NOUNS

Using nouns correctly in English is

relatively simple, with standard rules and
only a few exceptions.
Menggunakan noun sangat simple,
dengam aturan yg standar

http://www.ef.com/english-resources/english-grammar/nouns/
 NOUNS
• Gendered nouns
• Singular and plural nouns including irregular plural
nouns
• Countable and uncountable nouns
• Definite pronouns
• Indefinite pronouns
• Compound nouns
• Capitalization rules for nouns
• Nationalities in English
• Forming the possessive
• Pronouns
 Noun gender
In general there Masculine Feminine Gender
is no distinction neutral
between man woman person
masculine, father mother parent
feminine in
English nouns. boy girl child
uncle aunt
However, husband wife spouse
gender is
sometimes actor actress
shown by prince princess
different forms
waiter waitress server
or different
words when rooster hen chicken
referring to stallion mare horse
people or
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animals.
Infrequently, nouns describing things without a gender
are referred to with a gendered pronoun to show
familiarity. It is also correct to use the gender-neutral
pronoun (it).

EXAMPLES

• I love my car. She (the car) is my greatest passion.

• France is popular with her (France's) neighbours at
the moment.
• I travelled from England to New York on the Queen
Elizabeth; she (the Queen Elizabeth) is a great ship.
 SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS
• REGULAR NOUNS
• Most singular nouns form the plural by adding -s.

Singular Plural
boat boats
house houses
cat cats
river rivers

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A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes
the plural by adding-es.

Singular Plural
bus buses
wish wishes
pitch pitches
box boxes

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A singular noun ending in a consonant and then y
makes the plural by dropping the y and adding-ies.

Singular Plural
penny pennies
spy spies
baby babies
city cities
daisy daisies

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• IRREGULAR NOUNS
• There are some irregular noun plurals. The most common ones are listed
below.
Singular Plural
woman women
man men
child children
tooth teeth
foot feet
person people
leaf leaves
mouse mice
goose geese
half halves

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Singular Plural
knife knives
wife wives
life lives
elf elves
loaf loaves
potato potatoes
tomato tomatoes
cactus cacti
focus foci
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Singular Plural
fungus fungi
nucleus nuclei
syllabus syllabi/syllabuses
analysis analyses
diagnosis diagnoses
oasis oases
thesis theses
crisis crises
phenomenon phenomena
criterion criteria
datum data
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Some nouns have the same form in the
singular and the plural.
Singular Plural
sheep sheep
fish fish
deer deer
species species
aircraf aircraf

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 Irregular verb/noun agreement
• Some nouns have a plural form but take a singular verb.
Plural nouns used with a Sentence
singular verb
news The news is at 6.30 p.m.
athletics Athletics is good for young
people.
linguistics Linguistics is the study of
language.
darts Darts is a popular game in
England.
billiards Billiards is played all over
the world.

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• Some nouns have a fixed plural form and take a plural verb. They are not
used in the singular, or they have a different meaning in the singular.
• Nouns like this include: trousers, jeans, glasses, savings, thanks, steps,
stairs, customs, congratulations, tropics, wages, spectacles, outskirts,
goods, wits

Plural noun with plural verb Sentence

trousers My trousers are too tight.

jeans Her jeans are black.

glasses Those glasses are his.

Outskirts = The area surrounding a city or town; suburb

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Wits = Intelligence
 COUNTABLE NOUNS
• Countable nouns are for things we can count using numbers. They have a
singular and a plural form. The singular form can use the determiner "a" or
"an". If you want to ask about the quantity of a countable noun, you ask
"How many?"(bisa dihitung) combined with the plural countable noun.

EXAMPLES
Singular Plural
one dog two dogs She has three dogs.
one horse two horses I own a house.
one man two men I would like two
books please.
one idea two ideas
How many friends do
one shop two shops you have?
 UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
• Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They
may be the names for abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are
too small or too amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.).
Uncountable nouns are used with a singular verb. They usually do not have a
plural form.

