Some words ending in "f" form the plural by deleting "f" and adding "ves," and words ending in "y" form the plural by deleting the "y" and adding "ies," as in the following pairs of sentences:. Other nouns form the plural irregularly. If English is your first language, you probably know most of these already: when in doubt, consult a good dictionary. In the possessive case, a noun or pronoun changes its form to show that it owns or is closely related to something else.
Usually, nouns become possessive by adding a combination of an apostrophe and the letter "s. You can form the possessive case of a singular noun that does not end in "s" by adding an apostrophe and "s," as in the following sentences:. You can form the possessive case of a singular noun that ends in "s" by adding an apostrophe alone or by adding an apostrophe and "s," as in the following examples:.
You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that does not end in "s" by adding an apostrophe and a "s," as in the following examples:. You can form the possessive case of a plural noun that does end in "s" by adding an apostrophe:. When you read the following sentences, you will notice that a noun in the possessive case frequently functions as an adjective modifying another noun:. Here the possessive noun "miner's" is used to modify the noun "face" and together with the article "the," they make up the noun phrase that is the sentence's subject.
In this sentence, each possessive noun modifies a gerund. The possessive noun "dogs"' modifies "barking," "ducks"' modifies "quacking," and "babies"' modifies "squalling.
In this example the possessive noun "platypus's" modifies the noun "eggs" and the noun phrase "the platypus's eggs" is the direct object of the verb "crushed. In this sentence the possessive noun "squirrels"' is used to modify the noun "nest" and the noun phrase "the squirrels' nest" is the object of the infinitive phrase "to locate.
There are many different types of nouns. As you know, you capitalise some nouns, such as "Canada" or "Louise," and do not capitalise others, such as "badger" or "tree" unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence. In fact, grammarians have developed a whole series of noun types, including the proper noun, the common noun, the concrete noun, the abstract noun, the countable noun also called the count noun , the non-countable noun also called the mass noun , and the collective noun.
You should note that a noun will belong to more than one type: it will be proper or common, abstract or concrete, and countable or non-countable or collective.
If you are interested in the details of these different types, you can read about them in the following sections. 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. 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. A concrete noun is a noun which names anything or anyone that you can perceive through your physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell. A concrete noun is the opposite of a abstract noun. An abstract noun is a noun which names anything which you can not perceive through your five physical senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are all abstract 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 non-countable nouns and collective 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. Since "oxygen" is a non-countable noun, it takes the singular verb "is" rather than the plural verb "are. A collective noun is a noun naming a group of things, animals, or persons.
You could count the individual members of the group, but you usually think of the group as a whole is generally as one unit. You need to be able to recognise collective nouns in order to maintain subject-verb agreement.
A collective noun is similar to a non-countable noun, and is roughly the opposite of a countable noun. In this example the collective noun "jury" is the subject of the singular compound verb "is dining. In this sentence the word "class" is a collective noun and takes the singular compound verb "was startled.
A pronoun can replace a noun or another pronoun. You use pronouns like "he," "which," "none," and "you" to make your sentences less cumbersome and less repetitive.
Grammarians classify pronouns into several types, including the personal pronoun, the demonstrative pronoun, the interrogative pronoun, the indefinite pronoun, the relative pronoun, the reflexive pronoun, and the intensive pronoun. A personal pronoun refers to a specific person or thing and changes its form to indicate person, number, gender, and case. A subjective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as the subject of the sentence.
The subjective personal pronouns are "I," "you," "she," "he," "it," "we," "you," "they. In the following sentences, each of the highlighted words is a subjective personal pronoun and acts as the subject of the sentence:. An objective personal pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as an object of a verb, compound verb, preposition, or infinitive phrase. The objective personal pronouns are: "me," "you," "her," "him," "it," "us," "you," and "them.
In the following sentences, each of the highlighted words is an objective personal pronoun:. The objective personal pronoun "her" is the direct object of the verb "forced" and the objective personal pronoun "him" is the object of the preposition "with.
Similarly in this example, the objective personal pronoun "you" is the object of the preposition "to. A possessive pronoun indicates that the pronoun is acting as a marker of possession and defines who owns a particular object or person. The possessive personal pronouns are "mine," "yours," "hers," "his," "its," "ours," and "theirs. In each of the following sentences, the highlighted word is a possessive personal pronoun:. A demonstrative pronoun points to and identifies a noun or a pronoun.
The demonstrative pronouns are "this," "that," "these," and "those. Note that the demonstrative pronouns are identical to demonstrative adjectives, though, obviously, you use them differently. It is also important to note that "that" can also be used as a relative pronoun. In the following sentences, each of the highlighted words is a demonstrative pronoun:. In this example "this" is used as subject and refers to something close to the speaker. The demonstrative pronoun "that" is also a subject but refers to something farther away from the speaker.
