Noun, Pronoun & Verb

A.         NOUN

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

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)

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).

2.   Use uncountable nouns with the words below

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.

B.           PRONOUN

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 they represent? 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.

C.         VERB

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.