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[English]

Hi everybody. Welcome again to Right to

the Top. I'm Adam. So in my last video,

I wanted to talk to you about nouns and

their forms and functions. How they

look, how they're used. So I started

with forms. Today I'm going to look at

their functions. And I may have

overloaded you with information last

time. I think that today still a lot of

good, useful information, but a little

bit more straightforward. Some of this

stuff I think you already know. So let's

just jump right into it. What do nouns

actually do in a sentence? So, the first

thing we're going to look at is the

subject. The first function, subject.

There are two types of subjects or the

two reasons for a subject to exist. One

is to act as the agent of an action. So,

of course, we're using this type of

subject with an action verb, right? So

the agent, the person, place or thing is

doing the action in the sentence. So the

police officer arrested the suspect. The

police officer, this is the compound

noun. The whole thing is working as a

subject. Arrested. A time travel machine

allows people to do stuff, right? So

even though it's a machine, there's one,

two, three nouns in it. A machine can do

things. A place can do things. the city

hosted the event. Obviously, people can

do things as well, right? So, these are

all the noun subjects. And again, you

can use the different forms we looked at

in the last video. You can use

compounds, you can use noun groups, noun

phrases, with possessives, with

prepositions, so on and so forth.

Another function of subjects is to be

the focus of the discussion.

Essentially, what is the sentence about?

In this case, we're not using action

verbs. We're using linking verbs.

Particularly, we're using the B verb

plus other linking verbs. So, for

example, only one of the students. So,

here I have a whole noun group with a

prepositional phrase. One is the actual

head noun. That's your subject was

prepared. So was ex telling you

something about the students that

student he or she was prepared for the

class. My mother-in-law again with a

combination with a possessive adjective

compound hyphenated compound noun seems

upset with me. Seems is not an action.

Nothing is actually happening in the

sentence. It's just my feeling or my

idea that she's upset. So upset is

telling you something about the subject

which is a compound noun. Okay. So now

we're going to look at the function of

object and we're going to use an object

in three different ways when we're

talking about nouns. An object, as you

may know, answers the question what or

whom about the action verb. Okay? So

we're going to get into that in a

second. The first object we're going to

look at is the object of a clause. We

looked at the subject. Now we're looking

at the object. The object can be a

direct or an indirect or or and or an

indirect object. Direct what whom?

Indirect to or for what or whom. Okay.

But that we'll talk about that more in

the clause course. Contrary to popular

belief, goldfish have what? Memories

that can last for months. So memories

tells you something about the verb have.

If you want a break, if you want what? A

break for a drink. So the object is

actually a break for a drink. We call

this an object complement, which I'm

going to talk about in a second. Raise

what? Your hand. Secure what? Your

paper. Grab what? A drink. So all of

these noun objects are telling you

something about the action verb that

came before it.

Please give Tim my best. Please give to

whom? Tim. Indirect object. Give what?

My best. Notice that best here is being

used as a noun. So give someone my best.

This is a fixed expression. My best

wishes, my best thoughts, my prayers,

whatever you want to uh consider your

best. Okay? So that's the object of a

clause. We can also have objects of

prepositions.

So the key to remember here is that

you're still answering what or whom

about the preposition only. A piece of

what cake on what the shelf by what t

the taxi through what that door. So all

of these examples are telling you are

something or answering the question what

about the preposition. What's very

important to remember is that the entire

phrase, the entire prepositional phrase

may have a different role to play in the

sentence or in the clause. So, by taxi

is probably going to be used as an

adverb. I went by taxi. I went how by

taxi. So, taxi doesn't have anything to

do with the verb went. It's only the

object of the preposition that came

before it. So that's very important to

remember. So that's object of

preposition. And last we have object of

a gerant. Now remember a gerant can be

used like a noun but it actually is not

a noun. It's actually still a verb.

That's why it can take a preposition. So

gerands that are ing forms of a an

action verb, a transitive action verb.

Transitive verbs can take objects.

Jirens that are transitive can take an

object. So running what? A business

properly requires overseeing whom?

Several people working in a variety of

uh positions. Now the problem with ing

words is that they could be jirens that

used like nouns. They could be part of a

verb, a continuous verb. They could be

adjective participles. They could be

adverb participles. So they're very

confusing. In this case, working is not

a gerand or a verb here. It's an

adjective participle. Okay? Several

people who work or who are working in

and it's just reduced into a participle.

