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Lesson 1: Nouns and Adjectives
Lesson 1: Nouns and Adjectives
Lesson 1
Nouns
A NOUN is the NAME of anything. 1. John kicked the football through the goal. (goal - a wooden frame) 2. The result was one goal to nil. (goal - a point) 3. His team won a narrow victory. 4. His wish came true. 5. John got excited and drank up a can of beer.
When we WRITE, a noun has to be decided first. a. b. c. d. before after after after a verb. a verb. a preposition. a 'be'. - John kicked v. n. - kicked the football prep. n. - through the goal v. n. - was one goal
n. v.
We put a noun
Lesson 1
2
When we READ, a verb or preposition should catch our eyes first. Then a noun comes next. a. b. c. d. Before any verb we can find a subject noun - John kicked. After a verb we can find an object noun - kicked the football. After a preposition we can find an object noun - through the goal. After a be we can find a complement noun - was one goal. Now turn our thoughts the other way round. Any words or a group of words will be taken as nouns when they are found in these four positions: a. Before a verb. b. After a transitive verb. c. After a preposition. d. After a be. This important concept will help us understand the formation of noun phrases, gerunds (pages 89 - 91) and even noun clauses (pages 150, 155, 237, 310, 312, 324).
Kinds of Nouns:
1. 2.
Lesson 1
A name for a special person, place or company, such as John, Paris, IBM, etc.
1. Proper Noun
Things that we can see 2. Common Nouns and touch, such as a. Concrete Noun book, table,
(countable)
b. Collective Noun
(countable)
A number or collection that we treat as a whole, such as family, mob, flock, army, fleet, etc. Something that we cant touch or see but only feel, such as happiness, success, bravery, energy, wisdom, honesty, etc.
c. Abstract Noun
(uncountable)
d. Mass Noun
(uncountable)
Things that dont have separate units, such as wood, water, gold, cotton, homework, money, advice, travel, weather, jewelry, news, etc. In two pieces of gold, we count pieces.
Note
A common noun is the name used for any one of a class, such as book (concrete), family (collective), happiness (abstract) and copper (mass). It is contrasted with a proper noun, which is used for a special person or place.
Lesson 1
A.
Please put the underlined nouns of the following passage in the boxes below.
o d a h S s i H d n The Dog a
f ith a piece o w e g id r b a ing w dog, is cross ee his shado s o t s n e p p Lucky, a little a eh outh when h shadow to be n w o is h s e meat in his m k ta ts below. He mis . Now he wan t a e m f o e in the water c pie e he with a bigger atch it. Whil n s o t s another dog ie r t the gs meat and th drops into u o m is h the other do in t ucky piece of mea ever. Sadly, L r o f s s e does so, the n k r a appears in d ands. water and dis with empty h y il m a f is h join dy.) goes back to you are gree if g in h t y r e e ev (You may los
Proper
Concrete
Collective
Abstract
Mass
Lesson 1
Beer
[U] an alcoholic drink (mass noun uncountable) Beer is sold here. [C] a bottle, can or glass of beer (concrete noun countable) Give us two beers, please. (=two bottles, two cans or two glasses)
proper n.
(3) Countable concrete and collective nouns take articles (a, an, the); uncountable mass and abstract nouns dont.
mass n.
In a bar the attendants were serving a group of tourists from an India town. Beer brings temporary pleasure to drinkers. (no articles)
abstract n.
concrete n.
collective n.
(4) Some nouns in singular number take a singular verb under one meaning, and in plural number take a plural verb for another meaning. Singular
FORCE MANNER PAPER RETURN WATER - strength - method of doing things - sheet - coming back - liquid
Plural
FORCES MANNERS PAPERS RETURNS WATERS - army - politeness - documents - profits - an area of water
The return of the companys former CEO was good news to the staff. The returns on the new investment of the company were encouraging.
(5) Some adjectives of quantity such as many and few are used to qualify countable nouns, while much and little to describe uncountable nouns.
