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Hi everybody. Welcome back to Right to
the Top. I'm Adam. Today we're starting
our first chapter in the parts of speech
course. We're going to start looking at
nouns. And before we get into all the
little details of rules and how to use
nouns, what we need to do first is
understand or recognize how nouns look
and why we use nouns in sentences. So,
we're going to look at their forms and
their functions. In this video, we're
going to start with forms. Let's get
into it. Okay. So, the first thing we
need to do is understand what is a noun.
Now, I know that most of you probably
have a very good idea, but I just want
to make sure we express it. A noun is a
part of speech that functions as a
component of a sentence. Now, this word
is very important component. A noun is
just one piece of the puzzle. It's going
to have to work with other pieces of the
sentence. is going to work in
combination with other components to
express meaning. Right? The whole
sentence has to have a meaning. Each
part of that sentence plays a part in
creating that meaning. Nouns are the
words we you are nouns are the words
that we use to populate the sentence
with people, places, things, ideas.
Okay, just to give you a quick example
of the different things you can expect.
Here we have a proper noun. So there are
different types of nouns and I'll talk
about these. Proper noun in a
prepositional phrase, a single word
noun. We have another prepositional
phrase working as an adverb. We have a
compound noun with three different words
in it, each modifying the head noun, and
I'll talk about that. uh two single
nouns joined by a conjunction. Now in
terms of understanding the idea of
combination and working together to
create a meaning, consider this
sentence. Though not a highintensity
sport, golfing still offers some form
of. So here I have highintensity
as an adjective modifying the noun
sport. If I take these two words out,
what does the sentence look like? Though
not a sport, golfing, etc. Without these
two words, this sentence doesn't
actually make any sense because sport
and golf go together. So, we have to
identify the sport by adding necessary
compliments. And I'll talk about these
as well, plus other different ways to
look at it. So let's start looking at
the different forms that you can expect
nouns to appear in in a sentence. Okay.
So now before we go on, I just want to
show you one other example. And this is
about how things work together. The
children ate their sandwich. Now most
people when reading quickly will see the
sentence, they will think it's
completely fine. They will just move on.
They will get the gist of the sentence.
But there is a mistake here. Can you
identify the mistake? If you need to
press pause, take a little bit of time.
But I'll show you what that mistake is.
We have children plural. More than one
child ate their sandwich. There. We have
a plural possessive adjective. No
problem. Plural plural. One sandwich.
It's not common that many children eat
one sandwich. Each child probably has
his or her own sandwich. So this should
be sandwiches,
right? So it's very important to make
sure that all your nouns agree with all
your other parts and with each other
throughout the sentence. Okay. Now let's
look at the different forms that you may
come across. So we're going to start
with a single word. You can present a
noun by itself, one word, and it does
whatever it does in the sentence. There
could be different types of nouns,
common nouns, proper nouns, concrete and
abstract. These are all coming up in
their own videos.
And for example, child, horses, singular
plural, love, abstract, staff,
collective noun. Politics, we call this
a singular plural because it's not a
plural noun even though it has an s.
Bowling. This is a gerand. And though we
use it like a noun, it actually is not a
noun. But I'll explain that in its own
thing, in its own video. When you use a
single noun, you're using it in a very
general way, in a very abstract way. You
can have a concrete noun like a child
but the idea is going to be very
generalized. So let me give you an
example. Humans crave freedom. Now
humans refers to all human beings on the
planet. Can you conceive of about 8
billion people? Of course not. So here
we have a concrete noun with an abstract
idea or an abstract meaning. Freedom, of
course, abstract noun with an abstract
meaning. What does freedom mean? Well,
what it means to me might not be the
same as it means to you or to my
neighbor or to somebody on the other
side of the planet. How we were raised
will help us identify what this word
means.
So overall,
this is a very abstract sentence. But
let's imagine I make a small change to
it. Humanity craves freedom. Have I
changed the meaning of this sentence a
little bit? Because humanity is now an
abstract noun with an abstract meaning.
