[ http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/nouns/nouns.

htm ] 8/JULAI/2013
An Introduction to



Words are fundamental units in every sentence, so we will begin by
looking at these. Consider the words in the following sentence:

my brother drives a big car
We can tell almost instinctively that brother and car are the same type of
word, and also that brother and drives are different types of words. By
this we mean that brother and car belong to the same word class.
Similarly, when we recognise that brother and drives are different types,
we mean that they belong to different word classes. We recognise
seven MAJOR word classes:


Verb be, drive, grow, sing, think
Noun brother, car, David, house, London
Determiner a, an, my, some, the
Adjective big, foolish, happy, talented, tidy
Adverb happily, recently, soon, then, there
Preposition at, in, of, over, with
Conjunction and, because, but, if, or

You may find that other grammars recognise different word classes from
the ones listed here. They may also define the boundaries between the
classes in different ways. In some grammars, for instance, pronouns are
treated as a separate word class, whereas we treat them as a subclass
of nouns. A difference like this should not cause confusion. Instead, it
highlights an important principle in grammar, known as GRADIENCE.
This refers to the fact that the boundaries between the word classes are
not absolutely fixed. Many word classes share characteristics with
others, and there is considerable overlap between some of the classes.
In other words, the boundaries are "fuzzy", so different grammars draw
them in different places.
We will discuss each of the major word classes in turn. Then we will look
briefly at some MINOR word classes. But first, let us consider how we
distinguish between word classes in general.



Criteria for Word Classes
We began by grouping words more or less on the basis of our instincts
about English. We somehow "feel" that brother and car belong to the
same class, and that brother and drives belong to different classes.
However, in order to conduct an informed study of grammar, we need a
much more reliable and more systematic method than this for
distinguishing between word classes.
We use a combination of three criteria for determining the word class of
a word:

1. The meaning of the word
2. The form or `shape' of the word
3. The position or `environment' of the word in a sentence

1. Meaning
Using this criterion, we generalize about the kind of meanings that
words convey. For example, we could group together the
wordsbrother and car, as well as David, house, and London, on the
basis that they all refer to people, places, or things. In fact, this has
traditionally been a popular approach to determining members of the
class of nouns. It has also been applied to verbs, by saying that they
denote some kind of "action", like cook, drive, eat, run, shout, walk.
This approach has certain merits, since it allows us to determine word
classes by replacing words in a sentence with words of "similar"
meaning. For instance, in the sentence My son cooks dinner every
Sunday, we can replace the verb cooks with other "action" words:

My son cooks dinner every Sunday
My son prepares dinner every Sunday
My son eats dinner every Sunday
My son misses dinner every Sunday
On the basis of this replacement test, we can conclude that all of these
words belong to the same class, that of "action" words, or verbs.
However, this approach also has some serious limitations. The definition
of a noun as a word denoting a person, place, or thing, is wholly
inadequate, since it excludes abstract nouns such
as time,imagination, repetition, wisdom, and chance. Similarly, to say
that verbs are "action" words excludes a verb like be, as in I want to be
happy. What "action" does be refer to here? So although this criterion
has a certain validity when applied to some words, we need other, more
stringent criteria as well.

2. The form or `shape' of a word
Some words can be assigned to a word class on the basis of their form
or `shape'. For example, many nouns have a characteristic -tionending:

action, condition, contemplation, demonstration, organization,repetition
Similarly, many adjectives end in -able or -ible:

acceptable, credible, miserable, responsible, suitable, terrible
Many words also take what are called INFLECTIONS, that is, regular
changes in their form under certain conditions. For example, nouns can
take a plural inflection, usually by adding an -s at the end:

car -- cars
dinner -- dinners
book -- books
Verbs also take inflections:

walk -- walks -- walked -- walking

3. The position or `environment' of a word in a sentence
This criterion refers to where words typically occur in a sentence, and
the kinds of words which typically occur near to them. We can illustrate
the use of this criterion using a simple example. Compare the following:

