Nouns: Definition, Compound, Plural, Proper & Common, Possessive Forms, Schemes and Mind Maps of Grammar and Composition

Download Nouns: Definition, Compound, Plural, Proper & Common, Possessive Forms and more Schemes and Mind Maps Grammar and Composition in PDF only on Docsity! Handout 1.1 1 Nouns I- Definition A noun is a word used to name a person: Mr. Vasilis, an animal: dog, a place: Notting Hill, a thing: bag, or an abstract idea: freedom. II- Compound nouns 1- Definition A compound noun is a noun made up of two or more words. 2- How to form it Compound nouns are usually formed by nouns modified by another noun, adjective, verb or preposition. Noun + noun: toothpaste Adjective + noun: blackboard Verb + noun: swimming pool Preposition + noun: underground Compound nouns can also be formed by: Adjective + verb: dry-cleaning Preposition + verb: output 3- How to write it The two parts of a compound noun can be written in several ways:  They can be joined together: toothpaste  They can be joined with a hyphen: check-in  They can appear as two separate words: full moon III- Plural of nouns 1- Add “s” to form the plural of most nouns: noun  nouns, book  Books Handout 1.1 2 2- Add “es” when the singular noun ends in s, ch, sh, x or z: church  churches 3- Switch the “y” to “i” and add “es” when the noun ends in y and has a consonant before it: baby  babies. 4- Change the “f” into “v” in some of the nouns ending in “f” or “fe”, and add “s” or “es”: thief  thieves. 5- Some nouns do not change at all in the plural: sheep  sheep 6- Some nouns change completely: child  children IV- Proper and common nouns 1- Proper nouns A proper noun has two distinctive features:  It names a specific item, usually one-of-kind  It begins with a Capital letter no matter where it comes in a sentence. Example: We met Jack in the market. 2- Common nouns A common noun names general items. Common nouns are general names. They are not capitalized unless they begin a sentence Example of a common and a proper noun: Charlie had wanted an easy teacher (common noun) for his composition class, but he got Mrs. Hacket (proper noun), whose short temper and unreasonable demands made the semester a torture. Chart of common versus proper nouns Common Proper waterfall Niagara Falls man Tony month April cereal Kellok’s holiday Easter doctor Doctor Farah city New York restaurant Healthy Dinner