I will talk about participles in the

adjective chapter of this course. So,

don't worry about that. I feel like

playing what? Golf. But the weather is

looking rough. Is looking continuous

verb. not gerand. Okay. So, so far we

have our objects. Now we have our object

complement. Complement means to complete

the meaning of. So sometimes we'll have

object especially noun object and the

sentence will or the clause will look

like it's complete. I'll have a subject

verb object and yet something is missing

by itself. The sentence doesn't work.

Okay. I need some more information. So

let's look at a couple examples. They

appointed Jennifer. Subject verb object.

Now when you appoint someone, you always

appoint them to a certain position or

place, right? So something is missing

here. I need more information to

complete this object. They appointed

Jennifer staff supervisor.

Compound noun. Two nouns here. So they

appointed Jennifer to do what? to be the

staff supervisor. So now this all works

together. Jennifer and the compliment

work together. The object to appointed.

Some consider this decision. Subject

verb object

consider it what? A mistake. So although

the mistake goes with their idea, their

consideration, it actually connects to

the decision. it completes the meaning

of the object and the whole thing

together works as the object for the

verb. Okay, so that could be a little

bit tricky but we'll we'll look more

deeply at these when we talk about

clauses and subjects and objects etc.

Okay, but just so you know before I go

on, object complements don't have to be

nouns. You can have adjectives, you can

have adverbs, right? Some students found

the class difficult. What did they think

about the class? It was difficult. Some

students the fa found the assignment a

difficult chore. So, I can make a

combination with an adjective and a

noun. So, you can have all kinds of

different object compliments, but again,

I'll talk about those a little bit

later.

Let's move on to subject complements.

Subject complements look like objects

except that we're using them with

linking verbs with B verbs and other

linking verbs and they connect to back

to the subject not the verb. Okay. So if

I say let's talk about first with B

verbs. Russia is a huge country. A huge

country also answers the question what

in this case but it's not about is it's

about Russia right? It helps me get more

information about my subject. It

completes the meaning of the subject.

Jack is Sonia's boyfriend. The keys are

in the drawer. So, we can have different

combinations, adjective, noun. We can

have possessive noun with other noun. We

can have a prepositional phrase in the

drawer. Again, uh I have a noun used as

an object to in, but the whole phrase is

used as an adverb telling me something

about the keys, not about the verb are.

Let's look at a couple other ones. Other

linking verbs, and I'll talk about

linking verbs in the verbs course. She

became a doctor. She became nothing

actually happened. It was a process that

changed. She was not a doctor. She now

is a doctor. She became a doctor, right?

So nothing's happening here. So a doctor

tells me something about her, about she.

This soup tastes like heaven. Remember,

soup is a thing. It's an inanimate

object. It can't taste anything. People

can taste things, but soup can have a

taste. So it tastes like heaven.

Please remain in your seats. Remain.

You're not actually doing anything.

You're just not doing anything. You

remain as you were. This is a linking

verb in your seats. Please, what's the

subject? You don't forget about that

kind of subject. Next, we have

adjectives. Now, in the previous video,

I told you about compound adjectives

where the first noun is working like an

adjective to the second noun. So, that's

what we have here. Doesn't matter how

many nouns you have, one is working as

an adjective to the next. So, concrete

steps. concrete noun describing the type

of steps the company's going to take.

Credit card debt. Credit tells you what

kind of card. Credit card tells you what

kind of debt. So nouns modifying the

next nouns and together modifying the

next noun and so on and so forth. Then

you have just regular modifiers. They're

not compounds because they can be

changed. So, a car engine as opposed to

a plane engine, a bus engine, uh, like

electric engine or combustion engine,

all kinds of different engines, a tennis

player, hockey player, basketball

player, baseball player, a 5 lb bag, a

10 lb bag, whatever. So, we can use the

nouns as the case is required to

describe the next noun that's coming.

Now, one thing you have to be a little

bit careful with an inferred noun. What

do I mean by this? Basically, sometimes

you have adjectives and nouns, but as

you go on in the sentence or the next

sentence, whatever, that noun is no

longer necessary. It's understood. So,

you're left only with the adjective and

you're using that adjective like a noun.

Right? So, the answer is varied among

the respondents. So, we're talking about

the respondents

with some affirming and some opposing.

some some respondents. But I understood

that so I don't need to say it. So now

some is being used like a noun in this

sentence. I'll talk more about this when

I get into the adjectives chapter.

And aositive, this is the next function.

So what is an apositive? An aositive is

something that is used to explain,

identify, provide examples of or rename

a noun that came before it.

