GMAT Grammar Book: Nouns

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A noun can be a person, place, or thing. Nouns can be the actor of a sentence (as the subject), a receiver of the action (as the object/complement), or contained in a prepositional phrase to add more information to the idea of the sentence.

The Noun Phrase

A noun phrase is a group of words that ends with a noun and can contain determiners (a, an, the, these, etc), adjectives and adverbs. Both subjects and complements often consist of noun phrases. A prepositional phrase is NOT considered a noun phrase.

Count and Non-Count Nouns

A noun that can be counted is called a count noun.
chair – one chair, two chairs, three chairs…
boy – one boy, two boys, three boys…
dog – one dog, two dogs, three dogs…

A noun that cannot be counted is called a non-count noun.
coffee – you cannot say: one coffee, two coffees, etc.

However, you can make some non-count nouns countable by placing them into a countable container.
Can of coffee – one can of coffee, two cans of coffee…

The following chart gives some common non-count nouns and their groupings.



Some common irregular count nouns are listed below.

Exercise 2: Identifying Count and Non-Count Nouns

Identify the following nouns as countable or non-countable by placing a “C” after countable nouns and a “N” after non-countable nouns.

Examples:
radio C
algebra N

minute
clothing
canyon
gas
smoke
food
eye
bus
spoon
advice
milk
math

Articles

A And An

A or an only precede singular count nouns and refer to one thing. Either is used for a general statement, or to introduce a new subject that has not been mentioned before.

A leopard has spots. (in general – speaking of all leopards)
I talked to a girl today. (We are introducing this subject. We don’t know which girl.)

A is used with words that begin with a consonant sound. An is used with words that begin with a vowel sound.

A car
an elephant

Some words can be confusing because the pronunciation is different from the spelling. Listening to the sound will help determine which article is used.

Words such as union, uniform, university and European, eucalyptus, eulogy have a long “u” sound which is the same sound as y in yellow or yard. Therefore, they are considered to have a consonant sound and a is used before these words.

A yellow dog ran past us. A uniform is required for school.
A yard consists of three feet. I went to school with a European.

Some words have a silent first letter, so the correct article depends on the heard sound. Words such as hot, home and head have a pronounced “h” consonant sound and, thus, begin with a. However, words such as honor, hour and herb have a silent “h” and are considered to have a vowel sound.

It is a hot day. It was an honor to meet the president.

The

Use the when you know, or assume, that the listener is familiar with the same person, place, or thing that you are talking about.

The earth is a beautiful planet. (There is only one earth.)
The teacher asked me a question. (It is assumed the listener knows your teacher.)

Use the with non-count nouns only when you are speaking specifically. If you are speaking in general, no article is used.

Water is wet. (general)
The water in the stream is cold. (specific water located in the stream)

The same rule applies for plural count nouns. Specific plural count nouns use the, while general plural count nouns do not.

I like apples. (all apples)
The apples on the tree are not ripe. (specific apples on the tree)

USE The WITH	DON’T USE The WITH
oceans, seas, rivers, gulfs, plural lakes: the Pacific Ocean, the Caspian Sea, the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, the Finger Lakes	singular lakes:Lake Titicaca, Lake Michigan
mountains: the Smoky Mountains, the Andes	mounts: Mount Rushmore, Mount St. Helens
sun, moon, earth: the sun, the moon, the earth	planets, constellations: Mercury, Saturn, Gemini, Leo
schools, colleges, universities (when the phrase begins with one of these words): the School of Fine Arts, the University of Southern California	schools, colleges, universities (when the phrase begins with a proper noun): Arizona University, Bardstown Community College
ordinal numbers before nouns: the First Amendment, the third floor	cardinal numbers after nouns: Apollo One, floor three
wars (except world wars): the Vietnam War, the War of 1812	World War One, World War Two
certain countries or groups of countries with more than one word (except Great Britain): the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates	countries preceded by New or an adjective such as a direction: New Zealand, South Africa, North Korea one word countries: China, Australia, Germany, Italy continents: Asia, North America, South America states: Kentucky, Alabama, Utah, California
historical documents: the Constitution, the Bill of Rights
	sports: baseball, volleyball, football, soccer abstract nouns: intelligence, beauty, happiness general areas of subject matter: science, algebra, social studies holidays: New Year, Christmas, Thanksgiving

Exercise 3: Using Articles

Fill in the blanks of the following sentences using a, an, the, or Ø (if no article is needed).

