THE NOUN

The noun, a word class used to refer to and name a concrete object, substance or entity or an abstract
idea, quality or state and is characterized by the grammatical categories of number, gender and case.

Semantic characteristics
1. Proper nouns

Geographical names (New York, the Thames, Asia, the Alps), names of individual persons (john, Byron,
Brown), months (January, March, April), days (Monday, Tuesday, Friday), planets (the Moon, the Sun, the
Earth), ships, hotels, clubs (Shepherd’s Hotel), buildings, streets, parks, bridges (Buckingham Palace,
Trafalgar Square, Regent Street, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Tower Bridge), institutions, organizations,
magazines and newspapers (the United Nations, the New Times, the Guardians).
They are written with capitals.

2. Common nouns
 Countable
Concrete
Animate (boy, cat)
Inanimate (table, house)
Abstract (idea, difficulty)
 Uncountable
Abstract (idealism, fun, happiness, love)
Material (bread, coal, air, oxygen, corn, flour)
 Collective
Animate (colony, herd, tribe, pride)
Inanimate (team, society, staff, group, family)

Morphological composition

1. Simple nouns consist of only one root-morpheme: dog, chair, room, roof).
2. Derived nouns are composed of one root-morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes (prefixes
or suffixes): darkness, friendship, agreement; teacher, vegetarian, actor, heroine, student.
3. Compound nouns consist of at least two stems. The main types of compound nouns are:
 Noun stem +noun stem: seaman
 Adjective stem + noun stem: blackbird
 Verb stem + noun stem: pickpocket
 Gerund + noun stem: dancing-hall
 Noun stem + prepositions + noun stem: father-in-law
 Substantivized phrases: forget-me-not (neužmirštuolė), pick-up, drop-out.

Morphological characteristics

Morphologically nouns are characterized by the grammatical categories of number, gender and case.
 Gender

1. Masculine (names of male beings): boy, man, husband, ox, cock.

 Sun is referred to as masculine.
2. Feminine: (names of female beings): girl, woman, wife, cow, maid.
 Ships, vehicles and countries: ship, boat, steamer, cruiser; car, carriage, coach; England.
 Moon and earth are referred to as feminine.
 Feminine suffixes: actress, hostess, heroine, policewoman, dutchess, empress.

3. Neuter: (names of inanimate objects): table, house.

The category of number

Singular denotes one, plural denotes more than one.

Regular plural:

 Vowel + voiced consonant have the plural ending pronounced as [z]: bees, dogs.
 Voiceless consonants have a voiceless ending: books.
 Ending in –s, -sh, -as, -ch, -x, -z has the ending [iz]: actresses, bushes, boxes, watches.
 Ending in –o:
1. After a vowel – bamboos, kangaroos, radios, studios.
2. in proper names – Romeos, Eskimos, Filipinos
3. in abbreviations – kilos, photos
4. double o – zoos
5. musical instruments – pianos
 In other cases the spelling is –oes: tomatoes, potatoes, torpedoes, echoes.
 Some nouns take either –es or –s: buffaloes/buffalos, volcanoes/volcanos, zeroes/zeros.
 Ending in consonant + y : skies, ladies, babies
1. ending in vowel + y: boys, toys, days
2. in proper names: the two Germanys, the Kennedys
3. in compounds: stand-bys (atsargos), lay-bys.

 Ending in –f(e) changes into v(e): calf-calves, elf-elves, half-halves, self-selves, thief-thieves
BUT: proof-proofs, chief-chiefs, safe-safes, cliff-cliffs, reef-reefs, gulf-gulfs
In a few cases both –fs and –ves forms re possible: scarfs/scarves, dwarfs/ dwarves,
hoof/hooves.
 The plural of abbreviations is sometimes formed in spelling by doubling a letter: p.-pp.,
but Mr.-Messrs, M. P. (Member of Parliament) - M. P. s

Irregular plurals:

 Vowel change: man-men, woman-women, tooth-teeth, foot-feet, goose-geese, mouse-mice,

louse-lice.
 Two nouns have -en to mark the plural: child-children, ox-oxen.
 The plural is identical with the singular form: sheep, swine, deer, grouse, spacecraft, species,
aircraft.
BUT fish-fish/fishes, pike-pike/pikes, salmon- salmon/salmons, trout-trout/trouts, carp-carp/carps.
 Some loan nouns (skoliniai) have two plural forms: focus –foci/focuses, formula-
formulae/formulas. BUT basis-bases, crisis-crises, medium-media, criterion-criteria, terminus-
termini, tableau-tableaux, datum-data, diagnosis-diagnoses.
Plural in compound nouns:

