LESSON 1 NOUNS GERARD J. HANNAN/ CLASS 1 1. THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH 1. NOUNS 2. PRONOUNS. 3. VERBS. 4. ADJECTIVES 5. ADVERBS. 6. PREPOSITIONS.

GERARD J. HANNAN/ CLASS 1 1

LESSON 1

NOUNS


THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH

1. NOUNS

2. PRONOUNS.

3. VERBS.

4. ADJECTIVES

5. ADVERBS.

6. PREPOSITIONS.

7. CONJUNCTIONS.

8. INTERJECTIONS.

THESE ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF ENGLISH. THE BETTER YOU

UNDERSTAND THESE BUILDING BLOCKS YOUR SPEAKING AND WRITING

WILL IMPROVE.


WHAT IS A NOUN?

NOUNS ARE THE PARTS OF SPEECH THAT NAMES:

A PERSON, A PLACE, A THING, AN IDEA, AN ANIMAL, A QUALITY, AN ACTIVITY.

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF NOUNS IN ACTION:

JOHN IS READING ~ DALLAS IS NORTH OF HOUSTON ~ THE ROCK IS VERY

HEAVY – PHILOSOPHY IS VERY INTERESTING – MY CAT IS CHASING THE MOUSE

~ OVERCOMING FEAR REQURIES GREAT COURAGE ~ WRITING IS VERY

IMPORTANT*

*IN THE LAST SENTENCE WRITING IS A NOUN BECAUSE IT NAMES THE

ACTIVITY; IT IS’INT PERFORMING THE ACTIVITY, WHICH IS WHAT A VERB DOES –

FOR EXCAMPLE ~ JOHN IS WRITING HIS NAME ~ HERE IT WORKS AS A VERB

BECAUSE IT IS THE ACTION JOHN IS PERFORMING. MORE ABOUT VERBS LATER.


EXERCISE 1.

CAN YOU FIND THE NOUNS IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES?

CLUE: LOOK FOR A PERSON, PLACE OR THING.

Jerry is my English teacher.

Jerry comes from Ireland.

Reading is an important skill to learn.

My class reads stories from all over the world.

Besides being good readers John and Mary also want to be able to write and speak English well.

Reading stories will help me to write English.

Tom uses a dictionary to look up words he doesn’t know.

I spend time every day learning new words and using the new words in sentences.

I write the words and sentences in my notebook.

Last week, Tom wrote a story in his notebook and then typed it on the computer.

Lets look at the answers and see how many we got right


EXERCISE 1 ANSWERS

DID YOU FIND THE NOUNS IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES?

Jerry is my English teacher.

Jerry comes from Ireland.

Reading is an important skill to learn.

My class reads stories from all over the world.

Besides being good readers John and Mary also want to be able to write and speak English well.

Reading stories will help me to write English.

Tom uses a dictionary to look up words he doesn’t know.

I spend time every day learning new words and using the new words in sentences.

I write the words and sentences in my notebook.

Last week, Tom wrote a story in his notebook and then typed it on the computer.

As you can see there are many nouns. We can learn about nouns more easily by dividing them

into groups. Lets begin by grouping them into proper nouns and common nouns.


PROPER AND COMMON NOUNS

Common Nouns: They name a person, place, thing,

idea, animal, quality or action.

Proper Nouns: Names a specific person, place, thing,

idea, animal, quality or action.

It is important to learn the difference because the

first letter of proper nouns must be CAPITALISED.

Lets look at some examples:


girl

city

holiday

month

country

building

Rosa

Chicago

Christmas

January

United States

Capitol


Common Noun Proper Noun



As you can see common nouns name people (girl),

places (country), and things (building) generally. By

comparison, proper nouns name specific people

(Rosa), places (United States), and things (Capitol).

Lets take a moment and see can we pick out

common nouns and proper nouns in the following

exercise.


E X E R C I S E 2T H E B R I T I S H C O L O N I E S I N 1 8 T H C E N T U R Y

A M E R I C AW R I T E T H E S E S E N T E N C E S O N T H E B O A R D W I T H A L I N E U N D E R T H E C O M M O N N O U N A N D A D O U B L E L I N E U N D E R T H E P R O P E R

N O U N .

1. THIS LAND WAS HOME TO NEARLY ONE MILLION EUROPEANS.

2. A QUARTER MILLION AFRICANS AND A QUARTER MILLION NATIVE AMERICANS ALSO

LIVED THERE.

3. HISTORIANS DIVIDE THIS AREA INTO TWO REGIONS.

4. MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, RHODE ISLAND, AND NEW HAMPSHIRE COMPRISED

THE COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND.