Humans are actual people. Humanity is
the collection of people. So it's not a
real thing that you can point at or that
you can measure, right? It's a it's a
concept. It's an idea. Again the
sentence remains abstract but we change
the sentence a little bit. Okay. So now
let's move on to the noun groups. There
are different types of groupings. We
also call these noun phrases. Now we're
adding other words to our nouns to give
them a little bit more meaning. Right?
So nouns with complementing modifiers.
To complement means to complete the
meaning of. So it's something that you
took something that is general and you
make it more specific. You are now
complating complementing the meaning and
making it uh more concrete. Modifiers to
modify means to change. So modifiers can
include adjectives, articles, other
nouns etc. Now you are making your idea
more concrete, more specific. And we do
this why and why do we do this? We want
to describe the noun. We want to
identify something, limit something,
expand on something, right? So these are
the different reasons for the modifiers.
But they also affect how you're going to
read or how you're going to write the
sentence, right? The key to remember
here is there's something called a head
noun. Your head noun is the focus of the
noun phrase. The head noun is what will
agree with other parts of the sentence.
All the other modifying pieces, even
modifying nouns, they do not affect
other parts of the sentence. They only
affect the head noun. Now, we're going
to see some examples and how to identify
the head noun to make sure that it
aligns with or agrees with other parts
of the sentence. Okay, so here's our
first group. We're going to look at noun
plus noun plus more nouns if you have
them. You can have more than two nouns.
the we're going to look at two ways to
approach this. One is compounds.
Compounds are
like pairings or groupings of words that
all work together as one word. Now, you
can have different types of compounds.
You can have a closed compound where you
have two nouns squeezed together to make
one word. You can have a hyphenated
compound where you can join nouns with a
hyphen. Or you can have an open
compound. Two separate words, but again,
they work as one word. And I'm going to
make a video about compounds to get in
more detail. So, basketball closed
compound, son-in-law, hyphenated, road
trip, open. Law school professor also
open, but you can see three words. You
can have three, four if the compound
allows it. Right now, I want to give you
a little bit of a quiz.
So, here are three sentences. Each of
them has one mistake. Press pause on the
video if you want to take your time to
look at it and I will just go ahead and
explain to you where these mistakes are.
Okay. I've been on many road trips all
over Canada.
Now remember, only the head noun can
change to suit the sentence. The
modifying nouns do not change. Another
thing to remember about headnouns, they
usually come at the end of the noun
phrase or the end of the noun group. So
in this case, roads and trips I have
twice plural. I don't need this one.
Many road trips. The head noun can
adjust.
My brothersin-law wants to help us
renovate the house. So again, in most
cases, the headnoun comes at the end.
Sometimes it comes at the beginning, but
this is a little bit more rare. When you
see this, make sure you record it
somewhere so you know for future
reference. We say brothersin-law, not
brother in-laws, editors in chief,
attorneys, generals. So with especially
with hyphens, you're probably going to
the head noun is going to be first
before because it comes before the
preposition. And when we see
prepositional phrases, the same idea
applies. So, because we have a plural
noun, we don't need the s here. Brothers
want, not wants. My father is a law
school professor where he regularly
engages with the student with the
nation's future legal minds. Some
people, if they're reading too quickly,
will see law school and think place and
then they'll go with where. But the head
noun comes at the end. So, the head noun
is actually the professor. And so we
need who regularly engages. You're going
with the last noun, the head noun, and
make sure that it agrees with other
parts of the sentence. Okay, so let's go
on to the next group. So that was
compounds. Let's look at another way to
put nouns together. Sometimes nouns can
act as adjectives to other nouns. It
doesn't make them compounds. It just
makes them modifiers. Right? So, a city
boy, this is not a compound. This is
just the type of boy, farm boy, country
boy, etc. A sports car, a family car, a
fast car, a clothes store, and so on and
so forth. You can also put a noun as a
modifier after a B verb. The man is a
genius. So, genius tells you something
about the man. So, we're using it like a
regular adjective. Now, what you have to
be careful about is some combinations
can be reversed. You can change the
order of the nouns, but then you're also
changing the meaning. So, for example, a
racehorse
tells you the type of horse. It's a
horse bred for racing. But a horse race
is a type of race that involves horses
as opposed to a car race or a motorcycle
race. a racehorse. You can also have a
farming horse. You can have a riding
horse. All kinds of different types. Be
careful about the order. Okay. So, now
we have nouns. Notice the apostrophe.