Much beer has been sold during holidays.
mass n.
At the close of business hours, only a few beers were left unsold.
concrete n.
Lesson 1
Know
Middle name
Middle name
GEORGE Ronald
First name Christian name
Wilson WALKER
Reagan BUSH
Surname Surname Familyname name Family
(Given Name)
Lesson 1
Regular
Exceptions
stomachs monarchs
(ch pronounced as k)
(A vowel before y)
Lesson 1
The following nouns are used ONLY in the singular: News / Information Aerobics Physics Garbage / Trash Equipment Baggage / Luggage Furniture Sweets Thanks Riches Goods Fireworks Wages Remains (No news is good news.) (Aerobics is a form of exercise.) (Physics is a science subject.) (Garbage is collected on Wednesdays in this town.) (Our office equipment is said to be up-to-date.) (Too much baggage / luggage is not allowed on the plane.) (The furniture of the home suits the style of the house.) (My sister bought a packet of sweets to suck on her way to school.) (It was thanks to my uncle that I got the job.) (Some people wanted fame, while others were crazy about riches.) (Our company supplies honest goods at honest prices.) (Last night the whole city was entertained with fireworks.) (The little shop pays very low wages per week.) (The remains of yesterdays lunch were still seen lying on the table.)
exchange seats; shake hands; make friends with; take turns; be friends with
E.g. We may change trains at the next station. (NOT train)
Plural
cloths clothes (C)
Examples
a yard of cloth an item of clothing a suit of clothes
1. In winter people wear heavy clothing like hats, scarves, boots, and overcoats. 2. Many cloths of high quality are used for making fashionable and expensive clothes. Some Final Words on Nouns at this early stage: 1. A noun has first to be classified as countable (concrete and collective) or uncountable (abstract and mass). 2. Countable nouns require articles (a, an, the); uncountable nouns dont. 3. Countable nouns take singular / plural verbs; uncountable nouns only singular. tr. v. n. prep. n. 4. Before a noun we find a transitive verb / preposition, e.g. ... show love, ... in love. After a noun we find a transitive / intransitive verb. E.g. Birds eat worms. Birds fly.
Please refer to Lesson 2.
n. tr. v. n.
int. v.
Lesson 1
An adjective adds information to a noun. We say that the adjective qualifies the noun. Usually an adjective goes before a noun or comes after a linking verb.
(Please see page 19.)
adjective noun
The adjective qualifies the noun.
Adjectives are classified in order to make a neat stacking (arrangement) for a smooth, natural description of a noun. (Please see page 12.)
1. Demonstrative Adjectives
This and these That and those This and that These and those The
These adjectives point out people, things, etc. refer to things close to the speaker. point at things less close to the speaker. go with singular nouns. go with plural nouns. goes with both singular and plural nouns.
This house is old. (singular) That house is old. (singular) These houses are new. (plural) Those houses are new. (plural) The school is open. (singular) The children are playing. (plural)
This house
Formation of the Possessive: 1. The Possessive of a noun whether singular or plural is formed by adding s to the noun:
the boys book; the kings crown; the familys income; mens club; childrens school; peoples leader 2. When a noun ends in s, the Possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe () after the s: the boys school; the students teacher
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some money
Many goes with countable nouns. (concrete and collective nouns) Much goes with uncountable nouns. (abstract and mass nouns)
Note:
iv
ii
iii
iv
thin man
Note:
Adjectives of opinion include beautiful, ugly, nice, bad, dirty, good ... .
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Lesson 1
Function: n.
n.
n.
(A salon that provides beauty services) (A salon that looks beautiful) (A center that provides information) (A talk that gives people helpful ideas)
Element:
A gold chain adj. n. Golden hair A silk suit adj. n. A silky voice
n. n. n. n.
(A chain that has the element of gold) (Hair that has bright yellow color) (A suit that is made of silk) (A gentle voice that is like soft silk)
The chairmans two beautiful large round old brown Indian teak
demonstrative possessive
tables.