An interrogative pronoun is used to ask questions. The interrogative pronouns are "who," "whom," "which," "what" and the compounds formed with the suffix "ever" "whoever," "whomever," "whichever," and "whatever". Note that either "which" or "what" can also be used as an interrogative adjective, and that "who," "whom," or "which" can also be used as a relative pronoun. You will find "who," "whom," and occasionally "which" used to refer to people, and "which" and "what" used to refer to things and to animals.
The highlighted word in each of the following sentences is an interrogative pronoun:. In this sentence, the interrogative pronoun "who" is the subject of the compound verb "will meet. You can use a relative pronoun is used to link one phrase or clause to another phrase or clause. The relative pronouns are "who," "whom," "that," and "which.
You can use the relative pronouns "who" and "whoever" to refer to the subject of a clause or sentence, and "whom" and "whomever" to refer to the objects of a verb, a verbal or a preposition. In this sentence, the relative pronoun is the subject of the verb "wins" and introduces the subordinate clause "who wins the greatest popular vote. In this sentence "whom" is the direct object of the verb "believes" and introduces the subordinate clause "whom she believes to be the most efficient".
This subordinate clause modifies the noun "workers. In this example "which" acts as the subject of the compound verb "was left" and introduces the subordinate clause "which was left in the corridor. Here "whichever" modifies the noun "manuscript" and introduces the subordinate clause "whichever manuscript arrives first.
An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun referring to an identifiable but not specified person or thing. An indefinite pronoun conveys the idea of all, any, none, or some.
The most common indefinite pronouns are "all," "another," "any," "anybody," "anyone," "anything," "each," "everybody," "everyone," "everything," "few," "many," "nobody," "none," "one," "several," "some," "somebody," and "someone. Here too the indefinite pronoun functions as a direct object: "none" is the direct object of "found. In this example, "everyone" is the indirect object of the verb "give" -- the direct object is the noun phrase "a copy of the amended bylaws. You can use a reflexive pronoun to refer back to the subject of the clause or sentence.
The reflexive pronouns are "myself," "yourself," "herself," "himself," "itself," "ourselves," "yourselves," and "themselves. Each of the highlighted words in the following sentences is a reflexive pronoun:. An intensive pronoun is a pronoun used to emphasise its antecedent. Intensive pronouns are identical in form to reflexive pronouns. An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by describing, identifying, or quantifying words.
An adjective usually precedes the noun or the pronoun which it modifies. An adjective can be modified by an adverb, or by a phrase or clausefunctioning as an adverb.
In the sentence. Some nouns, many pronouns, and many participle phrases can also act as adjectives. A possessive adjective "my," "your," "his," "her," "its," "our," "their" is similar or identical to a possessive pronoun; however, it is used as an adjective and modifies a noun or a noun phrase, as in the following sentences:.
In this sentence, the possessive adjective "my" modifies "assignment" and the noun phrase "my assignment" functions as an object. Note that the possessive pronoun form "mine" is not used to modify a noun or noun phrase. Here the possessive adjective "your" is used to modify the noun phrase "phone number"; the entire noun phrase "your phone number" is a subject complement.
Note that the possessive pronoun form "yours" is not used to modify a noun or a noun phrase. In this example, the possessive adjective "his" modifies the noun phrase "favourite type of bread" and the entire noun phrase "his favourite type of bread" is the direct object of the verb "sold. Here the possessive adjective "her" modifies the noun "homeland" and the noun phrase "her homeland" is the object of the preposition"to.
In this sentence, the possessive adjective "our" modifies "way" and the noun phrase "our way" is the direct object of the compound verb"have lost".
Note that the possessive pronoun form "ours" is not used to modify nouns or noun phrases. Here the possessive adjective "their" modifies "parents" and the noun phrase "their parents" is the object of the preposition "by. In this sentence, the possessive adjective "its" modifies "ball" and the noun phrase "its ball" is the object of the verb "chased. The demonstrative adjectives "this," "these," "that," "those," and "what" are identical to the demonstrative pronouns, but are used as adjectives to modify nouns or noun phrases, as in the following sentences:.
In this sentence, the demonstrative adjective "that" modifies the noun "cord" and the noun phrase "that cord" is the object of the preposition "over. Here "this" modifies "apartment" and the noun phrase "this apartment" is the subject of the sentence. In the subordinate clause, "those" modifies "plates" and the noun phrase "those plates" is the object of the verb "preferred. Note that the relationship between a demonstrative adjective and a demonstrative pronoun is similar to the relationship between a possessive adjective and a possessive pronoun, or to that between a interrogative adjective and an interrogative pronoun.
