The Noun

§1. Classification of nouns

Nouns are names of objects, i.e. things, human beings, animals, materials and abstract notions.

Semantically N. are divided into (2 classifications):

1.

Proper nouns	Common nouns
Individual names given to separate persons/ things. John, London, the Thames	Countable		Uncountable
	Names of objects that can be counted		Names of objects that cannot be counted
	Concrete Book, student, cat	Abstract idea, word, effort	Concrete water, grass, wood	Abstract amazement, time

!!! Nouns denoting unique objects, (the sun, the moon) unique notions (the past, the plural) – neither countable nor uncountable.

!!! Proper nouns may become common nouns – a Pullman, a Ford, a Repin, a Dior. Such nouns denote objects named after their designer or painter etc.

2. Common nouns are names that can be applied to any individual of a class of persons/things

Class	Collective	Material	Abstract
Man, dog, book	collections of similar individuals/things regarded as a single unit family, peasantry	snow, iron, cotton	kindness, development

Morphological characteristics

§2. Gender

Masculine Names of male beings	feminine names of females	neuter names of all other beings
man, ox, cock	woman, cow, daughter	pen, flower, family

Common gender nouns which may be treated as either males or females (cousin, friend)

When there's no need to make a distinction of sex, the masculine pronoun (he) is used for these nouns

Gender may be expressed grammatically by means of the suffix –ess:

host – hostess actor – actress waiter – waitress

heir – heiress prince – princess lion – lioness

• Lexically by means of different words:

father – mother boy – girl

man – woman gentleman – lady

word-compounds:

man-servant - maid-servant man driver – woman driver boy-friend – girl-friend

tom-cat – tabby-cat he-wolf – she-wolf

Nouns denoting vessels (ship, boat), cars, names of countries have the pronoun SHE and are written in capital letters.

He said “England is decadent. She is finished because she is living in the past.”

Sam joined the famous whaler “Globe” – she was a ship on which everybody would be proud to sail.

§3. Case

Case is the form of the noun which shows its relation to other words in the sentence.

The Common Case	The Genitive Case
The child, an hour	The child's father, an hour's walk the suffix –S and the apostrophe '/ or by the apostrophe ' alone

's is added to singular nouns

[z] after vowels and voiced consonants (boy's, girl's)

[s] after voiceless consonants (student's, wife's)

[iz] after fricatives and affricates (Charles’s, Ross’s, prince's, judge's)

‘ is added to regular plural nouns: soldiers', parents', workers'

irregular plural nouns: men's, children's, women's

Proper nouns ending in –s

1. ‘ Archimedes' law, Sophocles' plays, Hercules' labors

2. 's Dickens' (Dickens's) novels, Burns'(Burns's) poems, the Soames' (Soames's) collection Most nouns of this type occur most often with ‘s.

!With compound nouns 's is added to the final word:

my father-in-law's house, the passer-by's remark

! Sometimes 's may refer to a whole group of words (the group genitive)

( Jane and Mary' room, I'll be back in an hour or two's time)