the contemporary world

• Noun


  A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea
• Pronoun


  A word that takes the place of a noun
• Parts of speech that perform the function of naming

  • Nouns
  • Pronouns
• Nouns


  • They convey "substance" or make the sentence senseful
  • They are often referred to as the "naming words"
• Classes of nouns


  • Common
  • Proper
• Common noun


  The names of ordinary or common persons, places, or things
• Common nouns


  • school
  • shelf
  • book
• Proper noun


  The names of particular persons, places, or things
• Proper nouns


  • Juan
  • Manila
  • Bible
• Proper nouns


  • May be derived from any common noun by naming a particular person, place, or thing
  • May consist of several words taken as one name
  • May become common when used in a special sense
• Proper nouns even if written with capitals should be regarded as common nouns when they may be applied to any one of a class
• Special classification of nouns

  • Abstract
  • Collective
  • Concrete
  • Compound
• Abstract noun


  Words that name qualities or general ideas which cannot be touched or seen
• Abstract nouns


  • honesty
  • courage
  • beauty
  • strength
• Collective noun


  Words that convey the idea of a group or a collection
• Common collective nouns


  • Colony
  • Caravan
  • Litter
  • Pack
  • Covey
  • String
  • Flock
  • Fleet
  • Swarm
  • Flight
  • Brood
  • Pride
  • Gaggle
  • Quiver
  • Galaxy
  • Army
  • Class
  • Crowd
  • Panel
  • Committee
• Concrete noun


  Words that name objects that can be perceived by the senses
• Compound noun


  Names formed by joining together two or more names
• Compound nouns


  • maidservant
  • fireman
  • mother-in-law
  • commander-in-chief
  • Juan de la Cruz
  • Legislative Building
• Properties of nouns


  • Person
  • Number
  • Gender
  • Case
• Person


  Indicates whether the noun names the person speaking (first person), the person spoken to (second person), or the person spoken of (third person)
• Number


  Indicates whether the noun names one (singular) or more than one (plural)
• Number


  • I have one brother and two sisters
  • This is a very effective poison for mice
• Gender


  Indicates the sex; masculine, feminine, neuter
• Gender


  • That school admits only boys, but this one admits boys and girls
  • The queen and the king stood on the platform
• Case


  Indicates how the noun is used in the sentence. There are three cases: Nominative, Objective, and Possessive
• Noun formation


  • Verbs into nouns
  • Adjectives into nouns
• Suffixes for forming nouns from verbs

  • -age
  • -al
  • -ance
  • -ence
  • -tion
  • -ion
  • -y
  • -th
  • -ess
  • -ics
  • -ment
  • -ure
• Suffixes for forming nouns from adjectives

  • -ity
  • -ism
  • -ness
  • -dom
  • -ence
  • -ery
  • -ty
  • -y
  • -ance
• Gender of nouns


  • Masculine
  • Feminine
  • Common
  • Neuter
• Gender of nouns


  • A noun is masculine when it names a male, feminine when it names a female, common when it may be either, and neuter when it has no sex
• Common ways to form feminine nouns

  • Adding a feminine suffix to a masculine form
  • Forming a compound word, placing a feminine noun before or after the word
  • Using the female counterpart of a masculine word
• Rules for pluralizing nouns

  • Adding -s
  • Changing f to -y and adding -es
  • Adding -es for nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant
  • Changing y to -i and adding -es for nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant
  • Adding -en
  • Changing the vowel
  • Same form for singular and plural
  • Generally used in the singular
  • Foreign plurals
  • Plural in form but singular in meaning
  • Plural in form and plural in meaning
  • Plural or singular depending on meaning
  • Pluralizing figures, letters, and words used as words
  • Pluralizing compound nouns
  • Pluralizing proper names
  • Pluralizing titles
• Functions/cases of nouns


  • Nominative (subject, predicate noun, vocative, absolute, exclamatory)
  • Objective
  • Possessive
• Subject


  The noun or pronoun that the sentence is about; the doer of the action
• Predicate noun


  The noun that describes or identifies the subject
• Nominative of address or vocative

  The noun is being addressed directly
• Nominative absolute


  The noun is being described or modified by a participle which has no grammatical connection with any part of the sentence, but expresses an idea related to the verb
• Exclamatory nominative


  The noun that does the work of an interjection to express sudden or strong feeling
• Appositive


  The noun that describes or identifies another noun in the subjective case; usually enclosed in comma/s but not in all sentences