EXAMPLES

tea anger
sugar fear
water love
air money
rice research
knowledge safety
Beauty evidence
 Uncountable nouns
We cannot use a/an with these nouns. To express a quantity of an
uncountable noun, use a word or expression like some, a lot of, much, a bit
of, a great deal of , or else use an exact measurement like a cup of, a bag of,
1kg of, 1L of, a handful of, a pinch of, an hour of, a day of. If you want to ask
about the quantity of an uncountable noun, you ask "How much?“

EXAMPLES
• There has been a lot of research into the causes of this disease.
• He gave me a great deal of advice before my interview.
• Can you give me some information about uncountable nouns?
• He did not have much sugar lef.
• Measure 1 cup of water, 300g of flour, and 1 teaspoon of salt.
• How much rice do you want?
 TRICKY SPOTS
Some nouns are countable in other languages but uncountable in English.
They must follow the rules for uncountable nouns. The most common ones
are:
accommodation, advice, baggage, behavior, bread, furniture, information,
luggage, news, progress, traffic, travel, trouble, weather, work

EXAMPLES

• I would like to give you some advice.

• How much bread should I bring?
• I didn't make much progress today.
• This looks like a lot of trouble to me.
• We did an hour of work yesterday.
Be careful with the noun hair which is normally uncountable in
English, so it is not used in the plural. It can be countable only when
referring to individual hairs.

EXAMPLES

• She has long blond hair.

• The child's hair was curly.
• I washed my hair yesterday.
• My father is getting a few grey hairs now. (refers to individual hairs)
• I found a hair in my soup! (refers to a single strand of hair)
 COMPOUND NOUNS
• Words can be combined to form compound nouns. These are very
common, and new combinations are invented almost daily. They
normally have two parts. The first part tells us what kind of object or
person it is, or what its purpose is. The second part identifies the object
or person in question. Compound nouns ofen have a meaning that is
different, or more specific, than the two separate words.

First part: type or Second part: what Compound noun

purpose or who
police man policeman
boy friend boyfriend
water tank water tank
dining table dining-table
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• You have noticed that the compound noun can be written either as a
single word, as a word with a hyphen, or as two words. There are no
clear rules about this. A good rule of thumb is to write the most
common compound nouns as one word, and the others as two words.
• The elements in a compound noun are very diverse parts of speech.

Compound elements Examples

noun + noun bedroom

water tank
motorcycle
printer cartridge

noun + verb rainfall

haircut
train-spotting

noun + adverb hanger-on

passer-by
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Compound elements Examples
verb + noun washing machine
driving licence
swimming pool
verb + adverb lookout
take-off
drawback
adverb + noun onlooker (a spectator)
bystander (an observer)
adjective + verb dry-cleaning
public speaking
adjective + noun greenhouse
sofware
redhead
adverb + verb output
overthrow (to throw down)
upturn (trend)
input

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 PRONUNCIATION
Stress is important in pronunciation, as it distinguishes between
a compound noun and an adjective with a noun. In compound
nouns, the stress usually falls on the first syllable.

EXAMPLES

• a 'greenhouse = place where we grow plants (compound noun)

• a green 'house = house painted green (adjective and noun)
• a 'bluebird = type of bird (compound noun)
• a blue 'bird = any bird with blue feathers (adjective and noun)

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 CAPITALISATION RULES
Capital letters are used with particular types of nouns, in
certain positions in sentences, and with some adjectives. You
must always use capital letters for:

• The beginning of a sentence

– Dogs are noisy.
– Children are noisy too.

• The first person personal pronoun, I

– Yesterday, I went to the park.
– He isn't like I am.

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• Names and titles of people
– Winston Churchill
• Months of the
– Marilyn Monroe year
– the Queen of England – January
– the President of the United
States – July
– the Headmaster of Eton – February
– Doctor Mathews
– Professor Samuels – August
• Days of the week
• Titles of works, books, – Monday
movies
– War and Peace – Friday
– The Merchant of Venice – Tuesday
– Crime and Punishment
– Spider Man II
– Saturday
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• Seasons
• Names of regions, states, districts
– Spring
– Sussex
– Summer
– California
– Autumn
– Provence
– Winter
– Tuscany

• Holidays • Names of cities, towns, villages

– Christmas • London
– Easter • Cape Town
– New Year's Day • Florence
– Thanksgiving Day • Vancouver