5. FISHING BECAME AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF MONEY FOR SMALL TOWNS ALONG THE

ATLANTIC OCEAN.

6. A DIFFERENT SOCIETY DEVELOPED IN THE AREA THAT IS TODAY THE STATES OF

PENNSYLVANIA, DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY, AND NEW YORK.

7. THESE SETTLERS BECAME FARMERS OF THE FERTILE SOIL OF THE REGION.

8. THE SOUTHERN COLONIES INCLUDED VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH

CAROLINA, AND GEORGIA.

9. THE CLIMATE ALLOWED THEM TO GROW TOBACCO AND RICE.

10. MERCHANTS IN ENGLAND, GERMANY, AND SPAIN PURCHASED THESE CROPS.


EXERCISE 2 : ANSWERS.A N S W E R S I N R E D A R E C O M M O N N O U N S

A N S W E R S I N R E D A N D U N D E R L I N E D A R E P R O P E R N O U N S

1. THIS LAND WAS HOME TO NEARLY ONE MILLION EUROPEANS.

2. A QUARER MILLION AFRICANS AND A QUARTER MILLION NATIVE AMERICANS ALSO LIVED

THERE.

3. HISTORIANS DIVIDE THIS AREA INTO TWO REGIONS.

4. MASSACHUSETTS, CONNECTICUT, RHODE ISLAND, AND NEW HAMPSHIRE COMPRISED THE

COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND.

5.FISHING BECAME AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF MONEY FOR SMALL TOWNS ALONG THE ATLANTIC

OCEAN.

6.A DIFFERENT SOCIETY DEVELOPED IN THE AREA THAT IS TODAY THE STATES OF PENNSYLVANIA,

DELAWARE, NEW JERSEY, AND NEW YORK.

7. THESE SETTLERS BECAME FARMERS OF THE FERTILE SOIL OF THE REGION.

8. THE SOUTHERN COLONIES INCLUDED VIRGINIA, MARYLAND, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH

CAROLINA, AND GEORGIA.

9. THE CLIMATE ALLOWED THEM TO GROW TOBACCO AND RICE.

10. MERCHANTS IN ENGLAND, GERMANY, AND SPAIN PURCHASED THESE CROPS.


CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT NOUNS

Concrete Noun: Names something that can be touched

or seen.

Also known as “countable noun” because it names something that can be

counted.

For example: CAT(S) and PENCIL(S)


COLLECTIVE NOUNS

A TYPE OF CONCRETE NOUN THAT IS USED TO DESCRIBE A GROUP OF

PEOPLE OR THINGS THAT IS CONSIDERED A SINGLE UNIT IS CALLED A

GROUP NOUN OR A COLLECTIVE NOUN. HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:

FAMILY ~ JURY ~ GROUP ~ MAJORITY ~ CLASS ~ TEAM ~

NATION ~ BAND.

CAN YOU THINK OF SOME MORE?


ABSTRACT NOUN

AN ABSTRACT NOUN NAMES:

1. AN IDEA

2. A THOUGHT

3. A FEELING

In other words it names something that cannot be touched or seen.

They are also called noncountable nouns because they name

something that cannot be counted.

For example: you cant count happiness.

Abstract or noncountable nouns are always common nouns.


1. John

2. Computer

3. San Francisco

4. Butterfly

5. Car

1. Friendship

2. Humour

3. Fear

4. Happiness

5. Culture

CONCRETE & ABSTRACT NOUNS

CONCRETE:

You can touch, feel or see

ABSTRACT:

You cant touch, feel or see


E X E R C I S E N U M B E R 3C A N Y O U F I N D :

1 . A B S T R A C T N O U N S ( C L U E : U N T O U C H A B L E ) , 2 . C O N C R E T E N O U N S ( C L U E : T O U C H A B L E )

3 . C O L L E C T I V E N O U N S ( C L U E : G R O U P S ) I N T H E F O L L O W I N G S T A T E M E N T S :

1. Fairness and responsibility are traits of a good citizen.

2. Fairness means to treat all people equally.

3. Your culture greatly determines how you live.

4. Culture can include language, customs, and religion.

5. An ethic group is a group of people who share the same culture.

6. Responsibility is addressing problems that occur in our society.

7. Attending school and following school rules are also part of our civic

responsibility.

8. In this country, students are important citizens.

9. Citizens in a democracy vote to elect their representatives.

10. Education helps citizens to be better voters because they can read about and

understand the problems facing their society.


