Written assignment Topic: Nouns

Group 1 Members: nguyen thi huyen Nguyen thi phuong Nguyen ngoc anh

A. The basic theory about noun

1. Definition: As a simple definition, noun is a word that names a person, place, or thing. Because of this enourmous diversity of nouns, it is not very suitable to study nouns in terms of their meaning. It is much more useful to analysis nouns from the point of view of their characteristics 2. Chracteristic of nouns: Many nouns can be recognised by their endings. Typical noun endings includes: -er,-or,ism,ist,-ment,-tion But this is not true for the word endings of all nouns. For example, the noun "spoonful" ends in -ful, but the adjective "careful" also ends in -ful.

B. Grammatical categories of nouns:

1. Number: Most nouns have distinctive SINGULAR and PLURAL forms. The plural form of a noun indicates more than one. The plural form is usually formed by adding an s or es to the singular noun Example : hat and hats Nouns that end in a consonant followed by a y are made plural by dropping the y and adding ies. For example: one country, two countries Nouns that end in a vowel followed by a y are made plural by adding s. Example: one toy, two toys

Nouns that end in f or fe drop the f or fe and add ves. Example: one leaf, two leaves However, there are many irregular while irregular nouns follow different rules which must be learned individually for each noun, such as the combination goose/geese. - Nouns may take an -'s ("apostrophe s") or GENITIVE MARKER to indicate possession The possessive form of a noun indicates ownership or modifies another noun. the boy's pen 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 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). - We can often recognise a noun by its position in the sentence. Nouns often come after a determiner (a determiner is a word like a, an, the, this, my, such) or one or more adjectives nouns may also come after:- demonstratives: this, that, these, those. - quantifiers: some, any, all, no every, numerals. Ordinals -Nouns have certain functions (jobs) in a sentence, for example:

subject of verb : Doctors work hard. object of verb :He likes coffee. subject and object of verb: Teachers teach students.

But the subject or object of a sentence is not always a noun. It could be a pronoun or a phrase. In the sentence "My doctor works hard", the noun is "doctor" but the subject is "My doctor" 2. Gender In English we retain the idea of gender, but use it only in rare cases, such as waiter/waitress, though it is becoming more and more common to use gender-neutral forms of these words as well. 3. Case: A noun may also have different cases, which help inform the role the noun plays in a sentence. In Latin, for example, the case of a noun shifts depending on whether it is the subject or object of the sentence. In English we rely more on the placement of the word and supporting words such as prepositions to help relay this information. English nouns

do, however, still make use of a possessive or genitive case, which is indicated by adding 's to the end of a noun NOUN-CASES .there are FIVE CASES. a. Nominative case: A noun is said to be in the Nominative case if it is the subject of a verb. (SUBJECT is the person or the thing who or which carries out the action of the verb in the sentence) Examples: Mr. Ram is an intelligent boy. Mr. Ram is a proper noun in Nominative case. The painter paints the portraits. The painter is a common noun in Nominative case. I am buying vegetables for my family. I is a pronoun in Nominative case. b. Objective case (or Accusative case): Nouns or pronouns are said to be in Objective cases if they are the direct objects of verbs or if they are the objects of preposition. (Direct object is the person or the thing upon whom or upon which the action of the verb is carried out). Examples: The book is on the table. Table is in objective case. It is object of the preposition on. c. Dative case: A noun is said to be in dative case if it is the Indirect object of the verb. There should not be a preposition before the indirect object because in that case it will be the object of that preposition. Examples: The teacher gave the students few exercises. Students is in dative case. It is the indirect object of the verb give. The Postman brought me a letter. Me is in dative case. d. Possessive case (Genitive case):

A noun is said to be in possessive case, if it denotes possession or ownership. A noun or pronoun in the possessive case is governed by the noun that follows it. Examples: It is our idea. Our is in possessive case. e. Vocative case: A noun or a pronoun is said to be in Vocative case if it is used to call (or to get the attention of) a person or persons. Examples: Mr. Bill, students are waiting for you in the main hall. Mr. Bill is in vocative case. The nouns do not change their forms in the Nominative and Objective cases. But few pronouns change their forms between Nominative and Objective cases.

C.classification of nouns in English.

