Unit 3Grammar and usage:

Lessons 30-36

Nouns

There are three classes of nouns in English.› A common noun names any one of a class of

objects. Examples: car, school, teacher

› A proper noun names a particular person, place, thing, or idea. Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter. Examples: Ford Explorer, St. Peter School, Ms. Daily

› A collective noun names a whole class or group of objects. Examples: family, flock, multitude, fleet, team,

group

Activity

Write a proper noun suggested by each common noun. Then use both the common noun and the proper noun in a sentence. Write the sentences in your notes.

1. Building2. Mall3. Painting4. Actor5. Celeberty

Nouns can be concrete or abstract.› A concrete noun names something that

can be perceived with at least one of the five senses. Examples: apple, house, smoke, fur, motor

› An abstract noun names an idea or quality that cannot be perceived by the senses. Examples: freedom, courage, anger,

honesty, truth

Activity

Classify each common noun as concrete, collective, or abstract. Then write a sentence that shoes the meaning of the noun.

1. Religion2. Alien3. Herd4. Ethics5. Army

Singular and Plural NounsThe following chart shows how to change singular nouns into plural nouns.

NOUN PLURAL FORM EXAMPLES

Most nouns Add -s King – kings, skate - skates

Nouns ending in a consonant and -y

Change the –y to –i and add -es

Pony- poniesNavy – navies

Nouns ending in -o Add –es or -s Potato – potatoesPiano – pianos

Most nouns ending in –f or -fe

Change the –f or –fe to -ves

Leaf – leaves

Most nouns ending in –ch, -sh, -s, or -x

Add -es Match – matchesRash – rashesPass – passesFox – foxes

Many two-word or three-word compound words

Add –s to the principal word

TeaspoonfulsGovernorsgeneral

Exceptions to the basic rules for forming plurals include the following:› Some words form plurals by changing their middle vowel

sound. Examples: foot – feet, louse – lice, woman – women

› Some words have plural forms that are identical to their singular form. Examples: aircraft, salmon, species, deer

› Some words that come from foreign languages retain their original plural form. Others have two accepted plural forms. Examples: alumnus – alumni, axis – axes, criterion – criteria,

parenthesis – parentheses, cactus – cactuses or cacti, appendix – appendixes or appendices, radius – radiuses or radii

Possessive Nouns

A possessive noun shows possession of the noun that follows. › Form the possessive of most singular nouns by

adding an apostrophe (’) and -s. Examples: the bird’s nest, Canada’s ambassador,

Cass’s voice› Form the possessive of most plural nouns ending

in –s by adding only an apostrophe. Examples: birds’ nests, other counties’ ambassadors

› Form the possessive of plural nouns that do not end in –s by adding an apostrophe and –s. Examples: the men’s bathroom, the people’s choice.

Activity

Rewrite each phrase using a possessive noun.

1. The blade on the scissors2. The centre of Saskatoon3. The wings on those birds4. The end of the game5. The wages for one day

Verbs

A verb is a word or group of words that expresses an action or a state of being. › Action verbs expresses an action.

Examples: Lisa skated her best Marcus watched in awe. We were cheering.

› Linking verbs describe a state of being . They link the subject to a word that describes or renames the subject. The most common linking verb is be.

Examples: Steven is the drummer. My old car was rusty. Our aunt has been promoted.

› Some verbs can act as both linking verbs and action verbs. If a verb can be replaced by a form of be in a sentence without significantly changing the meaning, it is acting as a linking verb. Examples: Linking:

Mario looks good. The jar appears full. The pie smells ready.

Action: Mario looks out the window. Sandy smells the pie. The gopher appears from its hole.

Principal Parts of Verbs

Three of the principal parts of a verb are the present, the past, and the past participle. The past participle is the form of the verb that is used after have. In regular verbs, the past and present participle forms are identical. In irregular verbs, however, these forms may differ.› Examples:

Present Past Past participal Regular (I) love (I) Loved I (have) lovedIrregular (I) break (I) broke I (have) broken

Dictionaries list irregular forms of verbs under the main entry for the verb. If no forms are listed, the verb is regular.

Basic Verb Tenses

Verb tense tells the time when the action or state of being occurred. The present tense tells what is happening now, the past tense tells about something that happened in the past, and the future tense tells about something that will happen in the future. › Example:

Present: Sharla makes bread on Wednesday. Past: Sharla made bread on Wednesday. Future: Sharla wil make bread on Wednesday.

Activity

Rewrite the following paragraph in the past tense:I begin my journey by taking a plane to Athens. It rains every day for a week. Eventually, I pack it in and head by boat for Crete. The weather there is better, and I go swimming every day.

Rewrite the following paragraph in the present tense.The film Citizen Kane began with the death of a wealthy newspaper magnate, Charles Foster Kane. Before he expired, the dying man whispered a single mysterious word – rosebud. The rest of the film presented flashbacks from the dead man’s life, but the meaning of the word rosebud was not revealed until the very ending of the film.

Rewrite the following paragraph in the future tense.The new system serves two purposes. First, it allows companies to track financial records more accurately; second, it helps them to monitor the performance of each production team and assists senior managers to make useful comparisons. The result is a more efficient organization.

Other Uses of Present Tense

The present tense is also used To express a general or scientific truth or belief;

› Examples: Canada’s economy depends largely on it’s natural resources. All people are created equal.

To describe a customary or repeated action or condition; › Example

Duane reads detective stories whenever he can. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s last name is not hyphenated.

In reviews of academic essays, to describe the characters or events in a film or literary work.› Example:

Michael Ondaatje wrote The English Patient, which portrays a man torn between love and duty.