• Names of countries and • Names of rivers, oceans, seas, lakes

continents • the Atlantic
– America • the Pacific
– England • Lake Victoria
– Scotland • the Rhine
– China • the Thames
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• Names of geographical
• Language names
formations
– the Himalayas
– I speak Chinese.
– the Alps – He understands English.
– the Sahara
• Names of streets, buildings,
• Adjectives relating to nationality parks
– French music – Park Lane
– Australian animals – Sydney Opera House
– German literature – Central Park
– Arabic writing – the Empire State Building
– Wall Street
• Collective nouns for nationalities
– the French
– the Germans
– the Americans
– the Chinese

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 NATIONALITIES
• Forming nationality adjectives and nouns from country names is not always
simple in English. Use the nationality adjective ending in -ese or -ish with a
plural verb, to refer to all people of that nationality. The adjective listed
also ofen refers to the language spoken in the country, although this is not
always the case.

• Country: I live in Japan.

• Adjective: He likes Japanese food.
• Origins: She is a Japanese person. = She is from Japan. = She is Japanese.
• Language: She speaks Japanese.
• Describing a group: Spaniards ofen drink wine. = Spanish people ofen
drink wine.
• Describing a group: The Chinese enjoy fireworks. = Chinese people enjoy
fireworks.
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• In some cases, a nationality or regional noun may be negatively corrolated for some
people, for historic or political reasons. When this is the case, many people will not
use it, but will instead use a more neutral adjective + "people" formulation or
"people from" + country name. This is the case for the examples with an asterix
below. Alternative formulations, less likely to give offense, are given in parentheses.

Geographic Adjective Noun

Region/Continent
Africa African an African* (an African person,
someone from Africa)

Asia Asian an Asian* (an Asian person,

someone from Asia)
Europe European a European
Central America Central American a Central American
Middle East Middle Eastern a Middle Easterner
North Africa North African a North African
South America South American a South American
Southeast Asia Southeast Asian a Southeast Asian person

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Country or region Adjective Noun
Afghanistan Afghan an Afghan
Algeria Algerian an Algerian
Angola Angolan an Angolan
Argentina Argentine an Argentine
Austria Austrian an Austrian
Australia Australian an Australian
Bangladesh Bangladeshi a Bangladeshi
Belarus Belarusian a Belarusian
Belgium Belgian a Belgian
Bolivia Bolivian a Bolivian
Bosnia and Bosnian/Herzegovinian a Bosnian/a Herzegovinian
Herzegovina
Brazil Brazilian a Brazilian
Britain British a Briton (informally: a Brit)
Bulgaria Bulgarian a Bulgarian
Cambodia Cambodian a Cambodian
Cameroon Cameroonian a Cameroonian
Canada Canadian a Canadian

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• Cities also can be transformed into adjectives and nouns, although they are
highly irregular and the nominal form is not always agreed upon (there may
be several). Some examples of transformed city names are below.

City Adjective Noun

Paris Parisian a Parisian
New York New York a New Yorker
Sydney Sydney a Sydney-sider
London London a Londoner
São Paulo São Paulo a Paulistano
New Delhi New Delhi a Delhiite
Cape Town Cape Town a Capetonian

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 FORMING THE POSSESSIVE
The possessive form is used with nouns referring to people,
groups of people, countries, and animals. It shows a
relationship of belonging between one thing and another. To
form the possessive, add apostrophe + s to the noun. If the
noun is plural, or already ends in s, just add an apostrophe
afer the s.

– the car of John = John's car

– the room of the girls = the girls' room
– clothes for men = men's clothes
– the boat of the sailors = the sailors' boat

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For names ending in s, you can either add an apostrophe + s, or just
an apostrophe. The first option is more common. When
pronouncing a possessive name, we add the sound /z/ to the end of
the name.

– Thomas's book (or Thomas' book)

– James's shop (or James' shop)
– the Smiths's house (or the Smiths' house)

FUNCTIONS OF THE POSSESSIVE

'Belonging to' or 'ownership' is the most common relationship the

possessive expresses.

– John owns a car. = It is John's car.

– America has some gold reserves. = They are America's gold reserves.
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The possessive can also express where someone works, studies or
spends time

– John goes to this school. = This is John's school.

– John sleeps in this room. = This is John's room.

The possessive can express a relationship between people.

– John's mother is running late.

– Mrs Brown's colleague will not be coming to the meeting.

The possessive can express intangible things as well.

– John's patience is running out.

– The politician's hypocrisy was deeply shocking.

