nouns and noun phrases -...
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P E O P L E , P L A C E S , T H I N G S , I D E A S ,
A N D T H E I R M O D I F I E R S
Nouns and Noun Phrases
Terminology
noun
concrete noun
abstract noun
collective noun
compound noun
common noun
proper noun
phrase noun phrase headword determiner
modifier article
subject
direct object
Copy these terms’ definitions into your notes and
make sure you understand these concepts after going
through the notes.
Definitions of Noun
Based on meaning:
person, place, thing,
animal, idea
Based on form: word that
can be made plural
and/or possessive
Types of Nouns
Concrete or Abstract
Collective
Compound
Common or Proper
Concrete or Abstract
A concrete noun names something discernible by the five senses.
An abstract noun names something you cannot perceive through any of your five senses.
Concrete examples
person, cannon, road, city, music
Abstract examples
hope, improvement, independence, desperation, cooperation
Collective Nouns
A collective noun names a group or
collection of people or things. A
collective noun looks singular, but its
meaning may be singular or plural
depending on how it is used in a
sentence.
Examples:
army
choir
troop
faculty
cast
class
crew
legislature
Compound Nouns
A compound noun is a noun made up of two or more words
acting as a single unit. Compound nouns may be written as
separate words, hyphenated words, or combined words.
Compound Nouns
separate
life preserver ice cream bird dog
hyphenated
sergeant-at-arms self-rule daughter-in-law
combined
battlefield dreamland porthole
Common & Proper
A common noun names any
one of a class of people,
places, or things. Because they
are general, they are not
capitalized.
building, writer, nation, month
place, book, war
A proper noun names a specific person, place, or thing. As such,
proper nouns are capitalized.
LASA, Mark Twain, France, July
Tai Pei, Leaves of Grass, World War I
Plurals and Possessives
singular plural singular possessive
plural possessive
cat cats cat’s cats’
opinion opinions N/A N/A
Jane Janes Jane’s Janes’
America Americas America’s Americas’
Phrases
One of the keys to our understanding of grammar this
year will be your ability to identify different kinds of
phrases (noun, verb, prepositional).
A phrase is any word or group of words that function
as a unit within a sentence
A phrase will always have a headword and sometimes have
modifiers of the headword.
In a noun phrase, the headword is the noun. In a verb phrase
the headword is a verb. In a prepositional phrase the headword is a preposition.
Noun Phrases
Noun phrases include at least a single noun, which is the
headword.
cat
In addition, they also include modifiers (adjectives)…
pretty cat
and OFTEN a determiner.
the pretty cat
Determiners
Determiners are words that can signal that a
noun is soon to follow. They can be:
articles
possessive nouns
possessive pronouns
demonstrative pronouns
indefinite pronouns
numbers
Examples of Determiners: Articles
The bolded words are examples of articles:
the ballet shoes
a hippopotamus
an opera
Examples of Determiners:
Possessive Nouns/Pronouns
The bolded words are
examples of possessive
nouns and possessive
pronouns: the teenager’s first kiss
the eager boy’s ACL ticket
the tourist’s festival map
the musician’s guitar
her flower-crown
their favorite song
our concert experience
Examples of Determiners:
Demonstrative Pronouns
The bolded words are examples of
demonstrative pronouns:
this Candy Mountain
that Liopleurodon
these adventures
those silly unicorns
Examples of Determiners:
Indefinite Pronouns
An indefinite pronoun does not refer to any specific
person, thing or amount. It is vague and "not definite".
The bolded words are examples of indefinite
pronouns:
all comic convention attendees
another artist
any LARPer
many fans
Examples of Determiners:
Numbers
The bolded words are examples of numbers:
four little monkeys
three little monkeys
two little monkeys
one little monkey
Noun (one more time)
A noun is a word
that can be made
plural and/or
possessive; it
occupies the
headword position
in the noun phrase;
it is usually signaled
by a determiner.
How the Noun Phrase Functions
In a sentence the noun
phrase can function in
a number of ways.
Right now we’re going
to focus on its function
as the subject of the
sentence AND as the
direct object of the
sentence.
What is the subject?
The subject of the sentence is always a noun or pronoun. It can be defined as the doer of the action or more informally as “who or what” the sentence is about.
EXAMPLE: Bob Loblaw’s cousin has a labradoodle from France.
Who or what is this sentence about?
Bob Loblaw?
Cousin?
France?
What is the subject?
The bolded noun serves as the subject.
EXAMPLE: Bob Loblaw’s cousin has a
labradoodle from France.
Who or what is this sentence about?
Bob Loblaw?
Cousin?
France?
Noun Phrases as Subjects
The red velvet cheesecake
is melt-in-your-mouth
delicious!
The red velvet cheesecake
despises people who will
not try it’s gooey
goodness.
The red velvet cheesecake
baked in the oven.
The red velvet cheesecake
fell on the floor.
What’s the direct object?
The direct object is the receiver of the verb’s
action. You can find it by asking “Who or what
was __________?” (insert the verb of the sentence)
Stephanie repainted her Vespa.
Who or what was repainted?
Stephanie?
Vespa?
What’s the direct object?
The direct object is bolded below:
Stephanie repainted her Vespa.
Noun Phrase as Direct Objects
Miley Cyrus rode the wrecking ball.
Miley Cyrus loved the wrecking ball.
Miley Cyrus purchased the wrecking ball.
The audience loathes the wrecking ball.
Diagramming
Simple Sentences
Find the subject of the sentence.
Find the verb.
Draw a vertical line between them.
Underline the entire noun phrase that makes up the subject.
Underline the entire verb phrase that functions as the predicate.
subject predicate
NP VP
Next Class
Bring your completed guided notes AND
grammar practice worksheets to our next class.
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