Noun

Noun is word which is used to show people’s name, place, animal, day, plant, idea or things, etc. In English noun can be classified into a few kinds, they are:

1.    According to its shape, Noun can be classified into two types;

       a.    Concrete noun; is noun which show the name of any object which has certain characteristic that can be seen, hold and felt by our senses. Concrete noun can be divided into 4 types, they are;

·           Proper noun; is noun which show people’s name, country, city, day, month, school, company and places. Proper noun is always written in capital letter on every first letter. It can’t be added by an article(a, an and the)

Example; Ria, Samarinda, Indonesia, Mulawarman University, Pertamina, Sunday, etc.

·           Common noun; is noun which show a noun with general characteristic or other indefinite things and usually find in daily life.

Example; teacher, village, country, car, etc.

·           Collective noun; is noun which show a group or certain group of things which has compound meaning.

Example; flock, team, class, people, committee, fleet, etc.

·           Material noun; is noun which show raw material or come from mining and other raw material. Usually uncountable noun and can be felt, measured or scaled.

                     Example; gold, stone, water, iron, sugar, paint, etc.

                     On the sentence, it can be begun by the (not; a or an) or some, any.

                     Example; They don’t have any sugar.

       b.    Abstract noun; is a noun which has no shape, can’t be seen and felt by sense. Generally, abstract noun is included of uncountable noun.

              The ways to construct Abstract Nouns, such as;

              @    Abstract Nouni can be constructed by verb.

·           By adding suffix –ment on the verb (advertisement, agreement, development)

·           By adding suffix –ion, -tion on the verb (action, connection, correction)

·           By adding suffix –ation, -cation, -ition on the verb (expectation, classication, repetition)

·           By adding suffix –ance, -ence on the verb (assistance, difference, entrance)

·           By adding suffix –t on the verb (complaint, flight, deceit)

·           By adding suffix –y on the verb (discovery, delivery, recovery)

·           By adding suffix –er, -or, ar, -ist, -ant, -ent, -ee on the verb (singer, employee, typist)

·           By adding suffix –age, -al on the verb (carriage, arrival, proposal)

·           By adding suffix –ery, -ary on the verb (bribery, robbery)

·           By adding suffix –ure, -ture, -ature on the verb (closure, pleasure, departure)

·           By adding suffix –ing on the verb (building, reading)

·           The verb which has the same form to abstract noun (call, change, walk)

              @    Abstract Noun can be constructed by noun

·           By adding suffix –ship on the noun (championship)

·           By adding suffix –hood on the noun (brotherhood)

·           By adding suffix –let on the noun (booklet)

·           By adding suffix –cy on the noun (agency)

·           By adding suffix –an or –ian on the noun (librarian)

              @    Abstract Noun can be constructed by adjective

·           By adding suffix –ness on the adjective (badness, bigness, illness)

·           By adding suffix –y, -ty, -ity on the adjective (honesty, ability, purity)

·           By replacing the adjective ended –t by ­–ce or –cy (absence, patience)

·           By adding suffix –ion on the adjective (correction)

·           Noun which built by adjective with special form (depth, length, pride)

2.    According to its calculation, noun can be classified into 2 types, they are;

       a.    Countable Noun; is a noun which shows counted name of things or people.

              Example: book, car, teacher, a team, family.

              The characteristic of Countable noun as follows:

              @    Can be changed into plural. (book – books)

              @    Can be added by article (a, an or the)in front of singular or plural. (an apple, a magazine, the vase)

              @    Can be added by all of, none of, both of or few in plural form. (all of the students)

              @    Can be added by some or any in plural form. (some bread)

              @    Can be added by many, a lot of, several or a great many

              @    If the countable noun in singular form, so the verb must be in singular. (My diary is in the cupboard)

              @    If the countable noun in plural form, so the verb must be in plural. (the children play kites in the field)

       b.    Uncountable Noun; is a noun which shows uncounted name of thing by number. We use measurement, scale, gage, etc. Material and abstract noun are included of uncountable noun.

              The characteristic of uncountable noun as follows:

              @    Can’t be added an article a or an even in singular (I always drink the water)

              @    Can’t be formed to plural and always in singular form (Milk is very good for our health)

              @    Can be added by some or any. (Mother buys some sugar in the grocery store)

              @    Can be added by much, a lot of, a great deal of, plenty of. (Mary doesn’t have much time)

Exercises

Choose one of two choices as the best answer.

1.        ……….money do you want? (how much, how many)

2.        My father has bought only……….apples for us. (any, a few)

3.        There are……….books in the library. (some, a lot of)

4.        Do you need……….flour? (much, many)

5.        There is only……….water in the bathroom. (a little, much)

6.        ……….kilograms of oranges do you want to buy? (how many, how much)

7.        ………. It is Rp 35.000,00. (how much does it cost, how many does it cost)

8.        I can’t finish writing the letter because there isn’t……….ink. (any, some)

9.        Did you bring……….cooking oil? (some, any)

10.    Here is……….money for your transportation fee. (some, any)