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FIXED EXPRESSIONS

There are also some fixed expressions where the possessive form is used.
– a day's work
– a month's pay
– today's newspaper
– in a year's time
– For God's sake! (= exclamation of exasperation)
– a stone's throw away (= very near)
– at death's door (= very ill)
– in my mind's eye (= in my imagination)

The possessive is also used to refer to shops, restaurants, churches and

colleges, using the name or job title of the owner.
– Shall we go to Luigi's for lunch?
– I've got an appointment at the dentist's at eleven o'clock.
– Is Saint Mary's an all-girls school
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 PRONOUNS

http://www.ef.com/english-resources/
english-grammar/nouns/
• Pronouns replace nouns. A different pronoun
is required depending on two elements: the
noun being replaced and the function that
noun has in the sentence. In English, pronouns
only take the gender of the noun they replace
in the 3rd person singular form. The 2nd
person plural pronouns are identical to the
2nd person singular pronouns except for the
reflexive pronoun.
 Subject Object Possessive Possessive Reflexive or
Pronoun Pronoun Adjective Pronoun Intensive
(Determiner) Pronoun
1st person singular I me my mine myself

2nd person singular you you your yours yourself

3rd person singular, he him his his himself

male
3rd person singular, she her her hers herself
female
3rd person singular, it it its itself
neutral
1st person plural we us our ours ourselves

2nd person plural you you your yours yourselves

3rd person plural they them their theirs themselves

 SUBJECT PRONOUNS
Subject pronouns replace nouns that are the subject of their
clause. In the 3rd person, subject pronouns are ofen used to
avoid repetition of the subject's name.

EXAMPLES

• I am 16.
• You seem lost.
• Jim is angry, and he wants Sally to apologize.
• This table is old. It needs to be repainted.
• We aren't coming.
• They don't like pancakes.
 OBJECT PRONOUNS
Object pronouns are used to replace nouns that are the direct
or indirect object of a clause.

EXAMPLES

• Give the book to me.

• The teacher wants to talk to you.
• Jake is hurt because Bill hit him.
• Rachid recieved a letter from her last week.
• Mark can't find it.
• Don't be angry with us.
• Tell them to hurry up!
 POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
(DETERMINERS)
Possessive adjectives are not pronouns, but rather determiners. It is
useful to learn them at the same time as pronouns, however, because
they are similar in form to the possessive pronouns. Possessive
adjectives function as adjectives, so they appear before the noun they
modify. They do not replace a noun as pronouns do.

EXAMPLES

• Did mother find my shoes?

• Mrs. Baker wants to see your homework.
• Can Jake bring over his baseball cards?
• Samantha will fix her bike tomorrow.
• The cat broke its leg.
• This is our house.
• Where is their school?
 POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
Possessive pronouns replace possessive nouns as either the
subject or the object of a clause. Because the noun being replaced
doesn't appear in the sentence, it must be clear from the context.

EXAMPLES

• This bag is mine.

• Yours is not blue.
• That bag looks like his.
• These shoes are not hers.
• That car is ours.
• Theirs is parked in the garage.
 REFLEXIVE & INTENSIVE PRONOUNS
• Reflexive and intensive pronouns are the same set of words but they
have different functions in a sentence.
• Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the clause because
the subject of the action is also the direct or indirect object. Only
certain types of verbs can be reflexive. You cannot remove a reflexive
pronoun from a sentence because the remaining sentence would be
grammatically incorrect.

• EXAMPLES

• I told myself to calm down.

• You cut yourself on this nail?
• He hurt himself on the stairs.
• She found herself in a dangerous part of town.
• The cat threw itself under my car!
• We blame ourselves for the fire.
• The children can take care of themselves.
• Intensive pronouns emphasize the subject of a clause. They are
not the object of the action. The intensive pronoun can always be
removed from a sentence without changing the meaning
significantly, although the emphasis on the subject will be
removed. Intensive pronouns can be placed immediately afer
the subject of the clause, or at the end of the clause.

EXAMPLES

• I made these cookies myself.

• You yourself asked Jake to come.
• The Pope himself pardoned Mr. Brown.
• My teacher didn't know the answer herself.
• The test itself wasn't scary, but my teacher certainly is.
• We would like to finish the renovation before
Christmas ourselves.
• They themselves told me the lost shoe wasn't a problem.
 INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
• Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person, place, or
thing. In English, there is a particular group of indefinite pronouns
formed with a quantifier or distributive preceeded by any, some,
every and no.

