FORM vs. FUNCTION

• COMMON NOUNS:  general terms for objects (common, average, casual)

• PROPER NOUNS:    specific, personal names (uncommon, specific, formal)

•    *Note:  PROPER NOUNS are capitalized and movie titles are underlined (or italicized.)

• 1) SUBJECT:

  • the subject is the performer of the action/verb, so ask, “Who or what did the action?”

  • the quarterback of the sentence, if you will              

  •  That STUDENT failed the test.

• 2) OBJECT:

  • receiver of action/verb

  • if the subject=the quarterback, then the object=the wide receiver of the sentence

    • The professor failed that STUDENT.

  • Direct Object: 

    • receives the action of the verb; subject + action + receiver (who/what)

  • Indirect Object: 

    • ask, “by whom?” or “to whom?”

    • The professor returned the graded quizzes (DO) to the Composition class (IO).
       

• 3) SUBJECT COMPLEMENT: (a.k.a. “PREDICATE NOMINATIVE”)

  • “completes” the subject

  • follows a linking verb 

    • LV=forms of the verb “to be” (is, am, are, was, were)

    • not functioning as a Helping Verb

    • + seems, appears

  • The class president is that STUDENT.

   

• 4) OBJECT of PREPOSITION:

  • follows a preposition

    • preposition + its object = “PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE”

    • anywhere a mouse can go (in, on, through, across, beneath, behind, …)

    • plus for, of, during

  • This replacement test is for that STUDENT.

   

• 5) MODIFIER (adjective):

  • modifies subsequent noun

    • what kind of?

  • Jackson is a STUDENT worker.

   

• 6) APPOSITIVE:

  • an appositive renames the noun located immediately next to it (notice COMMAS)

  • like the 2 p’s in the name, these 2 nouns are interchangeable

  • Clarissa, a STUDENT at the college, studies long hours.

  •  

• 7) POSSESSIVE NOUN:

  • shows ownership with ’s or s’

  • That STUDENT’s books are collecting dust in the corner.

• A. Nouns can be preceded by an ARTICLE

  • (a, an, the)

• B. Nouns commonly end with

  • -ment (government),

  • -ness (happiness),

  • -ity (nationality),

  • -tion (relation),

  • -hood (childhood),

  • -ism (socialism)

• C. Nouns can end in -ing

  • (noun as a “gerund”)

  • (not preceded by a Helping Verb)

• D. Nouns can be made POSSESSIVE (’s or s’)

  • placing an (’s) at the end of a word to demonstrate ownership will usually be correct

    • if the word ends in (-s), then you may place just an (’) after the last letter (James’) to eliminate a stuttering sound

  • (’s) is the reversal of a prepositional phrase SO do not do BOTH

    • the fools’ ship

    • OR

    • the ship of fools

    • not ship of fool’s/fools’

  • Group Nouns:

    • place the (’s) on the last word

    • The Queen of England’s throne

    • Romeo and Juliet’s motifs

  • Hyphenated Compound Nouns:

    • put the (’s) on the last word

    • mother-in-law’s

    • Her sister-in-law’s ex-boyfriend lost his job yesterday.

  • Joint ownership:

    • place the (’s) on the last name alone

    • if separate ownership, then place a (’s) on each noun

    • Justina and Jessica’s apartment was burglarized. (joint)

    • Justina’s and Jessica’s student aid checks arrived on time. (separate)

• E. Nouns can be made PLURAL

  • (+s, +es)

• (1) IRREGULAR:

  (-s/-ss/-ch/-sh/-x) - add (-es) to words with these endings -Joneses, gases, -kisses, grasses, -bunches, witches, -ashes, wishes, -mixes, boxes

  (-en)  -certain words form the plural by adding (-en) -child, children -ox, oxen -man, men -woman, women

  (no semblance)  -the plural of some words bears little resemblance to the singular form -person, people -goose, geese -mouse, mice -tooth, teeth

  (no change)  -some words do not change in the plural form -deer, deer -moose, moose -fish, fish

   

• (2) LATIN/GREEK:

  -medium, media -focus, foci -nucleus, nuclei -syllabus, syllabi -fungus, fungi -cactus, cacti -phenomenon, phenomena

  -index, indices -appendix, appendices -stratum, strata -addendum, addenda -datum, data -medium, media

  *alumnus, alumni (male) *alumna, alumnae (female)   -thesis, theses (“ease”) -crisis, crises (“ease”) -basis, bases (“ease”)

   

• (3) COMPOUND NOUNS:

  (in-law)  -make the first word plural -daughters-in-law (not daughter-in-laws) -sisters-in-law -courts martial -notaries public -sergeants-of-arms

  (BUT)  - for a word that ends with +ful, written as a single word, place +s at the end of the word -handfuls, bucketfuls, -platefuls, bowlfuls

    

• (4) TRICKY ENDINGS:

  (-lf, -fe)  -add -ve to words with these endings -werewolves, wives, knives, hooves, selves, leaves, lives, elves, selves   *BUT:  dwarfs, roofs

  (consonant + -y)  -change -y to -i, add -es -cities, families, babies, galleries       *boys, keys

  (+o)  (vowel + o) -add -s to such words -stereos, radios, rodeos   (consonant + o) -add –es to such words - heroes, potatoes, torpedoes   (words that apply to music and end in -o) -add -s to such words -pianos, cellos, banjos, -oratorios, sopranos, contraltos   *BUT:  oboes

   

•  (5) FAMILY NAMES:

  (+s )  -add -s to most last names -Smiths, Hausknechts,

  (+es)  -for names that end with –s, -sh, -ch, or -z, add -es -Maddoxes, Gonzalezes, Bushes

  (BUT)  -when the name ends in an -s with a strong “Z” sound, do not add any ending to form plural -Hodges, Stephens, Chambers

   

• (6) (’s) AS PLURAL, not POSSESSIVE:

  -avoid abbreviations whenever possible in formal academic writing -spell out “CD” as “compact disc” or “DVD” as “digital video disc”

  *RULE* CHANGE  years and acronyms now do not have (’s) added to them, just an (-s) -1990s, 1860s -IRAs, URLs -CDs, DVDs -PhDs, IQs

  -use (’s) for plural on letters, - Jordan received two new A’s on his quarterly report card. -Joshua writes his B’s like D’s.

  -use (’s) for plural on numerals -Dr. Howe’s 4’s look like 9’s.

  -use (’s) for plural on a word that refers to the word itself -Becky ended with, “No if’s, and’s, or but’s about it.” -Dr. Jemenez told Nichole that Nichole had too many and’s in her last essay.   *In this instance, some textbooks advise italicizing the word but not the apostrophe-s:  too many and’s in her last essay.

   

•  The running water made J’mal have to use the bathroom.

• Running is a great form of stress relief.

• Bubba was running across the parking lot because he was late for class.

*Nouns that look like verbs*

• A. VERB FORM vs. NOUN FORM:

* NOTICE the endings on the nouns

• B. VERB or GERUND:

*NOTICE the HELPING VERB that precedes the verb.

• C. WORDS COMBINED with PREPOSITIONS to FORM NOUNS:

  • dropout

  • breakthrough

  • sit-down

  • higher-up