[1] I cook dinner every Sunday
[2] The cook is on holiday

In [1], cook is a verb, but in [2], it is a noun. We can see that it is a verb
in [1] because it takes the inflections which are typical of verbs:

I cook dinner every Sunday
I cooked dinner last Sunday
I am cooking dinner today
My son cooks dinner every Sunday
And we can see that cook is a noun in [2] because it takes the plural -
sinflection

The cooks are on holiday
If we really need to, we can also apply a replacement test, based on our
first criterion, replacing cook in each sentence with "similar" words:
I cook dinner every Sunday The cook is on holiday
I eat dinner every Sunday
I prepare dinner every Sunday
I miss dinner every Sunday
The chef is on holiday
The gardener is on holiday
The doctor is on holiday
Notice that we can replace verbs with verbs, and nouns with nouns, but
we cannot replace verbs with nouns or nouns with verbs:

*I chef dinner every Sunday
*The eat is on holiday

It should be clear from this discussion that there is no one-to-one
relation between words and their classes. Cook can be a verb or a noun
-- it all depends on how the word is used. In fact, many words can
belong to more than one word class. Here are some more examples:

She looks very pale (verb)
She's very proud of her looks (noun)
He drives a fast car (adjective)
He drives very fast on the motorway (adverb)
Turn on the light (noun)
I'm trying to light the fire (verb)
I usually have a light lunch (adjective)
You will see here that each italicised word can belong to more than one
word class. However, they only belong to one word class at a time,
depending on how they are used. So it is quite wrong to say, for
example, "cook is a verb". Instead, we have to say something like
"cook is a verb in the sentence I cook dinner every Sunday, but it is a
noun in The cook is on holiday".
Of the three criteria for word classes that we have discussed here, the
Internet Grammar will emphasise the second and third - the form of
words, and how they are positioned or how they function in sentences.


Open and Closed Word Classes
Some word classes are OPEN, that is, new words can be added to the
class as the need arises. The class of nouns, for instance, is potentially
infinite, since it is continually being expanded as new scientific
discoveries are made, new products are developed, and new ideas are
explored. In the late twentieth century, for example, developments in
computer technology have given rise to many new nouns:
Internet, website, URL, CD-ROM, email, newsgroup, bitmap, modem,multimedia
New verbs have also been introduced:
download, upload, reboot, right-click, double-click
The adjective and adverb classes can also be expanded by the addition
of new words, though less prolifically.
On the other hand, we never invent new prepositions, determiners, or
conjunctions. These classes include words like of, the, and but. They
are called CLOSED word classes because they are made up of finite
sets of words which are never expanded (though their members may
change their spelling, for example, over long periods of time). The
subclass of pronouns, within the open noun class, is also closed.
Words in an open class are known as open-class items. Words in a
closed class are known as closed-class items.
In the pages which follow, we will look in detail at each of the seven
major word classes.


PAGE 1/5




Nouns are commonly thought of as "naming" words, and specifically as the
names of "people, places, or things". Nouns such as John,London,
and computer certainly fit this description, but the class of nouns is much
broader than this. Nouns also denote abstract and intangible concepts such
as birth, happiness, evolution, technology,management, imagination, revenge,
politics, hope, cookery, sport,literacy....
Because of this enormous diversity of reference, it is not very useful to study
nouns solely in terms of their meaning. It is much more fruitful to consider
them from the point of view of their formal characteristics.




Characteristics of Nouns
Many nouns can be recognised by their endings. Typical noun endings
include:

-er/-or actor, painter, plumber, writer
-ism criticism, egotism, magnetism, vandalism
-ist artist, capitalist, journalist, scientist
-ment arrangement, development, establishment, government
-tion foundation, organisation, recognition, supposition

Most nouns have distinctive SINGULAR and PLURAL forms. The plural of
regular nouns is formed by adding -s to the singular:

Singular Plural
car cars
dog dogs
house houses

However, there are many irregular nouns which do not form the plural in this
way:

