Module 5. Structural and functional grammar

Lesson 22

CORRECT USAGE OF NOUNS

22.1  Introduction

Function is an important aspect of grammar, for the same word can function in more than one way.

Recognizing nouns:  A Noun is a word used as the name of a person, place or thing; as

Ram is my elder brother.

Delhi is the capital of India.

      The rose smells sweet.

      The sun shines bright.

Mohan was carried away by her beauty.

Note The word things includes

(i)       All objects that we can see, hear, taste, touch, or smell and

(ii)    Something that we can think of, but cannot perceive by the senses.

22.2  Kinds of Noun

Common Nouns – dog, man, table (Names general groups, places, people, or   things)

Proper Nouns – India, France, Sita (Names specific people, places or things-First letter is always capitalized)

Collective Nouns – crowd, group, team, flock (Name groups)

Concrete Nouns– landscape, bread, lightening (Names things that can be seen, touched, heard, smelled and tasted)

Abstract Nouns – beauty, charity, friendship, freedom, happiness (Names things that can’t be perceived through five senses)

Mass Nouns – water, time (Name uncountable things)

22.3  Plurals

a)    Collective nouns, crew, family, team etc. can take a singular or plural verb; singular if we consider the word to mean a single group or unit:

Our team is the best.

(or plural if we take it to mean a number of individuals):

Our team are wearing their new jerseys.

b)    Certain words are always plural and take a plural verb

Clothes, police

Garments consisting of two parts:

Pants, pyjamas, trousers

And tools and instruments consisting of two parts:

Binoculars      pliers          scissors

Glasses           soles           spectacles

Also certain other word including:

Arms (weapons), premises

Damage (compensation), riches

Earnings, savings

Goods, sprits (alcohol)

Stairs, Outskirts, surroundings

Pains (efforts), valuables            

c)     A number of words ending in ics

Acoustics, athletics, ethics, hysterics, which are plural in form, normally take a plural verb:

The acoustics of this room are very bad.

But names of sciences such as mathematics, physics, some of the following plural forms such as mechanics, news, innings are considered singular:

Mathematics is an exact science.

No news is good news.

India won by an innings and three runs.

d)    Words plural in form but singular in meaning include news

The news is good.

Certain diseases:

Mumps, rickets

And some games

Billiards, draughts

e)     Some words which retain their original Greek or Latin forms make their plural according to the rules of Greek and Latin

Crisis, crises	phenomenon, phenomena
Memorandum, memoranda	radius, radii
Oasis, oases	terminus, termini
But some follow English rules:
Dogma, dogmas	formula, formulas (formulae is used by scientists)

Sometimes there are two plural forms with different meanings:

Appendix, appendixes or appendices (medical term)

Appendix, appendices (addition/s to a book)

Index, indexes (in books), indices (in mathematics) 

f)      Compound Nouns

Normally, the last word is made plural:

Boy-friends, break-ins

But where man and woman is prefixed, both parts are made plural:

Men drivers, women drivers

The first word is made plural with compounds formed of verb + er. Noun + adverbs

Runners-up, lookers on

22.4  Uncountable Nouns

a)    Uncountable nouns include names of substances considered generally

Bread soap cloth sand dust         glass

They also include abstract nouns:

Advice            courage       knowledge

Beauty            fear              information

b)    Uncountable nouns are always singular and are not used with a/an:

I don’t want (any) advice or help. I want (some) information.

These nouns are often preceded by some, any, no, a little etc. or by nouns such as   bit, piece, slice etc.

a bit of news          a piece of advice        a grain of sand

a drop of water      a pane of glass

c)     Many of the nouns in the above group can be used in a particular sense and are then countable and can take a/an in the singular. Below are some such words:

Experience meaning ‘something which happened to someone’ is countable

He had an exciting experience

d)    Some abstract nouns can be used in a particular sense with a/an, but in the singular only:

My father is a great help to me.             a love of music

It was a relief to sit down.                    a hatred of violence

It’s a shame he was insulted.

22.5     The Form of the Possessive Case

a)     ’s is used with singular nouns and plural nouns not ending in s:

a man’s job	women’s club
a child’s voice	the people’s choice
the children’s room

b)    A simple apostrophe (’) is used with plural nouns ending in s:

a girls’ school	the eagles’ nest
the students’ hostel	the people’s choice

c)     Classical names ending in s usually, add only the apostrophe:

Pythagoras’ theorem      Archimedes’ Law

d)    Other names ending in s can take (’s) or the apostrophe alone:

Mr. Jones’s (or Mr. Jones’) house

Keats’s (or Keats’) poems

e)     With compound nouns, the last word takes the (’s):

My brother-in-law’s company

22.6  Uses of the Possessive Case

a)    In time expressions:

a week’s holiday	ten minutes’ break
today’s  paper	two hour’s delay
tomorrow’s  weather	a ten minute’s break
a two hour delay	a ten minute break
are also possible.

b)    With for + noun + sake:

for heaven’s sake for goodness’ sake

c)     Sometimes certain nouns can be used in the possessive case without  the second noun:

at/the chemist’s/florist’s

can mean at the chemist’s/florist’s shop

You can buy it at the chemist’s.

He is going to the dentist’s.

Names of people can sometimes be used similarly to mean “….’s”

We met at Patel’s