Anna University
Technical English I & II Lecture Notes
Nouns Explanation
NOUNS
Types of nouns:
Compound: seaside, son-in-law, drinking water, car key, afternoon tea
Proper nouns: a particular person, place, thing or idea. Capital letter.
Peter, London, Monday, January, Christmas, Europe
Common nouns: not a particular person, place, thing, idea. May be preceded by a, an, the
Common nouns may be countable or uncountable
Countable nouns
Can be preceded by a, an, how many?, one, two etc
and have a plural –s ending
Stamp, girl, house, bottle, kilo, piece
Uncountable nouns
Are not preceded by a, an, how many?, one, two
Usually don’t have plural endings
Meat, oil, cotton, milk, drinking, English (the language)
Nouns can be concrete (they have a physical existence): girl, crowd, rice, camping
Or they can be abstract (no physical existence): hope, idea, remark, situation, anger, honesty
Some nouns can be either countable or uncountable, depending on their use.
Countable (single item, thing) Uncountable (substance, material)
To eat a whole chicken Would you like some chicken
a boiled egg There’s egg on your face
I broke a glass Glass is made from sand
What do the papers say Paper is made from wood
Specific reference: General reference:
You need a good education Education should be free
Try not to make a noise Noise is a kind of pollution
What a nice painting Painting is my hobby
Are these drawings yours I’m no good at drawing
The school is new School is compulsory
Some times uncountables can be used as countables:
U: do you like red wine? I have two bottles of red wine
C: this region produces an excellent wine
Three coffees, please
Uncountable equivalent countable
Bread a loaf
Clothing a garment
Laughter a laugh
Luggage a case, a bag
Poetry a poem
Money a coin, a note
Work a job
Uncountable in English (countable in other languages)
Baggage, furniture, information, macaroni, machinery, spaghetti
(some information, a new piece of furniture)
Partitives to refer to specific pieces of uncountable substances or a limited number of countable items:
A loaf of bread, a slice of bread, a piece of paper, two boxes of matches, pieces of chalk, meat, plastic, drop of water, pinch of salt, game of football, pair of jeans, board of directors etc.
A pot of tea (the container with tea in it), a teapot (the container)
Collective nouns with singular or plural verbs
Audience, class, club, committe, company, council, crew, crowd, family, gang, government, group, jury, mob, staff, team, union
(no plural form): the aristocracy, the gentry, the majority, the minority, the public,
economics, ethics, phonetics, statistics (if reference to academic subject: singular verb, specific reference: plural verb)
Plural verb:
Cattle, the clergy, the military, people, the police, swine
Trousers, glasses, belongings, brains (intellects), clothes, congratulations, earnings, goods, greens (vegetables), lodgings, looks, means, odds, riches, stairs, surroundings, thanks
Singular verb:
News, billiards, darts, dominoes, Athens, Brussels,
Athletics, gymnastics, linguistics, mathematics, physics,
The genitive
’s: child’s, actress’s, children’s, James’s or James’
’: gils’, boys’
of-genitive
the key of the door, the leg of the table (non-living things don’t usually have an ’s genitive / door key, table leg) some times both genitive forms are possible: a man’s voice / the voice of a man
NOUNS exercises
1. Find the corresponding noun:
draw act describe
admit treat punish
refuse deny bake
kind idle false
safe real possible
true strong just
ignorant innocent secret
jealous symbolize bleed
feed live believe
breathe bathe
2. Translate the following sentences into idiomatic English
a. Alle pengene er borte
b. Kan du skaffe flere opplysninger
c. Kan jeg få låne en saks av deg?
d. Mesteparten av gjengen har kommet
e. Penger betyr ikke så mye for meg
f. Susan kjøpte en ny shorts til broren sin
g. Vi trenger to brød og fire liter melk
h. Dette er et godt råd til alle som studerer engelsk
3. Expanding uncountables.
Example: art – a work of art
bread coffee
furniture information
knowledge luck
news poetry
4. Identify the head of the following noun phrases
a. the simple, good things in life
b. an idealist who thrives on competition
c. clever and ambitious business people in their mid-thirties
d. all Volvo safety features
e. the foundation of today’s superpower
f. two highly successful television adverts for toothpaste
5. What’s wrong?
Rephrase the sentences to bring out the intended meaning
a. Special coctails for the ladies with nuts
b. Two sisters were reunited after 18 years at a checkout counter
c. We sell unique tables for children with adjustable legs
d. The hotel has special rooms for women that cost $100 a night
6. Identify the noun phrases, state which word classes the words belong to
a. And today I had my first encounter with the Civil Service, and I must say I am very impressed
b. I got a call from Number Ten at about 9 a.m., after a sleepless night, and immediately Frank Weisel and I caught the London train
7. Difference in form and meaning
Comment on the difference in form and meaning between the members of the following pairs
a. I like coffee / I’d like two coffees, please
b. In the hall was a painting of her father / In the hall was a painting of her father’s
c. He was looking for a girl in a red dress / He was looking for a girl in Mill Street
d. I thought his work was wonderful / I thought his works were wonderful
8. Rewrite
Rewrite the following sentences
Example: Then we can discuss who is going to contribute what
Then we can have a discussion about who is going to contribute what
a. The book will be published next spring
We look forward to ……
b. They’re interested in a poet who catches murderers
They expressed their …..
c. They discussed the merits of Kafka
There followed a …..
Objectual systems limited is where ambition meets innovation, honesty makes collaboration and not viable to teamwork.
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