(1 )
(2)
of quantity
(3)
of quality
(4 )
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Lesson 1
Adjectives
Nouns
female vital
(= chief)
{
{
charm a ... dog intuition (= feeling) a ... officer a ... fig-tree a ... role
a ... game
a ... person
clues importance
Adjectives
all-round secondary full-time adult consumer
Nouns
education
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Lesson 1
a rare an extinct an endangered a new the human
species
The secret of writing good English lies in a good match between nouns and adjectives. ONLY through extensive reading can a learner acquire such a kind of valuable knowledge.
B.
Janets family had a big, old house with a beautiful garden, a lot of flowers and many old trees. One morning, Janet came in from the garden. She was a tall, fat woman, thirty years old. It was the hottest day of the year, but she wore a warm, brown skirt and yellow shirt. She went into the kitchen to get a refreshing drink of cold water. Just then the back door opened. And her mother came in. Her mother Molly was a tall, dark woman with gray hair. A black and white dog came into the kitchen after her and ran across to her. She sat down, put her hands on its head and said to Janet, I usually did the same to you when you as a kid were having a sad and depressed look.
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Lesson 1
Comparison of Adjectives
Most adjectives have the positive degree, the comparative degree followed by than to compare 2 things, and the superlative degree preceded by the to compare more than 2 things. All one-syllable adjectives follow the -er / -est pattern. Positive tall quick old big red wet brave cute wide dry sly shy Comparative taller quicker older/elder bigger redder wetter braver cuter wider drier slier /slyer shier /shyer Superlative tallest quickest oldest/eldest biggest reddest wettest bravest cutest widest driest sliest /slyest shiest /shyest
Most two-syllable adjectives, especially those ending in -able, -ful, -ing, -ish, -ive, -less and -ous, take MORE / (LESS) in the comparative and MOST / (LEAST) in the superlative. readable hopeful charming foolish active more readable more hopeful more charming more foolish more active most readable most hopeful most charming most foolish most active
Other two-syllable adjectives follow the -er / -est pattern as the one-syllable adjectives do. clever simple happy friendly cleverer simpler happier friendlier cleverest simplest happiest friendliest
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Lesson 1
However, some two-syllable adjectives can take EITHER -er / -est OR more / most: common; stupid; pleasant; handsome; polite; gentle e.g. Your servant was stupider than I thought. Your servant was more stupid than I thought.
Irregular Comparison
The following Adjectives are exceptions: good bad little much many far better worse less, lesser more more farther/further best worst least most most farthest/furthest
sENTENCE WRITING
Note
We use as...as with the positive degree. John is as fat as Jack. Mary is not as fat as John. We use than with the comparative degree. John is fatter than Mary. This dress is more beautiful than that dress. The is used with the superlative degree. John is the fattest of the three boys. Mary is the most beautiful girl in the class. This is the fastest car on the running track.
MOST can be used without the to mean very. E.g. -The movie was most interesting.
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Lesson 1
Examples:
1) The dog was taken ill.
Poverty is an ill. (adjective - sick) (noun - problem)
3) To understand a clause, we first find out its verb and next its subject/object.
Tokyo office costs cost a lot of money. (Cost is a transitive verb, meaning need) (Costs is a plural noun, meaning expenses, subject of the transitive verb cost.) Bush ducks shoe throw in Iraq. (Ducks is a transitive verb, meaning avoids.) (Throw is a noun, object of ducks.) (Shoe is a noun, used as an adjective to qualify throw.)
Remarks:
Was taken ill (idiomatic expression) = fell ill Bush ducks shoe throw in Iraq is newspaper English, which usually omits the articles (a,an,the). Traditional English is Bush ducks a shoe throw in Iraq. (Throw is a countable noun, which requires an article.)
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Lesson 2
Lesson 2
Verbs
A VERB tells us something about a person or thing and is the most important word in a sentence. When we write, we first have some nouns in our mind, such as key and door. (Please refer back to page 1.) Then we look for a suitable verb opens to match the nouns like this:
Subject
Verb
A key
(noun)
Object
opens
a door.
