Nouns and Pronouns
Ze RULES, ja?
Ja!
Definition – part of speech
A
NOUN names a
person, place, thing or
idea.
Definition
Idea – a concept; an
idea is a thing, but it’s a
thing you can’t touch:
it’s abstract.
Definition
Abstract-
An intangible
idea: you cannot touch
it.
Definition
Concrete-
a tangible
thing: you can touch it.
Function - definition
A
noun can serve ONLY
ONE FUNCTION in a
sentence at a time
 A function is a job or
task
In a sentence, a noun can serve one of
6 functions or jobs:
 Subject
 Indirect
object
nominative
 Object of a
(predicate noun)
preposition
 Direct object
 Possessive
 Predicate
Definition - function
 Subject
- what the
sentence is about; usually
found at the beginning of
the sentence before the
verb
Definition - function
Predicate
predicate noun)
nominative (also
– noun that
renames or refers back to
the subject
 In the predicate, it must
follow a linking verb
Definition - function
object – receives
the direct action of the
verb by the subject.
Direct
 The
subject does something
to it (the direct object).
 Is acted upon by the subject
Placement
object – in the
predicate, it must follow
an action verb and tell
what or whom the
subject is acting upon
Direct
Definition - function
object – receives
the action of the subject
indirectly
 answers the questions:
 Indirect
–
–
to what? or to whom?
for what? or for whom?
Placement
 Indirect
object - in the
predicate between the action
verb and the direct object
 Will never have an indirect
object without a direct object
Definition – function
of preposition –
noun/pronoun that completes a
prepositional phrase
 Object
–
–
–
–
Prepositional phrase never contains a verb
Prepositions should always be accompanied by their complete
phrases
Never end a sentence with a lone preposition
Mark them off on worksheets and exercises with parentheses ( )
Placement
 Prepositional
phrases may
appear in either the subject or
the predicate of a sentence
 Prepositional phrase begins with
a preposition and ends with a
noun or pronoun
Definition - function
Possessives
show
ownership
The ‘red flag’ is the ’s or
the s’ at the end of the
noun
Placement
 Possessives
may appear
anywhere in the sentence,
either subject or predicate
 Possessives may be part
of other phrases or
clauses
REMINDER:
A
noun can serve ONLY
ONE FUNCTION in a
sentence at a time
 Look for the ‘red flags’:
placement, apostrophes,
prepositions, types of verbs
Cases
 Functions
of nouns are
classified into 3 cases:
–
–
–
Nominative: for naming, like a subject
Objective: directed or acted upon by
some other part of the sentence
Possessive: for showing ownership
Cases – put your toys away
 Think
of cases like boxes or
actual suitcases that contain
sorted items. Each case can
hold only what it’s meant to
hold, nothing more, nothing
less. Each function can fit
into one and only one case.
Cases
It’s
easy to tell which
functions go with or fit
into each case: The
function names echo
the case names for all
but one function!
Nominative case
Subject
Predicate
nominative
(predicate noun)
Objective case
Direct
object
Indirect object
Object of preposition
Possessive case
Possessives