An interrogative adjective "which" or "what" is like an interrogative pronoun, except that it modifies a noun or noun phrase rather than standing on its own see also demonstrative adjectives and possessive adjectives :. Like other adjectives, "which" can be used to modify a noun or a noun phrase. In this example, "which" modifies "plants" and the noun phrase "which plants" is the subject of the compound verb "should be watered":.
In this sentence, "what" modifies "book" and the noun phrase "what book" is the direct object of the compound verb "are reading. An indefinite adjective is similar to an indefinite pronoun, except that it modifies a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase, as in the following sentences:. The indefinite adjective "many" modifies the noun "people" and the noun phrase "many people" is the subject of the sentence. The indefinite adjective "any" modifies the noun "mail" and the noun phrase "any mail" is the direct object of the compound verb "will send.
In this example the indefinite adjective modifies the noun "goldfish" and the noun phrase is the direct object of the verb "found":. An adverb can modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase, or a clause. An adverb indicates manner, time, place, cause, or degree and answers questions such as "how," "when," "where," "how much". While some adverbs can be identified by their characteristic "ly" suffix, most of them must be identified by untangling the grammatical relationships within the sentence or clause as a whole.
Unlike an adjective, an adverb can be found in various places within the sentence. In this sentence, the adverb "quickly" modifies the verb "made" and indicates in what manner or how fast the clothing was constructed.
Similarly in this sentence, the adverb "patiently" modifies the verb "waited" and describes the manner in which the midwives waited. You can use a conjunctive adverb to join two clauses together. Some of the most common conjunctive adverbs are "also," "consequently," "finally," "furthermore," "hence," "however," "incidentally," "indeed," "instead," "likewise," "meanwhile," "nevertheless," "next," "nonetheless," "otherwise," "still," "then," "therefore," and "thus.
A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:. A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. A prepositional phrase can function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb.
The most common prepositions are "about," "above," "across," "after," "against," "along," "among," "around," "at," "before," "behind," "below," "beneath," "beside," "between," "beyond," "but," "by," "despite," "down," "during," "except," "for," "from," "in," "inside," "into," "like," "near," "of," "off," "on," "onto," "out," "outside," "over," "past," "since," "through," "throughout," "till," "to," "toward," "under," "underneath," "until," "up," "upon," "with," "within," and "without.
In this sentence, the preposition "without" introduces the noun "fear. Here, the preposition "throughout" introduces the noun phrase "the land.
The preposition "along" introduces the noun phrase "the banister" and the prepositional phrase "along the banister" acts as an adverb, describing where the spider crawled.
Here the preposition "under" introduces the prepositional phrase "under the porch," which acts as an adverb modifying the compound verb "is hiding.
The speaker, when posing a question of this type, is expecting an answer of "no". Some and pronouns formed with it is only used in questions to which we think we already know the answer, or questions which are not true questions invitations, requests, etc. The person asking these questions is expecting an answer of "Yes". These questions can be made even more definite if they are made negative. In this case, the speaker is absolutely certain he will receive the answer "Yes".
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Resources for learning English. Test your English. Indefinite pronouns Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person, place, or thing. Person Place Thing All everyone everybody everywhere everything Part positive someone somebody somewhere something Part negative anyone anybody anywhere anything None no one nobody nowhere nothing Indefinite pronouns with some and any are used to describe indefinite and incomplete quantities in the same way that some and any are used alone.
Indefinite pronouns are placed in the same location as a noun would go in the sentence. Noun Indefinite pronoun I would like to go to Paris this summer. I would like to go somewhere this summer. Jim gave me this book. Someone gave me this book. I won't tell your secret to Sam. I won't tell your secret to anyone. I bought my school supplies at the mall.
I bought everything at the mall. Affirmative In affirmative sentences, indefinite pronouns using some are used to describe an indefinite quantity, the indefinite pronouns with every are used to describe a complete quantity, and the pronouns with no are used to describe an absence.
This is fine in casual speech but should be avoided in formal writing. The following examples are some ways people might use "me" and "I" in speech. I hope this helps. For more posts about words and usage, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter! Learner's Dictionary mobile search. Learner's Dictionary. Ask the Editor. Serenity Carr , Assistant Editor. When should I use "me" and when should I use "I"? I gave Cece a ride to work today. My friend and I went to the party.
Before we left, Sarah and I said goodbye to the host. Julie accidentally hit me with her bag as she walked by. Henry told Tran and me to wait for him. He was bullying me and my friend. Kevin smiled at me. Cheryl and her kids gave the card to me in person.
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