(noun)
* Key and door are countable concrete nouns, which need an article a.
Here the noun key governs the verb opens. It is subject (the action doer) of the verb.
The second noun door (the action receiver) is the object governed by the verb opens.
Transitive verb
The verb opens is a transitive verb because it passes the action from the action doer key (subject) to the action receiver door (object). A transitive verb must take an object.
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Lesson 2
Intransitive verb
Subject The world
laughs.
Verb
The action verb laughs stops with the action doer world (subject). There is no action receiver (object).
1. He stopped to smoke. (= He walked no farther and stood there and smoked.) 2. He stopped smoking. (= He gave up smoking and smoked no more.)
In 1, the intransitive 'stopped' ends with the subject 'he', and 'to smoke' tells us why he stopped. (Please see page 98.) In 2, the transitive 'stopped' means 'quitted' and takes the noun (gerund) 'smoking' as its object. (Please see page 90 for more explanations of gerunds.)
tran. v.
intr. v.
xa More E
mples:
She turned, and dropped the ball. (= She went round and dropped the ball.) She turned and dropped the ball. (= She turned the ball and dropped it.)
tran. v.
intr. v.
Linking verb
The linking verb be (am, is, are, was, were, been, being, be) is used most frequently. It links a noun or an adjective with the subject to make the meaning of a sentence complete.
Subject Complement John is a doctor. (noun) (linking v.) (noun) Subject Complement John is happy. (noun) (linking v.) (adjective)
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Lesson 2
Complements
a For Ex mple:
Both the noun doctor and the adjective happy are complements of is. There are many other linking verbs, such as seem, appear, become, grow, turn, prove, look, come, go, feel, get, etc. They take a noun or an adjective as their complements, NOT as objects.
n.
link. v.
adj.
Noun or adjective?
If we put a noun instead of an adjective after a linking verb, we say the two nouns refer to the same person or thing. John becomes a teacher. (John = a teacher ) So the following sentence is incorrect. John is happiness. John is a man, and happiness is an abstract noun. They are different things. Here we must use the adjective form happy instead. John is happy. ( = happy John / a happy man)
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Lesson 2
Tips A verb in different types suggests different meanings: Play The children are playing.
n. (obj) adj. n.
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Lesson 2
A.
Please find out the sentence pattern of each of the following sentences.
Example: The tree has been blown away. ( 1 ) SV 1. Someone is coming. 2. She is the champion. 3. Tiffany feels bad. 4. All of the witnesses are being investigated. 5. Tom found his wallet. 6. We showed the official our passports. 7. I found Tom sleepy.
B.
In paragraph 1, please write I for intransitive verb, T for transitive verb and L for linking verb. The first one has been done for you. PARAGRAPH 1 (I) The night fell. A farmer came to his gooses nest. He found a heavy, yellow egg there. He felt strange, Someone has played a trick on me. Still, he took it home but was very happy because the egg was a lump of gold.
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Lesson 2
In paragraph 2, try to look for a noun/pronoun in the FOUR positions: ( 1 ) before a verb, ( 2 ) after a transitive verb, ( 3 ) after a linking verb, ( 4 ) after a preposition. The 1st sentence has been done for you. PARAGRAPH 2 (1) (2) (4) (4) The farmer sold the egg for a handsome sum of money. Every evening the goose laid an egg of gold, and very soon he became a rich man. In paragraph 3, try to write subject for the noun/pronoun before a verb, object after a transitive verb OR a preposition, and complement after a linking verb. PARAGRAPH 3 subj. subj. compl. subj. As the farmer grew rich, he turned greedy man. But he didnt want to get only one egg everyday. He said, Id better cut the goose open to take all the eggs out of her at one time. So he cut open the goose but found nothing. Now he became an unhappy man. (N.B. There is no a before greedy man. Please see turn on page 104.)