1. John is wearing _______ baseball cap today.
2. _______ chair is _______ useful piece of furniture.
3. _______ chairs in _______ living room are antiques.
4. She cried when she peeled _______ onion.
5. _______ women like to wear _______ jewelry.
6. _______ jewelry that my sister wears is made of _______ gold.
7. When you look at _______ moon, you can see _______ face.
8. _______ hour ago I saw _______ eagle flying overhead.
9. _______ life can be fun, but sometimes there are _______ problems.
10. _______ last time I saw ________ bear, I was travelling in _______ Europe.

Other

Often, correctly using the word other can be confusing. The word another and other are not specific, while the other is specific. If the subject is understood then other can be used as a pronoun. If the understood noun is a plural count noun then other becomes others. (Note: other CANNOT be plural if followed by a noun.) Look at the following examples.

This knife is dull. Please give me another.
(an + other + singular noun = any other knife – not specific)

This knife is dull. Please give me the other.
(the other + singular noun = the only other option – specific)

This cake is delicious. Other cakes are delicious also.
OR This cake is delicious. Others are delicious also.
(other + plural noun = other cakes: not specific) Since the subject is understood from the first sentence, you can omit the plural noun “cakes” in the second sentence and pluralize other to others.

These apples are bad. I want the other apples.
OR These apples are bad. I want the others.
(the other + plural noun = other apples: specific) Since the subject is understood from the first sentence, you can omit the plural noun “apples” in the second sentence and pluralize the other to the others.

You can also substitute other + one (for a singular noun) and other + ones (for a plural noun.)

This knife is dull. Please give me another one. (not specific)

This knife is dull. Please give me the other one. (specific)

This cake is delicious. Other ones are delicious also. (not specific)

These apples are bad. I want the other ones. (specific)

Exercise 4: Using Other

Fill in the blanks of the following sentences with the correct form of other.
1. I received two gifts for my birthday. One was from my parents. _______________ one was from my brother.
2. This pie is fantastic! Can I have __________________ piece?
3. These pants don’t fit well. Let me try ____________________ ones.
4. I have a large stamp collection. The stamps in this section are from the United States. __________________ are from ________________ places in the world.
5. Joshua likes to wear Nike shoes. He won’t wear any ________________ brand.
6. I’m almost finished with my homework. I just need ________________ ten minutes.
7. John, Melissa and I are going to the movies. ___________________ are going to the Craft Fair.
8. This house is brand new. _____________________ house is really old.
9. We like to swim. _________________ like to surf, and still ________________ like to ski.
10. You can buy this shirt and ___________________ one. Which ________________ would you like?

Determiners of Quantity

Words that determine quantity are used to show how much of something to which you are referring. Some expressions of quantity are only used with count nouns, some are only used
with non count nouns and others are used with both. Study the chart below.

Determiners of Quantity	With Count Nouns	With Non Count Nouns
one each every	one ball each ball every ball	Ø Ø Ø
two, three, etc. both a couple of a few several many a number of	two balls both balls a couple of balls a few balls several balls many balls a number of balls	Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø
a little much a great deal of	Ø Ø Ø	a little water much water a great deal of water
no some/any a lot of/lots of plenty of most all	no balls some/any balls a lot of/lots of balls plenty of balls most balls all balls	no water some/any water a lot of/lots of water plenty of water most water all water

Exercise 5: Determining Quantity

Cross out the words that CANNOT be used to complete each sentence correctly. An example is given in sentence number two.

1. Joan drank __________ sodas. a. five b. a few c. hardly any d. several e. no f. a lot of g. a great deal of h. too much i. some j. a number of k. too many l. a little

2. Randy drank _________ coffee. a. five b. a few c. hardly any d. several e. no f. a lot of g. a great deal of h. too much i. some j. a number of k. too many l. a little

Collective Nouns

Some nouns reflect a group of people or animals and are usually singular. Following are examples of some common collective nouns.




Our class is going on a field trip today.
The pack of dogs was chasing the deer.
The public is against the war.
Our team is playing the champions next week.

Nouns That Are Always Plural

Some nouns are always plural and cannot be singular, unless used in the phrase “a pair of _________”.



My favorite jeans are in the washer.
This pair of jeans needs to be washed.
My eyeglasses are new.
This pair of eyeglasses is new.

Nouns That Function As Adjectives

Many nouns can function as adjectives when they are coupled with other nouns. The first noun acts to describe the second noun. Nouns which function as adjectives are always singular, even when they modify a plural noun.

The car doors have all been replaced.
We hurried to get to the train station.
This gold coin is worth a lot.

When number noun combinations are used, they are always hyphenated.

The hike was eight hours to the temple. BUT It was an eight-hour hike to the temple.
These tickets cost forty dollars. BUT These are forty-dollar tickets.



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