Topic

Noun and Noun Phrase

Presented to: Ms. Urooj Fatima Prepared by: Prof. Rifat Abbas Prof. Sajjad Iqbal Hasham Raza Mphil. English Minhaj University Lahore

Noun
Noun are the name of Person, Place, Animal, Object, Idea and Qualitie.
a word which refers to something else.

It means that noun is the word which itself is nothing rather it is used in place of some other thing.

Examples of Nouns
Person Place Animal Object Idea Quality Activity Mathew Margaret Nelson Stephen Maryland (State) Spain (country) London (city) Dolphin Donkey Alligator Parrot Boulder Aluminum Statue Desk Justice Democracy Socialism Loyalty Efficiency Sincerity Golf Travel Study

Types of Noun
There are several different types of Noun. 1. Common Noun 2. Proper Noun 3. Abstract Noun 4. Collective/ Group Noun 5. Material Noun 6. Compound Noun 7. Concrete Noun 8. Countable and Uncountable Noun 9. Gerund Nouns 10.Predicate Nouns

Proper Noun
They are the words which name specific people, organization, or places.

Proper nouns start with capital letters. They are the names of people, places, organisations etc. They refer to unique individuals.

Examples (Proper Noun)

Each part of a person s name: Riffat Abbas, Sajjad Iqbal The names of companies, organization or trade mark: Microsoft, Rolls Royce, Given or pet names of animals: Tomy, Trigger, Sam The names of cities, countries, and words derived form those proper nouns: Paris, London, New York, England, English Geographical and celestial names: the Red Sea Monument, buildings. Meeting rooms: The Taj Mahal, The Eiffel Tower Historical events, documents, laws and periods: The Civil War, the Industrial Revolution, World War I Months, days of the week, holidays: Monday, Christmas, December Religions, deities, scripture: God, Christ, Christainity, Judaism, Islam, the Bible Awards, vehicles, vehicle models and names, brand names: the Nobel Peace Prize, the Scout Movement, Ford Focus,

Common Noun
It is a word that names People, Places or Things or Abstract Ideas. Examples: People: man, girl, boy, mother, father, teacher, student. Animals: cat, dog, fish, ant, snake. Things: book, table, chair, phone. Place: school, city, building, shop. Ideas: love, hate, ideas, pride.

Abstract Nouns
It is the name we give to an Emotion, feeling, ideas, qualities and being non physical it cannot be seen, heard, touched, smelt or tasted. We cannot sense it. The opposite of abstract noun is Concrete Noun The beauty of a Rose is marvelous.

Examples:
Adoration, belief, bravery, charity, childhood, dexterity, ego, friendship, happiness, hate, honesty, joy, love, loyalty, peace, pride, Truth.

Verb or Adjectives We are different from each other My work is Precise. The air is pure. I composed this tune. It is so beautiful. You support me.

Abstract Noun The difference between us. I work with precision. The purity of the air. This tune is my composition. It has such beauty. The support you give me.

Collective/ Group Nouns

They are singular in form but refer to a group of people or things. They are often Uncountable. Example: Tables, chairs, cupboards etc can be grouped under the Collective noun Furniture. Group of People: army, audience, band, choir, class, committee, crew, family, gang, jury, orchestra, police, staff, team, Group of Animals: colony, flock, herd, pack, pod, school, swarm. Group of Things: bunch, bundle, clump, pair, set, stack.

Compound Nouns
They are made up of two or more words. Example: Tooth + Paste = Toothpaste White + Board =Whiteboard Noun + Noun Adjective + Noun Verb + Noun Preposition + Noun Noun + Verb Noun + Preposition Adjective + Verb Preposition + Verb = toothpaste = monthly ticket = swimming pool = underground = haircut = hanger on = dry-cleaning = output

Material Noun
A Material Noun denotes a substance or a matter of which a thing is made; like, Air is lighter than water. Book is made of paper. According to the sense, the same word can be used as a Common Noun or a Material Noun.

Concrete Nouns
They are the nouns that can be experienced through our senses; sight, hearing, smell, touch or taste. The opposite of a Concrete Noun is an Abstract Noun. Examples: Cats, dogs, tables, chairs, buses, teachers, students, etc.

Gerund Nouns
It is formed from a verb by adding ing, and it can follow a preposition, adjective and most often another verb. Example I enjoy walking. He loves singing.

Predicate Nouns
It follows a form of the verb to be . A predicate noun renames the subject of a sentence. He is an idiot. Margaret Thatcher was the Prime Minister.

Noun- Number
A noun may be Singular or  Plural

Noun- Number
Noun forms its Plural by the addition of s at the end of singular form as:

Singular Girl Friend Book Tree

Plural Girls Friends Books Trees

Noun- Number
Plural of Nouns ending in Consonants

If the singular ends in consonant+y like b+y, d+y, r+y, t+y the plural is normally made by changing y to I and adding es .
Singular Baby Lady Ferry Party Plural Babies Ladies Ferries Parties

Noun- Number
And if the singular ends in vowel+y, as a+y, u+y, e+y,o+y the plural is formed by adding s .