So, we have a possessive noun with other
nouns. My sister's dog, Craig's book,
their remember that pronouns are always
referring to something or someone. So,
their plural. So, my neighbors
apartment, the student's teacher, my
son's teacher's boss. You can have more
than one possessive noun and other nouns
following that as well. Again, you're
always looking for the head noun
probably comes at the end. Keep a record
as you're going through your readings
and as you're trying to write more and
working on your skills. Just keep a
record. When you see something that's a
bit unusual that you're not too sure
about, write it down. If you need to
check a dictionary, check online. get to
know all these little uh quirks. Now,
especially
some differences in in usage. Okay? So,
for example, a man's leg. So, we're
using an apostrophe, a table leg, no
apostrophe. Why? A person can possess
something. This is my leg. But a table
is an inanimate object. It can't possess
anything and therefore it has no
possessive usage. Right? So there's all
all kinds of little quirks, I guess you
can call them in the English language.
Strange little ch differences. Keep a
record of them. Study these things like
you would study vocabulary. You see
them, you remember them, you use them.
Okay. A day's journey, a journey that
takes one day to complete versus a one
day journey. Again, same meaning. It
takes one day to do this. different uses
possessive with the noun and a compound
noun used like an adjective to journey
and versus a day trip. A day trip is a
trip you take for one day and then you
come back. You don't spend the night.
This is about the length of time. This
is basically the how some how long
something lasts. A little bit different.
Okay. Again, always make sure that
you're agreeing. The cat's litter box
need a cleaning. Okay, one little
mistake here. Cats is not your head
verb. Box is plural, singular.
Make sure you agree. Okay, very
straightforward. We'll see more examples
of this as we go. Okay, there are a few
more, but we'll get through all of them.
Now we have noun plus preposition plus
other noun or other nouns. The book on
the shelf. On the shelf is telling you
where the book is. The whole thing is
acting like an adverb. But we have on
the shelf. The head noun is the book.
Right? When you have prepositional
phrases with nouns, the head noun comes
before the preposition, not the end of
the phrase. The girl next door. This is
a reduced adjective clause. The girl who
lives next door who lives, take it out.
I'm left with a preposition modifying
the girl. The girl is the head noun. I
will talk about how to reduce
adjectives, clauses, or other clauses.
Down the road, an excuse for the delay.
Excuse head noun delay. Talking about
what we're talking about, what the
excuse is for. A sense of duty. Okay,
all very good expressions here. Another
way to use nouns and prepositions allows
you to reverse the order. The the top of
the mountain can become the mountain
top. So sometimes you can take that that
last noun and use it as the modifier.
Here, for example, the book on the
shelf, you can't. Then you have the
shelf book doesn't make any sense. It
doesn't mean anything. The mountain top
mountain is acting like an adjective
but and this is you have to be very
careful and again all of this is about
studying it like vocabulary you just
have to see them remember them try not
to make the mistake a cup of tea is not
the same as a teacup
right even though we're using of we're
using of
not the same way it doesn't work that
way why this happens I can't really tell
you English is strange language, but it
does happen. Just keep a note and try
not to do that. A cup of tea means a cup
full of tea that you're ready to drink.