For ONLY, please point out which is a noun and which is a verb in the following sentence. Shaw saw saws saw saws.
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Lesson 2
TRANSITIVE VERBS
NOUNS
discipline custom world peace living standard a persons outlook historic buildings (prevent decay) food (prevent decay)
preserve
conserve
Note:
electricity, water, etc. (not to waste) land, forest or other natural resources (prevent them from damage) historic buildings (prevent decay) food (prevent waste)
Both historic buildings and food can be governed by either preserve or conserve.
Here we can see how an object noun can be governed by several transitive verbs and qualified by several adjectives. If the noun is uncountable, no article is needed. VERBS keep maintain impose lack ADJECTIVES strict, lax tough proper normal NOUN discipline (uncountable)
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Lesson 2
Likewise, a transitive verb can also govern a few different nouns, and each noun can be qualified by a few adjectives, too. If the noun is countable, an article is needed.
express
(uncountable)
concern
express a
(countable)
apology
Verbs, adjectives and nouns are 3 in 1. And we should not study an English word singly. Verb + (a/ an/ the/ no article) + adjective + noun is a core pattern of sentence-writing. To read more and to consult dictionaries often will help (to) pave the way to success.
C.
Example:
Please say what part of speech each word in italics is in the following sentences. int. v. adj. I spring over the garden gate to pick some spring flowers.
1. Bath the little dog in this bath, and wrap it up with a bath towel. 2. Iron this shirt with an electric iron on this iron table made of iron from the USA. 3. Water this plant with water from these water bottles.
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Lesson 2
Summary
Word(s)
(before a verb)
= = =
(before a verb)
Noun
Word(s)
(after a verb / prep.)
Word(s)
(after a linking verb)
= Noun / Adjective
(after a linking verb)
To think the other way
(See P.107.)
Here is a little test for OUTSTANDING learners. Please find out the subjects and objects in the following sentences: EXAMPLES: A wolf walking by the mountains side in the evening saw his own shadow. wolf subject of the transitive verb saw. side object of the preposition by. evening object of the preposition in. shadow object of the transitive verb saw. 1. A frog braver than the rest putting his head above the water cried to the boys loudly. 2. Near an apple tree grew a rose bush. (Please refer to P.294.)
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Lesson 2
Suffixes Different suffixes can help us easily understand whether a word is a noun, verb or adjective and hence their meanings. (Please try to memorize them.)
Of Nouns
(1) Denoting mainly the agent or doer of a thing.
-ain (-an, -en, -o n)
-ar (-er, -eer, -ier, -ary)
ca pt ai n , mu sic i an , cit iz en , su rg e on .
at to rn ey , com pa n y .
(2)
ad vo c at e , em ploy ee ,
-cy
-ion
-th
-ice (-ise)
he al th , gr ow th , st re ng th .
-ment
fr ien d sh ip , pa rt ne r sh ip , ha rd sh ip .
-ling
-ty
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Lesson 2
Suffixes
Of Adjective
-al
-y with the quality of;
-ary
-ed having;
-ble (-ible, -a
-lent
a bl e , po ss ib le , . lau gh ab le , se ns ib le
-ar
-ate
-ous
tem per at e .
Of Verb
-ish (transitive)
-fy (transitive)
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Lesson 2
Examples:
No news is good news. (Proverb) Dancing is not my cup of tea. (Idiom) We ran out of money after our holidays. (Phrasal verb) The story is about love at first sight. (Fixed expression)
:Adjective
:Adverb
A has recently a leading A very veryreasonably reasonably large large company company have recently bought bought 50,000 50,000 shares shares wholly wholly through through a leading stockbroker. stockbroker.
subject tran. v. object prep. object
Tips to learn collocations: Adverb very quite utterly fairly Adjective 50,000 large 20% shares (noun) Adverb reasonably very large rather (adjective) quite Adverb wholly partly completely through (prep.) Adverb recently cheaply quickly Adjective a leading large stockbroker (noun)
reasonably (adverb)
buy (verb)
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