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:

SubjectPredicate

nominative (predicate noun)

Direct object

Indirect object

Object of a preposition

Possessive

Definition - function

Subject - what the sentence is about; usually found at the beginning of the sentence before the verb

Definition - function

Predicate nominative (also

predicate noun) – noun that renames or refers back to the subject

In the predicate, it must follow a linking verb

Definition - function

Direct object – receives the direct action of the verb by the subject.

The subject does something to it (the direct object).

Is acted upon by the subject

Placement

Direct object – in the predicate, it must follow an action verb and tell what or whom the subject is acting upon

Definition - function

Indirect object – receives the action of the subject indirectly

answers the questions:– 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

Object of preposition – noun/pronoun that completes a prepositional phrase– 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

SubjectPredicate nominative

(predicate noun)

Direct objectIndirect objectObject of preposition

Objective case

Possessive case

Possessives