Noun,
Pronoun, Verb
A. Nouns
There are various types of nouns. Some nouns may
fall under more than one type. This unit takes up the following types of nouns:
1. Countable Nouns
2. Uncountable Nouns
1. Countable Nouns
Countable nouns can take the singular or plural
form.
Singular
|
Plural
|
A cat
|
Cats
|
A man
|
Men
|
A tooth
|
Teeth
|
An egg
|
Eggs
|
An elephant
|
Elephants
|
An axe
|
Axes
|
Examples:
There is a man outside the building
There are two men outside the building
An elephant has a trunk
Elephants have trunks
a. Singular Nouns
When a noun refers to one person or thing, it is
singular.
Examples : Ineed to buy a book.
STRATEGIES
1. Do NOT end singular
nouns with –s/-es
2. Use singular nouns
after the words below.
a/an, one, this, that, a single, another, each, every
a/an, one, this, that, a single, another, each, every
3. Singular countable
nouns usually need articles. Use the with singular countable nouns
when referring to things in general or to specific things; use a/an with
singular countable nouns when referring to general or nonspesific things.
b. Plural Nouns
When a noun refers to more than one person or thing,
it is plural. The plural form of most nouns is made by adding –s/es to the
singular form; however, there are some exceptions.
Examples: Five lectures from this university will
attend the international conference in San Francisco next week.
STRATEGIES
1. Do NOT use a/an
with plural nouns
2. Use plural after
the words below:
all, some, some (of the), a few (of), many (of), a lot of, lots of, various, these, those, every one of, each one of, each of, one of, one of, both, other, dozens of, hundreds of, thousands of, a number of, the number of, a couple of, several (of the)
all, some, some (of the), a few (of), many (of), a lot of, lots of, various, these, those, every one of, each one of, each of, one of, one of, both, other, dozens of, hundreds of, thousands of, a number of, the number of, a couple of, several (of the)
3. When words such as hundred,
thousand, or million follow a number, do NOT put them in plural form
4. Be careful of
irregular plural nouns
2. Uncountable Nouns
Uncountablenouns are nouns that have only one form
and take a singular verb.
STRATEGIES
1. Do NOT us
uncountable nouns after the words/ phrases below
a/an, another, one, a sigle, each, every, these, thpse, a few (of), many (of), every one of, each one of, each (of), one of, both, dozens of, hundreds of, thousands of, a number of, the number of, a couple of, saveral (of the).
a/an, another, one, a sigle, each, every, these, thpse, a few (of), many (of), every one of, each one of, each (of), one of, both, dozens of, hundreds of, thousands of, a number of, the number of, a couple of, saveral (of the).
2. Use uncountable
nouns with the words below
much, little, a little, an amount of, all, some, a lot of, lots of, plenty of
much, little, a little, an amount of, all, some, a lot of, lots of, plenty of
3. Do NOT put
uncountable nouns into plural form
Verb forms may be classified as follows:
Base form: strat, think, draw, write, run, let.
Infinitive: to strat, to think, to draw, to write,
to draw, to write, to run, to let.
Gerund: strating, thinking, drawing, writing,
running, letting
Past participle: started, thougt, drawn, written,
run, let
Simple past form: started, thought, drew, wrote,
ran, let
Example:
The policie artist will draw the
criminal’s face.
He set aside his salary to start his own
business.
Strategies:
1. Use the base
form after modals such as will, can, or may.
2. Use the
infinitive form to show purpose.
3. Use the
infinitive form after adjectives.
4. Use the gerund
form after prepositions
5. Use the past
participle after the forms of be ( be, being, am, is, are, was, were, been) to
express passive meaning, and after the forms of have (have, has, had) to
express active meaning.
6. The simple
past form is used with particular time makers.
Relative pronouns and adverb
Generally (but not always) pronouns stand for (pro +
noun) or refer to a noun, an individual or individuals or thing or things (the
pronoun's antecedent) whose identity is made clear earlier in the text. For
instance, we are bewildered by writers who claim something like
They say that eating beef is bad for you.
They is a pronoun referring to someone, but who
are they? Cows? whom do theyrepresent? Sloppy use of pronouns is unfair.
Not all pronouns will refer to an antecedent,
however.
Everyone here earns over a thousand dollars a day.
The word "everyone" has no antecedent.
The problem of agreement between a pronoun and its
antecedent and between a pronoun and its verb is treated in another section on Pronoun-Antecedent
Consistency. The quizzes on pronoun usage are also listed at the end of
that section.
Relative pronouns are all used in adjective/
relative clauses.
· Who or
that is used as a subject referring to a person.
· Whom
is used as an object referring to a person.
· Which or
that is used as a subject or an object referring to a thing.
· Whose is
used to replace a possesive adjective.