Singular Day Boy Guy Donkey

Plural Days Boys Guys Donkeys

Noun- Number
Plural of nouns ending in sh, ch, s, x, or z If the singular ends in sh, ch, s, x, or z the plural is made by adding es .

Singular Church Crash Bus Box Buzz

Plural Churches Crashes Bushes Boxes Buzz

Noun- Number
Plural of nouns ending in O Some nouns ending in o have plurals in es . The most common are

Singular Echo Hero Negro Potato

Plural Echoes Heroes Negroes Potatoes

Noun- Number
Nouns ending in vowels+o have plurals in s e.g.

Singular Radio Zoo Kilo Piano Photo

Plural Radios Zoos Kilos Pianos Photos

Noun- Number
The following words can have plurals in s or es in more common s or es .

Singular Buffalo Mosqito Volcano

Plural Buffalo(e)s Mosquito(e)s Volcano(e)s

Noun- Number

Singular and Plural

Irregular and Special Plurals. Irregular Plurals in (ves) The following nouns ending in f , fe have plurals in ves-.

Noun- Number
Singular Calf Elf Half Knife Life Leaf Self wolf Shelf Wife Plural Calves Elves Halves Knives Leaves Selves Selves Wolves Shelves Wives

Noun- Number
Plurals same as Singular
Singular Barracks Series Crossroads Species Headquarters Means Swiss News Billiards Measles Plural Barracks Series Crossroads Species Headquarters Means Swiss News Billiards Measles

Noun- Number
Most Words ending in ics are normally singular uncountable and have no plurals

Singular Mathematics Physics Athletics Politics Statics

Plural Mathematics Physics Athletics Politics Statics

Noun- Number
Foreign Plurals: Some words which came from foreign language have special plurals.

Singular Analysis Appendix Bacterium Basis Crisis Oasis Phenonenon

Plural Analyses (Latin) Appendices (Latin) Bacteria (Latin) Bases (Greek) Crises (Greek) Oases (Greek) Phenomena (Greek)

Noun- Number

Plurals in ( s) An apostrophe( s) is used before the s in plurals of letters of the alphabets and sometimes in plural of dates and abbreviations. e.g.

Noun- Number

She spelt necessary with two c s. I loved 1960 s. (1960s is more common) PC s are getting cheaper. ( Pcs is more common)

Noun- Number Compound Nouns

Singular Plural Passer-by Passers by Runner-up Runners-up

Case
Case is inflection or use of a noun ( or pronoun) to show its relation to other words in the sentence.

Case
Nominative Case Objective or Accusative Case Possessive or Genitive Case.

Case
Nominative Case:When a noun (or pronoun) is used as the Subject of a verb, it is said to be in in Nominative Case. This case answers the question Who? or What? e.g.

Case
Nominative Case:The truck stopped. John threw a stone. The horse kicked the boy.

Case
Objective or Accusative Case:When a noun (or pronoun) is used as the Object of a verb, it is said to be in the objective or accusative case. It answers the question Whom? or What? e.g.

Case
Objective or Accusative Case:He saw the movie. The vendors sell mangoes. This is one of my policies.

Case
Possessive or Genitive Case:Nouns showing possessions are said to be in Possessive or Genitive Case. It answers the question, Whose?

Case
Possessive or Genitive Case:That car is John s. God s truth will be revealed one day. Stephen told his master s name.

Case
Possessive or Genitive Case:.The possessive Case does not always denote possession. It is used to denote authorship, origin, kind,etc. e.g.

Case
Possessive or Genitive Case:Shakespeare's book A mother s love president s speech. A week s holiday
the plays written by Shakespeare. the love felt by a mother The
the speech delivered by the president.

a holiday which lasted a week.

Noun-Gender

1. 2. 3. 4.

Masculine Feminine Common Gender Neuter Gender

Noun-Gender

 Masculine:
All nouns that refer to male animals are said to be of masculine gender as;

Noun-Gender

 Masculine:
Man Lion Cock Brother Actor

Noun-Gender
Feminine:
All nouns that refer to female animal are said to be of feminine gender as:

Woman Lioness Sister Cow Actress

Noun-Gender
Neuter Gender:
All nouns that do not refer to either sex said to be of common gender as:

Book Pen Table Cup

Noun-Gender
Note: objects without life are often personified, that is spoken of as if they were living beings, we regard them as male or females e.g.

Noun-Gender
The sun sheds his beams on rich and poor alike. The ship lost all her boats in the storm.

