– English Lyrics

Lyrics & Translation

[English]

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.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
noun /naʊn/ B1	noun - a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea
verb /vɜːb/ B1	noun - a word that expresses an action, state, or occurrence
adjective /ˈædʒɪktɪv/ B1	noun - a word that describes a noun or pronoun
phrase /freɪz/ B2	noun - a small group of words forming a meaningful unit
clause /klɔːz/ C1	noun - a group of words containing a subject and a predicate
compound /ˈkɒmpaʊnd/ B2	noun - a word made up of two or more smaller words joined together
abstract /ˈæbstrækt/ B2	adjective - existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical existence
concrete /ˈkɒnkriːt/ B2	adjective - existing in a material or physical form; specific and definite
proper /ˈprɒpər/ B2	adjective - denoting a specific, usually official, name or category
collective /kəˈlɛktɪv/ C1	adjective - relating to a group taken as a whole
modifier /ˈmɒdɪfaɪər/ C1	noun - a word, phrase, or affix that changes the meaning of another word
singular /ˈsɪŋɡjʊlə/ B1	adjective - denoting one person, thing, or entity
plural /ˈplʊərəl/ B1	adjective - denoting more than one person, thing, or entity
possessive /pəˈzɛsɪv/ B2	adjective - indicating ownership or belonging
agreement /əˈɡriːmənt/ B2	noun - the harmonious relationship between words in grammar, especially between subject and verb
meaning /ˈmiːnɪŋ/ B1	noun - the idea or concept that a word, phrase, or text conveys
function /ˈfʌŋkʃən/ B2	noun - the purpose or role that something serves in a sentence
sentence /ˈsɛntəns/ B1	noun - a set of words that express a complete thought and contains a subject and a predicate