Nouns in English are divided into six subclasses : proper and common nouns, concrete and abstract nouns, count and non-count nouns. a. Proper nouns You always write a proper noun with a capital letter, since the noun represents the name of a specific person, place, or thing. The names of days of the week, months, historical documents, institutions, organisations, religions, their holy texts and their adherents are proper nouns. A proper noun is the opposite of a common noun In each of the following sentences, the proper nouns are highlighted: The Marroons were transported from Jamaica and forced to build the fortifications in Halifax. Many people dread Monday mornings. Beltane is celebrated on the first of May. Abraham appears in the Talmud and in the Koran. Last year, I had a Baptist, a Buddhist, and a Gardnerian Witch as roommates.

b. Common nouns A common noun is a noun referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense -usually, you should write it with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. A common noun is the opposite of a proper noun. In each of the following sentences, the common nouns are highlighted: According to the sign, the nearest town is 60 miles away. All the gardens in the neighbourhood were invaded by beetles this summer. I don't understand why some people insist on having six different kinds of mustard in their cupboards. The road crew was startled by the sight of three large moose crossing the road. Many child-care workers are underpaid. Sometimes you will make proper nouns out of common nouns, as in the following examples: The tenants in the Garnet Apartments are appealing the large and sudden increase in their rent. The meals in the Bouncing Bean Restaurant are less expensive than meals in ordinary restaurants. Many witches refer to the Renaissance as the Burning Times. The Diary of Anne Frank is often a child's first introduction to the history of the Holocaust.

c. Countable nouns A countable noun (or count noun) is a noun with both a singular and a plural form, and it names anything (or anyone) that you can count. You can make a countable noun plural and attach it to a plural verb in a sentence. Countable nouns are the opposite of noncountable nouns and collective nouns. In each of the following sentences, the highlighted words are countable nouns: We painted the table red and the chairs blue. Since he inherited his aunt's library, Jerome spends every weekend indexing his books. Miriam found six silver dollars in the toe of a sock. The oak tree lost three branches in the hurricane. Over the course of twenty-seven years, Martha Ballad delivered just over eight hundred babies.

d. Non- countable nouns A non-countable noun (or mass noun) is a noun which does not have a plural form, and which refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count. A non-countable noun always takes a singular verb in a sentence. Non-countable nouns are similar to collective nouns, and are the opposite of countable nouns. The highlighted words in the following sentences are non-countable nouns: Joseph Priestly discovered oxygen. The word "oxygen" cannot normally be made plural. Oxygen is essential to human life. Since "oxygen" is a non-countable noun, it takes the singular verb "is" rather than the plural verb "are." We decided to sell the furniture rather than take it with us when we moved. You cannot make the noun "furniture" plural. The furniture is heaped in the middle of the room. Since "furniture" is a non-countable noun, it takes a singular verb, "is heaped." The crew spread the gravel over the roadbed. You cannot make the non-countable noun "gravel" plural. Gravel is more expensive than I thought. Since "gravel" is a non-countable noun, it takes the singular verb form "is."

e. Concrete and abstract nouns: An abstract noun names something that is apprehended by the mind. This means that your five senses can not detect this group of nouns.. For example: goodness,idea,bravery etc.

 concrete noun names an object that can be apprehened by any one of the five senses.
For example: sneeze, floor,paper etc. formal differnce between cocrete nouns and abstract nouns. Abstract nouns have tendency to be noncount and to end in certain derivational suffixes such as ness,-ity,-th,-ude. For example: security,

One outstanding example for concrete nouns: "Music" and "Color" . They are not abstract nouns, because you can see and hear them. Even though it's the object you're seeing in your example, you do indeed still see "red". Think of it this way, you're seeing "red", because you're not seeing blue or black or some other color. And as far as the music, yes, you can hear it. Whether or not it has any"physical" existence becomes a philosophical question and not a grammatical one. Either way, if music is playing, you are indeed physically hearing it. f. Collective nouns:

Collective nouns are a singular form of a word that refers to a group of things. For
example: army, jury, the public, the united states. In American , collective nouns normally take a singular verb(e.g. the jury is out) while in British English they are take a plural(e.g. the jury are out). The American variety sometimes uses the plural to suggest lack of unity within the group (e.g. the jury are divided).