Person Place Thing

All everyone everywhere everything
everybody
Part someone somewhere something
(positive) somebody
Part anyone anywhere anything
(negative) anybody
None no one nowhere nothing
nobody
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• Indefinite pronouns with some and any are used to
describe indefinite and incomplete quantities in the same way
that some and any are used alone.
• Indefinite pronouns are placed in the same location as a noun
would go in the sentence.

Noun Indefinite pronoun

I would like to go to Paris this I would like to

summer. go somewhere this summer.
Jim gave me this book. Someone gave me this book.

I won't tell your secret I won't tell your secret

to Sam. to anyone.
I bought my school I bought everything at the
supplies at the mall. mall.
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 AFFIRMATIVE
In affirmative sentences,
• indefinite pronouns using some are used to
describe an indefinite quantity,
• the indefinite pronouns with every are used to
describe a complete quantity,
• and the pronouns with no are used to describe an
absence.
– Indefinite pronouns with no are ofen used in
affirmative sentences with a negative meaning,
– but these are nevertheless not negative sentences
because they are lacking the word not.
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 AFFIRMATIVE
EXAMPLES

• Everyone is sleeping in my bed.

• Someone is sleeping in my bed.
• No one is sleeping in my bed.
• I gave everything to Sally.
• He saw something in the garden.
• There is nothing to eat.
• I looked everywhere for my keys.
• Keith is looking for somewhere to live.
• There is nowhere as beautiful as Paris. 47
Any and the indefinite pronouns formed with it can also be
used in affirmative sentences with a meaning that is close
to every: whichever person, whichever place, whichever
thing, etc.

EXAMPLES

• They can choose anything from the menu.

• You may invite anybody you want to your birthday party.
• We can go anywhere you'd like this summer.
• He would give anything to get into Oxford.
• Fido would follow you anywhere.

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 NEGATIVE SENTENCES
Negative sentences can only be formed with the
indefinite pronouns that include any.

EXAMPLES

• I don't have anything to eat.

• She didn't go anywhere last week.
• I can't find anyone to come with me.
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Many negative sentences that include an indefinite pronoun
with any can be turned into affirmative sentences with a negative
meaning by using an indefinite pronoun with no. However, there is
a change in meaning with this transformation: the sentence that
includes an indefinite pronoun with no is stronger, and can imply
emotional content such as definsiveness, hopelessness, anger, etc.

EXAMPLES

• I don't know anything about it. = neutral

• I know nothing about it. = defensive
• I don't have anybody to talk to. = neutral
• I have nobody to talk to. = hopeless
• There wasn't anything we could do. = neutral
• There was nothing we could do. = defensive/angry
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 NEGATIVE QUESTIONS
• Indefinite pronouns with every, some, and any can be used to form
negative questions. These questions can usually be answered with
a "yes" or a "no"
• Pronouns formed with any and every are used to form true
questions, while those with some generally imply a question to
which we already know or suspect the answer.

EXAMPLES

• Is there anything to eat?

• Did you go anywhere last night?
• Is everyone here?
• Have you looked everywhere? 51
These questions can be turned in to false or rhetorical
questions by making them negative. The speaker, when
posing a question of this type, is expecting an answer
of "no".

EXAMPLES

• Isn't there anything to eat?

• Didn't you go anywhere last night?
• Isn't everyone here?
• Haven't you looked everywhere?
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Some and pronouns formed with it is only used in questions to
which we think we already know the answer, or questions
which are not true questions (invitations, requests, etc.) The
person asking these questions is expecting an answer of "Yes".

EXAMPLES

• Are you looking for someone?

• Have you lost something?
• Are you going somewhere?
• Could somebody help me, please? = request
• Would you like to go somewhere this weekend? = invitation

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These questions can be made even more definite if
they are made negative. In this case, the speaker is
absolutely certain he will receive the answer "Yes".

EXAMPLES

• Aren't you looking for someone?

• Haven't you lost something?
• Aren't you going somewhere?
• Couldn't somebody help me, please?
• Wouldn't you like to go somewhere this weekend?
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END OF SESSION
End of session