Singular Plural
man men
child children
sheep sheep

The distinction between singular and plural is known as NUMBER
CONTRAST.
We can recognise many nouns because they often have the, a, or anin front
of them:

the car
an artist
a surprise
the egg
a review

These words are called determiners, which is the next word class we will look
at.
Nouns may take an -'s ("apostrophe s") or GENITIVE MARKER to indicate
possession:

the boy's pen
a spider's web
my girlfriend's brother
John's house

If the noun already has an -s ending to mark the plural, then the genitive
marker appears only as an apostrophe after the plural form:

the boys' pens
the spiders' webs
the Browns' house

The genitive marker should not be confused with the 's form of contracted
verbs, as in John's a good boy (= John is a good boy).
Nouns often co-occur without a genitive marker between them:

rally car
table top
cheese grater
University entrance examination

We will look at these in more detail later, when we discuss noun phrases.


Common and Proper Nouns
Nouns which name specific people or places are known as PROPER
NOUNS.

John
Mary
London
France

Many names consist of more than one word:

John Wesley
Queen Mary
South Africa
Atlantic Ocean
Buckingham Palace

Proper nouns may also refer to times or to dates in the calendar:

January, February, Monday, Tuesday, Christmas, Thanksgiving

All other nouns are COMMON NOUNS.
Since proper nouns usually refer to something or someone unique, they do
not normally take plurals. However, they may do so, especially when number
is being specifically referred to:

there are three Davids in my class
we met two Christmases ago

For the same reason, names of people and places are not normally preceded
by determiners the or a/an, though they can be in certain circumstances:

it's nothing like the America I remember
my brother is an Einstein at maths

Count and Non-count Nouns
NOUNS
PAGE 2/5

Common nouns are either count or non-count. COUNT nouns can
be "counted", as follows:

one pen, two pens, three pens, four pens...
NON-COUNT nouns, on the other hand, cannot be counted in this
way:

one software, *two softwares, *three softwares,
*four softwares...
From the point of view of grammar, this means that count nouns
have singular as well as plural forms, whereas non-count nouns
have only a singular form.
It also means that non-count nouns do not take a/an before them:

Count Non-count
a pen *a software

In general, non-count nouns are considered to refer to indivisible
wholes. For this reason, they are sometimes called MASS nouns.
Some common nouns may be either count or non-count, depending
on the kind of reference they have. For example, in I made a
cake, cakeis a count noun, and the a before it indicates singular
number. However, in I like cake, the reference is less specific. It
refers to "cake in general", and so cake is non-count in this
sentence.

Pronouns
NOUNS
PAGE 3/5

Pronouns are a major subclass of nouns. We call them a subclass
of nouns because they can sometimes replace a noun in a
sentence:

Noun Pronoun
John got a new job ~He got a new job
Children should watch less
television
~They should watch less
television

In these examples the pronouns have the same reference as the
nouns which they replace. In each case, they refer to people, and so
we call them PERSONAL PRONOUNS. However, we also include
in this group the pronoun it, although this pronoun does not usually
refer to a person. There are three personal pronouns, and each has
a singular and a plural form:

Person Singular Plural
1st I we
2nd you you
3rd he/she/it they

These pronouns also have another set of forms, which we show
here:

Person Singular Plural
1st me us
2nd you you
3rd him/her/it them

The first set of forms (I, you, he...) exemplifies the SUBJECTIVE
CASE, and the second set (me, you, him...) exemplifies the
OBJECTIVE CASE. The distinction between the two cases relates
to how they can be used in sentences. For instance, in our first
example above, we say that he can replace John

John got a new job ~He got a new job

But he cannot replace John in I gave John a new job. Here, we have
to use the objective form him: I gave him a new job.


Other Types of Pronoun
As well as personal pronouns, there are many other types, which we
summarise here.