Use correct verbs and pronouns with collective nouns.

collective nouns can be either singular or plural, depending on context. In writing, this double status often causes agreement errors. Here is the key: Imagine a flock of pigeons pecking at birdseed on the ground. Suddenly, a cat races out of the bushes. What do the pigeons do? They fly off as a unit in an attempt to escape the predator, wheeling through the sky in the same direction. When the people are part of a collective noun, that noun becomes singular and requires singular verbs and pronouns. As you read the following examples, notice that all members of the collective noun are doing the same thing at the same time: Every afternoon the baseball team follows its coach out to the hot field for practice. All members of the team arrive at the same place at the same time.

Members of collective nouns can behave in a similar fashion. When the members are acting as individuals, the collective noun is plural and requires plural verbs and pronouns After the long exam, the class start their research papers on famous mathematicians. The students are beginning their own research papersin different places, at different times, on different mathematicians. Two ways that you can compose the sentence without causing an agreement error: 1) insert the word members after the collective noun [jury members, committee members, board members]. 2) use an entirely different word [players instead of team, students instead of class, soldiers instead of army]. Then you can use plural verbs and pronouns without worrying about making mistakes or sounding unnatural

D. Practical Application.

Asia manufacturers see robust growth

By Justine Lau in Hong Kong Published: February 1 2010 05:17 | Last updated: February 1 2010 07:55

Asias manufacturing sector continued to show robust growth in January, with China reporting record industrial activity for the month while the purchasing managers index in India, South Korea and Taiwan also rose strongly. South Korea, India and Indonesia also reported resurgent export growth. The HSBC China PMI, compiled by Markit Economics, rose to a record 57.4 in January, up from 56.1 a month earlier. It was the second-fastest monthly increase since the survey began in April 2004 and the 10th successive month of expansion in industrial activity. A reading of more than 50 reflects expansion. Hongbin Qu, HSBC chief economist for China, said the strong increase in industrial activity pointed to robust growth in gross domestic production in the first quarter. But rising input and output prices also point to greater inflationary pressure, which will likely prompt more tightening measures in the coming months, he said. Chinas official PMI index, also released on Monday, fell from 56.6 in December to 55.8 in January, the first month-on-month decline since last May.

Zhang Liqun, a government economist, said the slight drop indicated a steadying of production growth. The Chinese economy is at a crucial stage of moving from rebounding to stabilising, he said. Fear of further tightening by Beijing sent Chinese stocks lower. The Shanghai Composite fell 1.9 per cent and Hong Kongs Hang Seng index dropped 1.2 per cent. Indias HSBC PMI rose from 55.6 in December to 57.7 in January, the strongest level since August 2008.

FT In depth: As the world emerges from recession, will the centre of gravity in the global economy shift to Brazil, Russia, India and China? Any lingering concern that Indias manufacturing recovery was tailing off should be well and truly put to rest by this strong release ... The most impressive part of the release was the more than 5 point jump in the new export orders index [from 54.6 to 59.8] which took it to its highest level since October 2007 and indicated that the recovery is by no means dependent on domestic demand alone, said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, senior Asian economist at HSBC. The Indian government meanwhile reported that exports rose 9.3 per cent to $14.6bn in December from a year earlier, the second consecutive monthly gain. Indonesia posted a 49.8 per cent growth in December shipments to $13.3bn. Kicking off January figures, South Korea reported 47.1 per cent growth in exports to $31.1bn from a year earlier. But the country experienced its first trade deficit in a year in after imports of oil surged as a result of the exceptionally cold weather. Seoul also reported manufacturing gains, with its HSBC PMI index increasing from 52.8 in December to 55.6 for January. In Taiwan, the HSBC PMI index rose to 61.7 in January, up from 58.7 in December, after companies enjoyed the sharpest growth in new orders since October 2007.

Notes
1. The words in yellow are abstract and un-countable nouns. 2. The words in turquoise are proper nouns. 3. The nouns in red are concrete and countable nouns. 4. The noun in green is collective noun. This article is an outstanding article for economics and contains all kinds of nouns. With 504 words, nouns appear 70 times with total 174 words. It demonstrates that noun is a very important factor in English. Especially, because it is about economics,

so it uses many abstract nouns express fomality and activeness of an economics article. E. Conclusion : Noun brings a lot of interesting knoweadge for students. Studying nouns serves students very well during learning and working process.