of items. Many English collective nouns refer to animals. For example, flock (sheep), brace (game-birds), set (badgers), pride (lions).

redbtn Terms such as ‘den’ (of robbers) ‘team’ (of players) ‘queue’ (of people) ‘party’ (of delegates) are also collective nouns.

redbtn Participles as nouns. Some nouns are formed from verb participles. For example, it is common to refer to ‘the cleaning’ which may be done weekly.

redbtn Film-makers used this form in producing The Shining, and houses are protected by various kinds of ‘cladding’.

redbtn Noun-phrases. These are utterances which may act as subject, object or predicate in a sentence. In other words they function exactly as a single noun, but they comprise more than one word.

redbtn Here are some examples, based on one common, single noun (book)

the book
the interesting book
the book on the shelf
the book which my friend gave me

redbtn All of these noun phrases could be used to start or to finish a sentence:

The book on the shelf is the one I was looking for in the first place.

John gave me the book on the shelf.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Participles – how to understand them

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Participles – definition

participles The term participles refers to the lexical component of the verb or the part which conveys the information or meaning.

redbtn Participles can express the present tense as in swimming or the past as in swam.

Examples

PRESENT PARTICIPLES

jumping thinking being
rowing considering maintaining

PAST PARTICIPLES

ran came went was
thought made helped socialised
Use

redbtn Participles are usually used along with pronouns as verbs, but they are also used as adjectives as in The Killing Fields and The Hanging Gardens.

redbtn Participles can be used also as nouns as in ‘the cleaning’, ‘the washing’, or The Shining [film title].

redbtn NB! Speaking, listening, reading, and writing add up to communicating.

redbtn The term ‘participle’ is a technical grammatical term. It is useful to be able to identify this portion of the verb.

redbtn A verb is usually referred to in its infinitive form, with the prefix ‘to’ — as in:

to learn to be to have
to walk to converse to seem

redbtn An alternative form of reference to a given verb is to express it as a participle:

running walking sitting
wondering scribbling seeming

redbtn The participle has been very adaptable in creating new terms recently. This is particularly true in the USA, where Americans seem to have a more flexible and pragmatic approach to linguistic creativity than the British — who are perhaps inhibited by notions of traditional restraint where language development is concerned.

redbtn The scope of the noun ‘parent’ has been extended to include a verb form, and the participle is the most common form of this. Parenting is now the title of a magazine, and the activity is often referred to as ‘parenting’. However, we do not often hear other forms of the verb used — as in ‘I parented two children’ or ‘I have learnt to parent my child’.

redbtn The phrase ‘the reason being’ contains the participle form of the verb ‘to be’. This phrase seems to have recently become idiomatic. That is, it has become a compound or stock phrase which speakers find useful when expressing cause and effect, especially in speech.

redbtn Often a speaker will use the idiom as in the utterance: ‘The reason being is that I don’t like driving late at night’. In a mechanical sense, the participle ‘being’ has been substituted for ‘is’ in the conventionally grammatical utterance ‘The reason is that I don’t like driving late at night’.

redbtn The result is ungrammatical, but it is quite possible that this deviant form could become Standard English if enough speakers adopted it into their everyday repertoire. [But let’s hope not!]

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Prepositions – how to understand them

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Prepositions – definition

prepositions Prepositions express a relationship between nouns (or pronouns) and some other part of the sentence.

redbtn It usually tells us where something is.

Examples
with out in
under over around
Use

redbtn A preposition is used with a noun or pronoun.

The child ran around the snowman.

Jack and Jill went up the hill.

redbtn However, the same words are adverbs in the following statements:

Let’s take a walk around.

My lucky number came up.

He came over to me.

redbtn They are adverbs because they tell us about the verb.

redbtn NB! Prepositions often tell us about position, so don’t underestimate them.

redbtn Prepositions are mainly used in English to form adverbial and adjectival phrases, as in the following:

Adverbial phrases

‘Marseilles is in France’
[‘in France’ tells us where Marseilles is]

‘Hastings stands on the south coast of England’
[‘on the south coast of England’ tells us where Hastings stands]

‘The grocer marvelled at the arrival of the boxes’
[‘at the arrival’ tells us when the grocer marvelled]

‘She left the hall with a toss of her head’
[‘with a toss of her head’ tells us the manner in which she left]

redbtn All the prepositions above are used adverbially to tell us more about the verb in each case.

redbtn The following are examples of adjectival phrases. In each case the preposition describes a noun:

Adjectival phrases

‘The first cable across the Atlantic was laid in 1838′
[‘across the Atlantic’ describes the cable]

‘I love the sound of the sea’
[‘of the sea’ describes the sound]

‘I believe that the man in the moon exists’
[‘in the moon’ describes the man]

‘We all enjoyed the cheese on toast that our mother gave us’
[‘on toast’ describes the cheese]

redbtn Prepositions are usually used, as in the two sets of examples above, with a noun or a pronoun.

redbtn Examples of nouns from the sentences given above are ‘the arrival’, ‘a toss’, ‘ the moon’ and ‘toast’.

redbtn Prepositions can also be used as adverbs without an accompanying noun or pronoun.

