Nouns &
Determiners
Five Classifications
of Nouns
1. Singular or Plural
• Singular Noun
- Names one person, place, thing, idea, or quality
- Takes a singular verb
• Plural Noun
- Names two or more persons, places, things, ideas, or qualities
- Takes a plural verb
• How to Form the Plural
- Usually: add –s or –es to the end of the singular noun form
- There are many irregulars
• Important: subject/verb agreement; article usage
1. Singular/Plural
2. Common/Proper
3. Concrete/Abstract
4. Collective
5. Count/Noncount
2. Common or Proper
• Common Noun
- Names one or more members of a class of things; names
general/nonspecific nouns
- Examples:
dog
actors
island
women restaurant
• Proper Noun
- Names a specific person, place, or thing
- Capitalized
- Examples:
Fido
•
Natalie Portman
& Johnny Depp
Catalina Julie &
Tracy
Subway
Important: article usage
1. Singular/Plural
2. Common/Proper
3. Concrete/Abstract
4. Collective
5. Count/Noncount
3. Concrete or Abstract
• Concrete Noun
- Names an object that can be perceived by the physical
senses; person, place, or thing
- Examples:
door heat garlic person Australia
• Abstract Noun
- Names a quality or idea
- Examples:
love peace sadness joy
1. Singular/Plural
2. Common/Proper
3. Concrete/Abstract
4. Collective
5. Count/Noncount
4. Collective
• A Collective Noun
- Singular-appearing noun that names a group
- Ex: faculty, team, audience, committee, crew, government
- Can be singular or plural:
• In American English, usually singular
The committee was meeting. (note: singular verb)
• In British English, usually plural
The committee were meeting. (note: plural verb)
• In Am. Eng. some are always plural - EX: police, people
- Either way, no plural ending on the noun
• Important: subject/verb agreement
1. Singular/Plural
2. Common/Proper
3. Concrete/Abstract
4. Collective
5. Count/Noncount
5. Count or Noncount
• A Count Noun: Nouns that can be counted
- Ex: car: three cars phone: five phones
• A Noncount Noun
- Nouns that cannot be counted (no plural form)
- Ex: health, courage, gold, dust, leather, furniture, milk
• Some Nouns are Both
- Ex: joy: I felt joy./The joys of youth…
• Important: determiner & article usage
1. Singular/Plural
2. Common/Proper
3. Concrete/Abstract
4. Collective
5. Count/Noncount
Determiners
Determiners
• Determiners are sometimes called limiting adjectives
• Tell: which ones, how many, or how much
• Several kinds
- Web Search: claimed 4 to 50 kinds
- Most books list six:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Possessive: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
Demonstrative: this, that, these, those
Indefinite: any, either, many, some a few, both, lots of, other
Interrogative: which? whose? what?
Numerical: one, five, third, sixth
Articles: a, an, the
Determiners: In General
• Important: Some determiners are only used with count
or noncount nouns
• Count Nouns (only plural):
- Determiners used ONLY with plural nouns:
many, two, few, a few, fewest, fewer, these, those, a number of,
both, several, a couple of
• Noncount Nouns (only singular):
- Determiners used ONLY with noncount nouns:
much, little, a little, less, the least, an amount of, a great deal of
Determiners: Articles
• Two types of articles:
1. Indefinite: a/an
2. Definite: the
• Some resources say there is another: Ø
- Meaning no article is used
Determiners: Articles
• General Guidelines for Article Usage:
- Use the when your audience is familiar with and
thinking about the same specific thing/person.
• EX: Give this pencil to the instructor.
- Use the for the second mention of an indefinite
noun.
• EX: A cat jumped into my car last night. Then I
couldn’t find the cat anywhere.
Determiners: Articles
• General Guidelines for Article Usage:
- Do not use the with a plural count noun or a
noncount noun with you are making a generalization.
• EX: Ø Carrots are my favorite vegetable.
• EX: Ø Honey is produced by bees.
- A singular count noun is always preceded by:
•
•
•
•
an article (a/an, or the);
this/that; OR
a possessive pronoun (my, your, her, his, its, Judy’s).
EX: I rode ____ bicycle for the first time.
Determiners: Articles
• Resources for Article Usage:
- Purdue Online Writing Lab