Usually, you'll see it between commas,

not always. And I'll show you more

examples of that later. My best friend,

a doctor, set me up on a date with

Patricia, his nurse. So, these are just

regular nouns, are telling you something

about the friend and something about

Patricia. One way to think about it is a

reduced clause. my best friend who is a

doctor. Take out the who and is because

subject and relative sub subject and B

verb you can take out. I'll talk more

about that in the clause course. But in

this case, think of it just as a further

explanation. The this is the peak season

for the spread of influenza or the flu.

So here what I'm doing is I'm renaming

this word, this noun. Instead of saying

influenza every time, I'm just going to

say the flu from now on and then I

continue on with my sentence. There are

other types of aositives such as that is

also known as all kinds of different

aositives and these will come up as we

go along. Nouns can function as adverbs.

When we're talking about time, distance,

location, or measurement, let's meet

Sunday. When Sunday, Sunday is a noun. I

usually walk where? Home. The school is

where miles away. All of these are

nouns. All of these are being used as

adverbs.

And one oh no, sorry, two more to go.

Okay. So, we we can nominalize

nominalize verbs and adjectives. So,

some words are naturally used as verbs

or adjectives, but we can convert them

into nouns. So to decide we make the

noun form decision to grow, growth,

happy, happiness. So sometimes we just

use nouns only because we want the noun

form in this particular situation where

the verb just doesn't work for whatever

reason. When we get into the writing

courses, we'll see how to make that

choice. This is available to you with

many verbs. So keep that in mind. And

finally, we use nouns in combination

with certain verbs like these utility

verbs have, take, go for, give, do,

make. We use them in combination to

imply an action. To imply means to

suggest something without actually

saying it. So if we say, if I say to

you, let's go for a drive, it means

let's drive somewhere. If I say let's

have a drink, it means let's drink

something. Do a favor, help, take a

break, relax. Instead of using these

verbs, these actions, I just suggest

them. I imply them in combination with a

noun and a verb. A simple a simple verb,

utility verb, and the noun. And I get a

little bit of a different vibe, I guess

you could call it, to the sentence.

Okay, so there you go. Those are all the

different functions we're going to look

at. All of this, if you're a little bit

confused, remember all of these things

will keep coming up again and again as

we get deeper and deeper into these

grammar courses. So, next video I'm

going to start looking at the noun

types. I'm going to start with common

nouns and proper nouns. And I'm going to

talk to you about concrete and abstract

nouns, tangible, intangible, real,

fictional, and all kinds of different

buzzwords that you may need to

understand as we go forward. Okay. So,

so that's it for today. Remember, if you

have any questions or comments, put them

below. If you like the video, click

like. Don't forget to subscribe to my

channel and come back uh next time,

become a member and get even more

benefits. and I'll see you next video.

Bye-bye.

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
welcome /ˈwelkəm/ A2	verb - to greet someone in a polite or friendly way adjective - gladly received
noun /naʊn/ A1	noun - a word that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance, or quality
function /ˈfʌŋkʃən/ B1	noun - an activity or purpose of a person or thing verb - operate or perform
information /ˌɪnfərˈmeɪʃən/ A2	noun - facts provided or learned about something or someone
sentence /ˈsentəns/ A2	noun - a set of words that is complete in itself, typically containing a subject and predicate
subject /ˈsʌbdʒɪkt/ A2	noun - a person or thing that is being discussed, described, or dealt with
verb /vɜːrb/ A1	noun - a word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence
police /pəˈliːs/ A2	noun - a civil force of persons entrusted with preserving the public peace verb - to control, regulate, or keep in order
officer /ˈɒfɪsər/ B1	noun - a person holding a position of authority or command in an organization such as the armed forces or police
suspect /ˈsʌspekt/ B2	noun - a person thought to be guilty of a crime or offence verb - have an idea or impression that (something) is the case, but without proof adjective - not able to be trusted; suspicious
machine /məˈʃiːn/ A2	noun - an apparatus using or applying mechanical power and having several parts, each with a definite function and together performing a particular task
focus /ˈfoʊkəs/ B1	noun - the center of interest or activity verb - to concentrate one's attention or efforts
object /ˈɒbdʒɪkt/ A2	noun - a material thing that can be seen and touched verb - express or feel disapproval of
belief /bɪˈliːf/ B1	noun - an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists
complement /ˈkɒmplɪmənt/ C1	noun - something that completes or enhances something else when added to it verb - add to (something) in a way that enhances or improves it
adjective /ˈædʒɪktɪv/ A2	noun - a word or phrase naming an attribute, added to or grammatically related to a noun to describe or identify it
example /ɪɡˈzæmpl/ A2	noun - a thing characteristic of its kind or illustrating a general rule