Nouns,Determinersand

Pronouns

DefinitionsofNoun
ClassicAperson,place,orthing
Sanskritgrammariansdoesnothaveatimeaxis,
likefrozentime
Formaldefinitiontakesnominalaffixes:noun
derivationalaffix(e.g.,government),cantake
plural,canoccurwithpossessivesuffix
Functionaldefinitioncanbeprecededbyan
article(the/ahouse),canappearinaframe
sentence((The)_____seem(s)nice.)

Number
Typesofplural:normal,internalchange,zeroplural,
foreignplurals(syllabi,curricula,indices,data)
Nounsofquantitythreedozen,hundred,pound(inBritish
English),mile(insomedialects)
Nounsresitanttosingular/pluralcontrast
Propernouns
Somewordsendingins(news,physics,mumps,billiards,
dominoes)
Noncount(mass)nounscheese,instability
Binarynounsscissors,pants,trousers,glasses,binoculars,shorts
Aggregatenounspeople,cattle,clergy,police,offspring,series,
barracks,committee(BritishEnglish)

Gender
Generallynotasignificantgrammaticaldistinctionin
English,exceptforwithpronouns
AnimalsFamiliaranimalsoftenhaveagenderdistinction
andusemale/femalepronouns(e.g.,horse/stallion/mare
(he,she),butspider(it)
Genderwithothernouns
Genderednouns(bachelor,usherette,king,princess)he,she
Dualnouns(doctor,student,participant,customer)he,she
Pluralnounsheorshe,they

Common/ProperNouns

CommonNounsdonotrefertoaspecificperson,place,event,or
thing
E.g.,shoe,house,day,car

ProperNounsrefertospecificperson,place,event,orthing

E.g.,Pat,theQueen,Chicago,Christmas,Lucille,GeneralMotors
Donotusuallyfollowarticles:on(*the)ChristmasDay,in(*the)
Chicago,*theShakespeare
Donotusuallytakeplurals
Exceptions:
Referringtoarealorimagineduniquepropernoun:theChristmasof1942,
AreyoutheHowardDean?,ThatsnottheChicagoIremember.
Certainplacenames:theMissippiRiver,theGreatLakes,theRocky
Mountains,theAtlanticOcean,theWhiteHouse
Certaininstitutions:theNewYorkTimes,theLincolnMuseum,

Count/Mass(Noncount)Nouns

CountNounsarenounsthatcanbecountedandtakeaplural

E.g.,shoe,horse,boy,inconsistency,universe
OccurwithmanyHowmany____?,Thereweremany___
Occurwithfewtoofew____,Weonlyhaveafew_____

MassNouns(NoncountNouns)arenounsthatcannotbecounted

E.g.,sugar,water,rice,wheat,mud,milk,music,laziness
OccurwithmuchHowmuch__,Thereismuch____
Occurswithlittleinsteadoffew:toolittle____,Weonlyhavea
little____
Occurwithpartitiveconstructionstoindicateunitsgrainofsand/rice,
cupofwater/milk,pieceofmusic/leather,clumpofmud,bladeofgrass,
sliceofmeat/pie,itemofclothing

Somenounscanbeboth
E.g.,pie,cake,brick,stone,love

TypesofNouns
Isolated
Noun
Definitie
Article
Indefinite
Article
SomeN
Plural

Proper
Pat

Count
*book

Mass
music

Either
pie

*thePat

thebook

themusic

thepie

*aPat

abook

*amusic

apie

*somePat
?Pats

somebook
books

somemusic
*musics

somepie
pies

Determiners

ArticlesDefinite(the),indefinite(a/an)
Demonstrativesthis,these,that,those
Possessivesmy,our,your
Indefinites(Quantifiers)some,any,no,every,
other,another,many,more,most,enough,few,less,
much,either,neither,several,all,both,each,half
CardinalNumbersone,two,three,four
OrdinalNumbersfirst,second,third

DefiniteandIndefiniteArticles
DefiniteArticlethe
Referstosomethingpredictable
E.g.,fromathenarrativecontextOnceuponatimetherewasa
kingNowthekinghadthreedaughters.
E.g.,fromtheculturalcontextWhatdoyouthinkofthePresident?;
Doyouwatchthenewsontelevision?
E.g.,fromthesituationalcontextWewenttoarestaurantandlikedthe
menu(waiter,service,food,*teller,*nurse);Wewereinahouse,inthe
diningroom,whenweheardaknockatthedoor.

IndefiniteArticlesa/an,this(veryinformal)
Refertosomethingunpredictable
E.g.,Imetaninterestingman;Onceuponatimetherewasaking.;I
knowthismanandhesays

Genericvs.SpecificReference
Specificreferstoaspecificpersonorthing
E.g.,Lookatthatelephant;YesterdayImetaman.

Genericreferstoanyoneofagroup
Genericpronounsone,they,you,s/he
NounscanalsohavegenericreferenceAgoodmanis
hardtofind;Thebaldeagleisbackfornearextinction.

Somesentencesareambiguousintermsofgeneric
orspecificreferenceE.g.,Mysisterwantsto
marryarichman;Thelionisdangerous.

PronounTypes
Central
Personale.g.,I,me,they,them
Reflexivee.g.,myself,themselves
Reciprocaleachother,oneanother
Possessivee.g.,my/mine,their/theirs
Relativewhich,who,whose,whom,that
Interrogativewho,whom,which,whose,what
Demonstrativethis,these,that,those
Indefinitee.g.,both,each,nobody,everything

PersonalPronouns
1st
person
2nd
person

3rd
person

Primary
Subject Object
I
me
we
us
you
you
you
you
he
him

Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
masculine
Singular
she
feminine
Singular
it
nonpersonal
Plural
they

Reflexive
myself
ourselves
yourself
yourselves
himself

Possessive
Determiner Independent
my
mine
our
ours
your
yours
your
yours
his
his

her

herself

her

hers

it

itself

its

(its)

them

themselves their

theirs

IndefinitePronouns
one
oneself

some
any
none
everyone
another
someone
anyone
noone
anyother
somebody anybody
nobody
everybody noother
something anything
nothing
everything others
Many,more,most,enough,few,less,much,either,neither,several,all,both,each