EXERCISE NUMBER 3: ANSWERS

A B S T R A C T N O U N S I N R E D : C O N C R E T E N O U N S I N B LU E A N D C O L L E C T I V E N O U N S

U N D E R L I N E D

1. Fairness and responsibility are traits of a good citizen.

2. Fairness means to treat all people equally.

3. Your culture greatly determines how you live.

4. Culture can include language, customs, and religion.

5. An ethic group is a group of people who share the same culture.

6. Responsibility is addressing problems that occur in our society.

7. Attending school and following school rules are also part of our civic responsibility.

8. In this country, students are important citizens.

9. Citizens in a democracy vote to elect their representatives.

10. Education helps citizens to be better voters because they can read about and understand

the problems facing their society.

Did you notice how people (2 & 5) and group (5) both play a dual role as concrete and collective

nouns.


SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

Concrete nouns can be singular or plural.

Singular: refers to a single person, place, thing,

idea, animal, quality, or action.

Plural: refers to more than one person, place,

thing, idea, animal, quality, or action.

Usually you can make a concrete noun plural by

adding an ‘s’ to the end of the word.


DOG

BOOK

CAMERA

PENCIL

COMPUTER

DOGS

BOOKS

CAMERAS

PENCILS

COMPUTERS

SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

SINGULAR PLURAL


A B S T R A C T N O U N S A R E A L W A Y S P L U R A L S O T H E I R S P E L L I N G N E V E R C H A N G E .

N O T A L L C O N C R E T E N O U N S F O R M T H E I R P L U R A L SF O U R G O L D E N R U L E S A P P L Y H E R E :

RULE NUMBER ONE.IF THE LAST SOUND IN THE WORD IS:

–S, -CH, -SH, OR –X,

YOU MUST ADD AN –ES TO CHANGE THE SINGULAR

CONCRETE NOUN TO A PLURAL NOUN, AND SO IT CAN BE

EASILY PRONOUNCED.

LETS LOOK AT SOME EXAMPLES:


CLASS

MATCH

DISH

CLASSES

MATCHES

DISHES

RULE NUMBER ONE.

SINGULAR PLURAL

This rule will guide you in forming the plural for many nouns, but there are still

many nouns remaining. For instance, some nouns end with the letter –y, and

these nouns have their own rule.


BABY

LADY

COUNTRY

BABIES

LADIES

COUNTRIES

RULE NUMBER TWO.

SINGULAR PLURAL

When a noun ends in a consonant followed by a –y, to form the plural, drop the –y and add –ies as you see

above.


BOY

DONKEY

BAY

BOYS

DONKEYS

BAYS

RULE NUMBER THREE

SINGULAR PLURAL

Remember, if the final –y has a vowel before it, you form the plural by simply adding an –s.

These 3 rules explain how to form plurals when the concrete noun ends in –s, -ch, -sh, -x and –y.

Lets put all this to the test with a simple exercise.


1. CHURCH

2. FLOWER

3. WISH

4. BIRTHDAY

5. DAY

6. WORD

7. HOUSE

8. SPEECH

9. FAMILY

10. SCHOOL

1. CHURCHES

2. FLOWERS

3. WISHES

4. BIRTHDAYS

5. DAYS

6. WORDS

7. HOUSES

8. SPEECHES

9. FAMILIES

10. SCHOOLS

EXERCISE NUMBER 4C H A N G E T H E F O L L O W I N G F R O M

S I N G U L A R T O P LU R A L N O U N S

SINGULAR PLURAL


WIFE

SCARF

LEAF

WIVES

SCARVES

LEAVES

RULE NUMBER 4

SINGULAR PLURAL

Some other simple pointers….


KEY POINTS TO TRY TO REMEMBER

1. For most concrete nouns ending in –fe or –f, you can form the

plural by first dropping the –fe or –f and then adding a –v and an –

es.2. This rule covers most of the nouns ending in –fe or –f. there

are some nouns ending in –f that form their plurals just by adding

an –s. For example – chief becomes chiefs.

3. Other nouns ending in –f that form their plurals vy adding an –s nare: belief, reef, cliff, cuff, poof, roof, scruff, staff, surf, and whiff.

Next we ask a simple question…..


QUESTION

IS YOUR

BRAIN

FRIED YET?


OTHER NOUNS

LESSON 1 NOUNS GERARD J. HANNAN/ CLASS 1 1. THE EIGHT PARTS OF SPEECH 1. NOUNS 2. PRONOUNS. 3. VERBS. 4. ADJECTIVES 5. ADVERBS. 6. PREPOSITIONS.

Documents

common nouns common

nouns gerard

examples of nouns

letter of proper nouns

hannan class

new words

action john

english teacher