Pronoun Type
Members of
the
Subclass
Example
Possessive
mine, yours,
his, hers, ours,
theirs
The white car ismine
Reflexive
myself, yourself,
himself, herself,
itself, oneself,
ourselves,
He injured himselfplaying
football
yourselves,
themselves
Reciprocal
each other, one
another
They really hateeach
other
Relative
that, which,
who, whose,
whom, where,
when
The book that you gave
me was really boring
Demonstrative
this, that, these,
those
This is a new car
Interrogative
who, what, why,
where, when,
whatever
What did he say to you?
Indefinite
anything,
anybody,
anyone,
something,
somebody,
someone,
nothing,
nobody, none,
no one
There's something in my
shoe

Case and number distinctions do not apply to all pronoun types. In
fact, they apply only to personal pronouns, possessive pronouns,
and reflexive pronouns. It is only in these types, too, that gender
differences are shown (personal he/she, possessive his/hers,
reflexivehimself/herself). All other types are unvarying in their
form.
Many of the pronouns listed above also belong to another word
class - the class of determiners. They are pronouns when they
occur independently, that is, without a noun following them, as
in This is a new car. But when a noun follows them - This car is
new - they are determiners. We will look at determiners in the next
section.
A major difference between pronouns and nouns generally is that
pronouns do not take the or a/an before them. Further, pronouns do
not take adjectives before them, except in very restricted
constructions involving some indefinite pronouns (a little
something, a certain someone).
While the class of nouns as a whole is an open class, the subclass
of pronouns is closed.

Numerals
NOUNS
PAGE 4/5

Numerals include all numbers, whether as words or as digits. They
may be divided into two major types. CARDINAL numerals include
words like:

nought, zero, one, two, 3, fifty-six, 100, a thousand
ORDINAL numerals include

first, 2nd, third, fourth, 500th
We classify numerals as a subclass of nouns because in certain
circumstances they can take plurals:

five twos are ten
he's in his eighties
They may also take the:

the fourth of July
a product of the 1960s
And some plural numerals can take an adjective before them, just
like other nouns:

the house was built in the late 1960s
he's in his early twenties
the temperature is in the high nineties
In each of our examples, the numerals occur independently, that is,
without a noun following them. In these positions, we can classify
them as a type of noun because they behave in much the same way
as nouns do. Notice, for example, that we can replace the numerals
in our examples with common nouns:

he is in his eighties ~he is in his bedroom
the fourth of July ~the beginning of July
a product of the 1960s ~a product of therevolution

Numerals do not always occur independently. They often occur
before a noun, as in

one day
three pages
the fourth day of July
In this position, we classify them as determiners, which we will
examine in the next section.
Finally, see if you can answer this question:
Is the subclass of numerals open or closed?

The Gender of Nouns
NOUNS
PAGE 5/5

The gender of nouns plays an important role in the grammar of
some languages. In French, for instance, a masculine noun can only
take the masculine form of an adjective. If the noun is feminine, then
it will take a different form of the same adjective - its feminine form.
In English, however, nouns are not in themselves masculine or
feminine. They do not have grammatical gender, though they may
refer to male or female people or animals:

the waiter is very prompt ~the waitress is very prompt
the lion roars at night ~the lioness roars at night

These distinctions in spelling reflect differences in sex, but they
have no grammatical implications. For instance, we use the same
form of an adjective whether we are referring to a waiter or to a
waitress:

an efficient waiter ~an efficientwaitress

Similarly, the natural distinctions reflected in such pairs
asbrother/sister, nephew/niece, and king/queen have no
consequence for grammar. While they refer to specific sexes, these
words are not masculine or feminine in themselves.
However, gender is significant in the choice of a personal pronoun
to replace a noun:

John is late ~He is late
Mary is late ~She is late

Here the choice of pronoun is determined by the sex of the person
being referred to. However, this distinction is lost in the plural:

John and Mary are late ~They are late
John and Davidare late ~They are late
Mary and Jane are late ~They are late

Gender differences are also manifested in possessive pronouns
(his/hers) and in reflexive pronouns (himself/herself).
When the notion of sex does not apply -- when we refer to inanimate
objects, for instance -- we use the pronoun it:

the letter arrived late ~it arrived late