A teacup means a cup that is used to
drink tea with. So, with that in mind,
tell me if this sentence makes sense. I
am so thirsty because I forgot to bring
a water bottle. Now, again, on a quick
read, most people would look at this
sentence and think, "Yeah, okay. I get
it. There's a mistake here. Now, what's
the mistake?
If you brought a water bottle, you would
still be thirsty because a you can't
drink a bottle, right? What you need is
the water inside the bottle. So, I
forgot to bring
a bottle of water.
This now makes sense. So again, the
whole point here is make sure that
everything is agreeing with everything
else. The nouns are agreeing with what
came before or what comes after. Okay,
let's move on. Okay, so now let's go on.
Noun plus other compliments. Now you can
complete the meaning of a noun with
things other than nouns, right? You can
use other prepositional phrases without
nouns. No hope of winning. Again,
remember a gerand is not a noun. a
friend of hers. Hers is a possessive
pronoun, an infinitive, a desire to
help, a need to keep it quiet, or a
clause, noun clause, adjective clause,
the belief that you are right. Which
belief that you are right, a question of
whether it can be done or not. Which
question? Whether it can be done or not,
right? So this is a noun clause,
adjective clause, all kinds of different
compliments, but you still need them to
complete the meaning of the noun, but
you still have to identify the noun as a
head noun. Much easier when you don't
have other nouns confusing you. Okay?
Then we have nouns. Always pay attention
to nouns and their other necessary
modifiers like articles, adjectives, and
adverbs. Yes, adverbs can modify nouns,
but it is very rare. That's why I put a
little asterisk. It's not very common. A
brown coat.
A coat could be any color, any size, any
length. A brown coat, you're already
specifying, you're already narrowing the
focus. The first part, the then PM, the
the then PM, the person who was PM at
that time. So, this is an adverb. Again,
not very common, but why not see it in
use? You can add degree. Quite a
performance. Impressive.
It could be sarcastic too and mean
really bad but mostly used to say
impressive. The only time not much of a
story. Such phonies. Right. So some of
these can be adverbs as well. And noun
clauses which again I'll talk about
later. What she said wasn't true. The
thing to keep in mind about noun clauses
they have a relative pronoun. They may
not have any other noun, but you have to
treat the whole clause as a noun and
make it align with the rest of the
sentence. It could be a subject, it
could be an uh an object, it could be
with different types of verbs. Okay?
What a politician presents himself as
plays directly into. So, all kinds of
different noun clauses. We'll get to
those uh later on. And the last thing
you have to keep in mind, nouns in
combination. Now, this is where things
get a little bit tricky and this is
where it's hard. I find or I I have
found that for non-English speakers,
this is where things get confusing
because here the nouns
on their own at face value don't really
have any meaning. If you have a meal, it
basically means you eat. But meal by
itself could mean anything. It could be
about cooking, about eating, about
nutrition, all kinds of things. So you
have to take the whole expression, the
whole collocation in this case as a unit
and treat it as such. Have a meal is a
verb, not a noun. Kick the bucket. This
is an idiom means to die. It means to
literally kick a bucket over. Now where
the expression cames from I I won't get
into now, but bucket by itself here
means nothing. It's part of the whole
idiom. Treat the whole idiom as one
unit. Metaphors. If you cut the t if you
can cut the tension with a knife, I have
two nouns, tension and knife. Basically,
what you're describing is a very tense
situation, right? But the nouns by
themselves aren't working individually.
They're not working. They're not
agreeing with other parts of the
sentence. They're just working in that
metaphor, in that expression. So, you
have to recognize this type of use.
Okay? So, that's it. So those are the
different forms that you may come across
with nouns. You have to recognize them.
You have to make sure they all work
together. But you also have to know why
they are being used there. And that's
where we come to noun functions. And
we're going to look at that at the next
video. I hope this was informative. If
you like the video, please give me a
like, subscribe to the channel, become a
member if you're interested. There will
be a quiz about this video at the end of
the week. And uh come back next time for
the next section and then I'll see you
then.
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