Phrase
We can define a phrase as A group of words that conveys some meaning but not the complete meaning. A phrase may lack either a subject or a predicate. For example the following sentence has three phrases in it. A little boy NP is playing in the garden. VP PP

Noun Phrase(NP): A noun phrase refers to a group of words that acts like a noun. We can define it as A phrase with a noun as a head is called a noun phrase. For example, A little boy, the garden, etc. A very easy test to verify an NP is that it can be replaced by a pronoun. For example A Little boy can be replaced by he and the garden can be replaced by it.

Dependents: An NP is a group of words with noun as a head and the noun is preceded or followed by some other words, which we call as dependents. NPs may have dependents preceding the head(PreHead dependents) and\or following the head(post head dependents).

Pre-Head Dependents: There are two types of Pre-Head dependents; Determiners(Dr) and Modifiers(M). Post-Head Dependents: There are three types of post-head dependents; Complements(C), Modifiers(M) and Peripheral Dependents(PD). Sometimes NP dependents may be combined. In such cases the order will normally be as;

Continued.. Before-Head: After-Head: peripheral Determiner before modifiers Complements before modifiers, modifiers before dependents.

Dr---------M--------H---------C--------------M---------PD For example; Before-Head: After-Head: Members H N The Dr Strong M

A Dr

red M

balloon H

of the committee from the western suburbs. C M PP PP storm, which we have been expecting H PD N RCl signals from outer space H M

Pre- Head Dependents: The class of items which most frequently serves the determiner function is the determinatives. Other possibilities include possessive pronouns and genitive phrases and numerals( one, three, etc.) An NP may have as many as three determiners; Central Determiner which may be preceded by another determiner ( called pre-determiner) and\or followed by another determiner (called a post-determiner). The most common of these determiners are; Pre-Determiners: Determinatives(Dr); all, both, such, what(as in exclamatives), double, ten, half, etc. Centeral-Determiners: articles, demonstratives, possessive pronouns, genitive phrases, etc. Post-Determiners: cardinal numerals( five, six, etc), quantifiers( every, little, few many, etc). It must be kept in mind that items of a single calss normally do not combine.

Pre-Head Modifiers: Pre-head modifiers may be adjectives, nouns, participles or GPs. For example, those new houses, the looming crisis, etc. Order of Pre-Head Modifiers in the NP: Ordering principles of pre-head modifiers in the NPs is as follows;
General-----size-----age----------color-----participle-----provenance-----material-----Head Strange-- big-old-golden-- floating--Chinese-seafood -- restaurant

Post-Head Dependents: Post-head dependents may be complements, modifiers or peripheral dependents. For example; Complement-----------------------students of philosophy Modifiers----------------------------students in Lahore, boys on bicycles Peripheral Dependents(PD)-----the car, which Ali used to drive PD is set off from rest of the NP by a comma. It is normally called as a relative clause.

Noun-Phrase Structure: Sometimes an NP may be comprised of a noun, without any pre-and\or post- modification and sometimes head preceded and\or followed by a pre- and\or post-modifier\s. For example structure of a simple NP can be as follows;
NP PropN Ahmed NP N furniture NP N children NP Pro he

Functions of NPs: -A noun phrase can act as a subject of verb. For example, A little boy eats an apple daily. NP

-An NP can act as an object of verb. For example, Ali eats an apple daily. NP

-An NP can also be a complement of a linking verb. For example, Mrs. Urooj is my syntax teacher. NP -An NP can act as object of a prepositional phrase(PP). For example,
Aslam is the most intelligent student of this class.

NP

Position of an NP in a sentence. An NP can be placed at any of the following positions in a sentence; 1-The noun phrase is found as a daughter of S, preceding the verb phrase; this noun phrase is called the subject. S---------------NP+VP

2-The noun phrase is found as a daughter of VP, following the verb. The noun phrase which immediately follows the verb is called the object. Two or more NPs can appear after the verb, in which case they can be called first object, second object and so on. VP-------------V+NP

3-The noun phrase is found as a daughter of a PP, following the preposition. PP-------------Pre+NP For example;
A school teacher was teaching NP/subject English grammar NP/object in the class. NP

An NP in English is not found as a daughter of AP or as a daughter of AdvP. As regards its internal structure, we know that the noun phrase can begin with an article, followed by an AP, followed by a noun, followed by a PP.

Conclusion: We can sum up the whole discussion about Noun and Noun Phrase by saying that nouns and noun phrases hold a great importance in the construction of English sentences. There is a great number of nouns in English language as it belongs to an open class of words. We have seen that an noun may occur in different types and forms, depending upon its function. As regards a structural unit of an English sentence an NP holds a great importance as well. It can perform different functions and can hold different positions in the sentences based on the function. An NP can be formulated in a number of ways with a noun being its head. The use of NPs enhances the effect of a piece of writing\language and beautifies\enriches it.