1. The second component takes the plural form: schoolboys, housewives, maid-servants.

2. Compounds in –ful have the plural at the end of the word: handfuls (saujos), spoonfuls (pilnas
šaukštas).

3. If the 1st component is man/woman, plurals are in both components: men-servants, women-doctors.

4. German, Roman, Norman are not compound nouns. In plural: Germans, Romans, Normans.

5. In case noun+preposition+noun the 1st noun takes the plural form: sisters-in law, men-of-war, editors-in-
chief (vyr. redaktoriai)

6. In case with conjunction the plural is in the second noun: gin-and-tonics.

7. In case noun +preposition/adverb/adjective only the 1st element takes the plural: passers-by, courts-
martial (karo lauko teismas)

8. In substantivized phrases the last element takes the plural: forget-me-nots, pick-ups (atsitiktinės
pažintys), drop-outs (dezertyrai)

Singular invariable (nekintantys) nouns

1. All uncountable nouns:

 Material nouns - tea, sugar, gold, bread, air, butter, corn, flour, sail, oil, silver, blood.
 Abstract nouns: music, anger, foolishness, accommodation, advice, applause, behaviour,
business, education, homework, information, dirt, knowledge, luck, news, peace, politics,
traffic, truth, work, wealth.
 Subjects of study: Chemistry, History, Maths, Physics, Literature.
 Languages: Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese.
 Sports: baseball, billiards, cricket, darts, football, golf, rugby.
 Some diseases: flu, measles (tymai), mumps (kiaulytė), snifter/snuffle/cold (sloga), pneumonia
(plaučių uždegimas).
 Natural phenomena: darkness, fog, gravity, snow, hail, sunlight, shade.
 Collective nouns: baggage, crockery, cutlery (įrankiai), furniture, luggage, money, rubbish.

2. Proper nouns: The Thames, Henry….

Plural invariable (nekintantys) nouns

1. Objects consisting of two parts (tools, instruments, dress): pyjamas, trousers, binoculars, compasses,
glasses, pliers (replės), scales, scissors, tights, shorts, pants.

2. Some nouns: annals, arms, ashes, clothes, wages, earnings, looks, people, police, stairs, congratulations.

3. Some proper nouns: the East Indies, The Netherlands, the Highlands.
 !!! Note: Group nouns (army, audience, class, club, company, crew, crowd, family, jury, government,
press, public, staff, team, etc.) can take either a singular or a plural verb depending on whether we see the
group as a whole or as individuals.

Discrete plurality is also expressed by substantivized adjectives: the helpless, the poor, the sick, the rich.

Ways of showing partition

a piece of bread a sheet of paper A block of ice A heap of rubbish A piece of news
a loaf of bread a lump of coal A strip (rėžis) of land A pile (krūva) of rubbish An article of
a bar of chocolate a lump of sugar A grain (grūdas)of rice A piece of advice furniture

The category of case

Case is a grammatical category which shows relation of the noun with other words in a sentence.
English nouns have two cases: the common case and the genitive case.
The common case is unmarked, it has no inflexion (nekaitoma) and its meaning is very general.
The genitive case is marked by the apostrophe s (’s): mother’s, boys’, boy’s.

Two forms of genitive in writing

1. ’s for most nouns and for nouns ending in –s (prince’s, dog’s) and regular plural nouns only one apostrophe
(girls’)
Pronunciation: [z] after vowels and voiced consonants: dog’s, mother’s, way’s.
[s] after voiceless consonants: student’s, cat’s, sheet’s
[iz] after sibilants (šnypščiamasis priebalsis) : prince’s, judge’s
zero endings: girls’, boys’….
2. Irregular plural nouns have the regular [z] in the genitive: children’s games, women’s faces.
3. Compound nouns have ’s joined to the final component: my mother-in-law’s garden, a passer-by’s
comment.
4. Group genitive:
 When two persons possess or are related to something they have in common: Mum
and Dad’s room, John and Mary’s car.
 To a noun (pronoun) + a pronoun group: someone else’s benefit.
 To a group ending in a numeral: In an hour or two’s time.

The use of the genitive case and its equivalent of-phrase

The genitive case is used:

1. With nouns denoting persons and animals: John’s idea, the swallow’s back. But with other nouns
denoting inanimate objects or abstract notions use of+ noun: the back of a train, the legs of a table.
2. With nouns denoting time and distance: an hour’s drive, today’s newspaper, a week’s time, a month’s
adsence, a mile’s distance.
3. With the names of countries and towns: Britain’s national museums, Canada’s population, London’s
ambulance services.
4. With the names of newspapers and nouns denoting different kinds of organizations: the Guardian’s
analysis, the company’s plans, the government’s policy.
5. with the nouns: world, nation, country, city, town, ship, boat, car, sun, moon, earth, death: the car’ wheel.