Monday. August 7 2017- 4th Blog E-notes
Advanced English Grammar
Last Monday some of the Demo Teachers are not around so we continued the discussion about NOUNS and here it goes ....
Position in a Structured Sentence: Understanding the Practice of Noun Cases
What are Noun Cases?
The CASE of a noun tells us about the position of that noun in a sentence.
5 Noun Cases
Nominative Case
Objective Case (Accusative Case)
Dative Case
Possessive Case (Genitive Case)
Vocative Case
Nominative Case
indicates the subject of a sentence.
ü The painter paints the portraits.
ü Mr. Lee is an intelligent man.
Objective Case (Accusative Case)
indicates direct object (of verb and of preposition).
ü I met your sister.
ü This is one of my policies.
Possessive Case (Genitive Case)
certain prepositions are needed.
displays apostrophe ‘s
ü The land of the church.
ü John’s sister has been hospitalized.
ü It is our idea.
Dative Case
indicates indirect object (of the verb).
recipient of direct object.
ü The Postman brought me a letter.
ü The teacher gave the students few exercises.
Vocative Case
used for direct address.
ü Mr. Brown, students are waiting for you in the main hall.
ü Chairman, all the letters are posted two days ago.
To sum it all…
Nominative
states the function of the subject
Objective states the function of direct object (of verb and of preposition)
Possessive indicates the word/s with apostrophe ‘s and the preposition
of
Dative states the function of indirect object (of the verb)
Vocative indicates the word/s that is/are being addressed
COMPOUND NOUNS
A compound noun is a noun that is made up of two or more words. Most compound nouns in English are formed by nouns modified by other nouns or adjectives. For example: The words tooth and paste are each nouns in their own right, but if you join them together they form a new word - toothpaste.
Compound Noun Examples
The more you read and write, the more compound noun examples you’ll encounter. The following sentences are just a few examples of compound nouns. Compound noun examples have been italicized for easy identification.
Compound nouns can be made with two nouns:
Let’s just wait at this bus stop.
I love watching fireflies on warm summer nights.
While you’re at the store, please pick up some toothpaste, a six-pack of ginger ale, and some egg rolls.
Compound nouns can be made with an adjective and a noun:
Let’s watch the full moon come up over the mountain.
Please erase the blackboard for me.
Compound nouns can be made with a verb and a noun:
Be sure to add bleach to the washing machine.
Let’s be sure to stay somewhere with a swimming pool.
Compound nouns can be made with a noun and a verb:
He always gets up before sunrise.
I really could use an updated hairstyle.
Compound nouns can be made with a verb and a preposition:
Checkout is at noon.
Please remember to schedule your dog’s annual check-up.
Compound nouns can be made with a noun and a prepositional phrase:
My mother-in-law is the kindest person I know.
Compound nouns can be made with a preposition and a noun:
Do you believe in past lives?
This city is vibrant, so it’s hard to believe it has a thriving criminal underworld.
Compound nouns can be made with a noun and an adjective:
We need a truckful of mulch for the garden.
Personal Pronouns
&
Indefinite Pronouns
Pronoun
• is a word or phrase that can substitute a noun or noun phrase.
( I, he, she, it, we, they, you, me, us, our, everybody, who, this, those, myself, herself, them)
Antecedent
• a word or phrase that is represented by another word.
• the noun replaced by a pronoun.
Classification of Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
• are words associated with certain persons, animals, things or places.
• usually replace nouns representing people.
• usually used to avoid repetition and help ease the flow of sentences.
Characteristics Of Personal Pronouns
1. Three persons
(point of view)
Ø 1st person – the one(s) speaking
{I , me, my, mine , we , us, our, ours}
ex: Tomorrow I will meet Joey at three o’clock.
( I = first person pronoun, the speaker)
Ø 2nd person – the one(s) spoken to
{you, your, yours}
ex: Which of the two series do you want?
(you = second person pronoun, the ones spoken to)
Ø 3rd person – the one(s) spoken about
{he, him, his, she, her, hers, it , its, they, their, theirs}
ex: She was assigned to clean the house.
(she = third person pronoun, the ones spoken about)
2. Three
genders
Ø Feminine gender
{she, her, hers]
ex: She sent her homework via e-mail yesterday.
Ø Masculine gender
{he, him, his}
ex: People enjoy his company when he begins to tell jokes.
Ø Neuter gender
{it, its, they them, their, theirs}
ex: The tree will bear its fruits starting tomorrow.
3. Two
numbers
Ø Singular
{I, me, my, mine, you, your, yours, he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its}
Ø Plural
{we, us, our, ours, you, your, yours, they, them, their, theirs}
4. Three
cases
Ø Subjective (Nominative) Case
- used to replace a common or proper noun as the subject of the sentence.
- used as a subject or a subject complement of the sentence following a linking verb.
Ø NOTE:
Ø Subject of a sentence – the doer of the action in a sentence.
Ø Subject complement – a word that renames or gives more information about the subject.
Ø Linking verb – word (is, seems) that connects the subject to the subject complement.
Ø Objective (Accusative) Case
- any pronoun that is affected by the action of the subject of the sentence.
- takes the place of the object in the sentence (the noun that receives the action).
- when the pronoun is the direct or indirect object of the verb or when it is used as the object of the preposition.
NOTE:
Direct object – a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase which indicates the person or thing that receives the action of a verb.
Indirect object – a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that occurs in addition to a direct object after some verbs, and indicates the person or thing that receives what is being given or done.
Object of the Preposition – when a pronoun is linked to a preposition (at, in, on, to, with), it becomes a prepositional phrase and is said to be the object of the preposition.
Ø Possessive (Genitive) Case
- any pronoun that is used to show ownership or possession of something.
NOTE:
There are two sets of possessive pronouns.
• Possessive pronouns – possessive pronouns which replace nouns they refer to (they don’t modify nouns).
• Possessive adjectives – possessive pronouns which always modify the nouns.
NOTE:
• Possessive adjectives cannot be used independently because they always modify the nouns they refer to. They should always be preceded by a noun when used.
NOTE:
• Possessive pronouns don’t use apostrophes. They always show ownership so it’s not necessary to add ‘s to show ownership.
• [it’s and its]
• {Roxanne’s}
Indefinite Pronouns
• known to be the largest group of pronouns, used for non-specific things.
• refers to one or more unspecified objects, beings, or places.
NOTE:
• Most indefinite pronouns also function as other parts of speech.
example:
Clarke has one job in the day and another at night. (pronoun)
She would like to have another job. (adjective)
• Indefinite pronouns use apostrophes to indicate possessive case.
example:
The accident that happened is nobody’s fault.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
– Benjamin Franklin