Come in Turn round Go up
Jump off Look around Go under

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Pronouns – how to understand them

by

free pages from our English Language software program

Pronouns – definition

pronouns Pronouns stand instead of nouns (to avoid repeating them).

Examples

redbtn Personal pronouns stand instead of names:

I me you
he him we
us they them

redbtn Relative pronouns act as reference links:

which who that
Use

redbtn Pronouns are frequently used in both speech and writing .

redbtn By using them we are able to avoid frequent repetition of a name. Compare these statements.

redbtn First, the proper noun John is used throughout.

John’s in the Army and John looks good in John’s uniform as John strides along.

redbtn Second, the proper noun is used initially and followed by pronouns.

John’s in the Army and he looks good in his uniform as he strides along.

redbtn NB! Fasten your safety belt. There’s a lot more on this topic.

redbtn There are several different kinds of pronouns. These can be classified as personal, possessive, reflexive, emphatic, demonstrative, interrogative, exclamatory, relative, and pronouns of amount and number.

redbtn Personal pronouns derive from the grammatical term ‘person’. This itself is of Latin origin [dramatis personae] meaning characters in a play. This term has been transferred to the characters in a story or dialogue, which may be shown as follows:

Singular Plural
I we
NOMINATIVE you you
he, she, it they
me us
ACCUSATIVE you you
him, her, it them

redbtn Possessive pronouns denote possession as in the following example:

The dress was mine and now its hers.

redbtn Possessive pronouns follow the same pattern as the personal pronouns:

Singular Plural
mine
yours
hers, his, its		 mine
yours
theirs

redbtn Reflexive pronouns are often used as objects of verbs. For example:

I found myself rolling down the hillside.

He gave himself a pat on the back.

redbtn Reflexive pronouns are also used with prepositions, as in:

I felt the sadness sweeping over me.

She pulled the blanket over her.

Bring your friends with you.

redbtn After a preposition, the pronoun looks like a plain personal pronoun; but the context is reflexive. The archaic usage perhaps makes this case more clear, as in:

Now I lay me down to die

redbtn Emphatic pronouns are used in such contexts as:

I’d like a glass of wine please, and (you) have one yourself.
(emphasising who must have one)

She herself wanted to join the company.
(emphasising the subject of the sentence)

redbtn Demonstrative pronouns are used for pointing things out to the listener. They are:

this, these (nearby)
that, those (at some distance)
such (meaning ‘such as’)
same (meaning ‘the same as’)

These are the best flowers in the shop.
Those are the Alps in the distance.
They have such exciting parties.
I asked for a box and was sent the same.

redbtn Interrogative pronouns are used to ask questions. They are:

who? whom?
whose? which? what?

Who was at the party?
Whom did you see at the party?
Whose friend was the woman in the red dress?
Which dish did you most enjoy?
What did you do all evening?

redbtn Exclamatory pronouns. The word ‘what’ is often used to exclaim on an issue in the following way:

What a night!
What she could have achieved!

redbtn Relative pronouns are as follows:

who whom whose
which that what as

Those who arrive early can begin.
The woman whom I met sent me a postcard.
We met the couple whose house we bought.
Those tins which we brought came in useful.
I always write about topics that interest me.
I always mean what I say.
It was as beautiful a garden as ever I saw.

redbtn Pronouns of number are as follows:

one more
few neither enough

One of them was ill.
Neither of the girls had a raincoat.
Few people understand the value of money.
More people may join the club next week.
Enough is as good as a feast.

redbtn Pronouns of amount are as follows:

anyone nobody
something everybody

redbtn These are used as in the following statements:

Anyone who had a heart would take her.
Everybody gathered round the lake.
Something will have to be done about the food.

Self-assessment quiz follows >>>

© Roy Johnson 2003

English Language 3.0 program
Books on language
More on grammar

Get in touch

info@mantex.co.uk

Content © Mantex 2016