A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS

Introduo aos Sintagmas da Lngua

Inglesa
Prof. Dn Flvia Cunha
2014.1

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. Libbys front teeth, Evas big smile, Gregs tiny nose

A CLOSER LOOK AT NOUNS

EXERCISE: A. Underline all the nouns you can find.
1.
2.
3.
4.

The dog chased the cat under the porch.

Muffins made with blueberries are delicious.
My daughter sold her computer to a friend.
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 arent
bothered by the cold.

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.