4. THE NOUN PHRASE
The noun phrase is a group of worlds that ends with a noun. It can contain determine (the, a, this, etc), adjective, adverbs, and nouns. It CANNOT begin with a preposition. Remember that both subject and complements are generally noun phrase.
A. COUNT AND NON-COUNT NOUNS
A count noun is one that can be counted.
Book --- one book, two book, three books, ….
Student --- one student, two student, three student, ….
Person --- one person, two person, three person, ….
A non-count noun is one that cannot be counted.
Milk --- you cannot say : one milk, two milk, three milk, ….
It is possible, however, to count some non-count nouns if the substance is placed in a countable container.
Glass of milk --- one glass of milk, two glass of milk, three glass of milk, ….
Some determine can be used only with count or non-count nouns, while others can be used with either. Memorize the words in the following chart
With Count Nouns | With Non-Count Nouns |
A(n), the, some, any This, that, these, those None, one, two, three Many A lot of A (large / great) number of (a) few Fewer …. than More …. than | The, some, any This, that None Much ( usually in negatives or questions ) A lot of A large amount of (a) little Less …. than More …. than |
It is very important to know if a noun is non-count. Be sure that you know the plurals of irregular count nouns. The following lis contains some irregular count nouns that you should know.
Person—people child---children tooht---teeth Foot—feet mouse---mice man---men Woman—women |
The following list contains some non-count nouns that you should know.
Sand soap physic mathematics News mumps air politics Measles information meat homework Food economics advertising* money |
*NOTE : Although advertising is a non-count noun, advertising ent is a count noun. if you wish to speak of one particular advertisement, you must use this world.
There are too many advertisements during television shows.
There is too much advertisingduring television shows.
Some non-count nouns, such as food, meat, money, and sand, may be used as count nouns in order to indicate different types.
This is one of the foods that my doctor has forbidden me to eat.
(indicates a particular type of food)
He studies meats.
(for example, beef, pork, lamb, etc)
B. A AND AN
A or an can precede only singular count nouns; they mean one. They can be used in a general statement or to introduce a subject which has not been previously mentioned.
A baseball is round. (general---means all baseball)
I saw a boy in the street. (We don’t know which boy)
An is used before words that begin with a vowel sound. A is used before word that begin with a consonant sound.
A book An apple
Some words can be confusing because the spelling doesn’t indicate the pronunciation.
A house (begins with a consonant sound)
An hour (begins with a vowel sound)
A university (begins with a consonant sound)
An umbrella (begins with a vowel sound
The following words begin with a consonant sound and thus must always be preceded by a.
European eulogy euphemism eucalyptus House home heavy half Uniform university universal union |
The following words begin with a vowel sound and thus must always be preceded by an.
Hour heir herbal honor Uncel Umbrella unnatural understanding |
The initial sound of the word that immediately follows the indefinite article will determine whether it sound be a or an.
An umbrella a white umbrella
An hour a whole hour
C. THE
The is ude to indicate something that we already know about or something that is common knowledge.
The boy in the corner is my friend. ( the speaker and the listener know which boy. )
The earth is round ( there is only one earth. )
With non-count nouns, one uses the article the if speaking in specific terms, but uses no article if speaking in general.
Sugar is sweet. ( general---all sugar )
The sugar on the table is form Cuba. ( specific---the sugar that is on the table )
Normally, plural count nouns, when they mean everything within a certain class, are not preceded by the.
Oranges are green until they ripen. ( all oranges )
Athletes should followa well-balanced diet. ( all athletes )
Normally a proper noun is not preceded by an article unless there are several people or things with the same name the speaker is specifying one of them.
There are three Susan Parkers in the telephone directory.
The Susan Parker that I know lives on First Avenue.
Normally words such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, school, church, home, college, and work don’t use any article unless to restrict the meaning.
We eat breakfast at eight o’clock this morning.
We went to school yesterday.
Use the following generalizations as a guide for the use of the article the.
use THE with | Don’t use THE with |
Oceans, rivers, seas, gulfs, plural, lakes The Red Sea, The Atlantic Ocean The Persian Gulf The Great Lakes Mountains The Rocky Mountains The Andes Earth, moon The earth The moon Schools, colleges, universities when the prehase begin with school, etc. The University of Florida The College of Arts and Sciences Ordinal numbers before nouns. The First World War The third chapter Wars (except world wars) The Crimean War The Korean War Certain countries or groups of countries with more than one word (except Great Britain) The United State The United Kingdom The Central African Republic Historical documents The Constitution The Magna Carta Ethnic groups The Indians, The Aztecs | Singular lakes Lake Geneva Lake Eric Mounts Mount Vesuvius Mount McKinley Planets, constellations Venus, Mars, Earth, Orion Schools, colleges, universities when the phrase begins with a proper noun Santa Fe Community College Cooper’s Art School Cardinal numbers after nouns World War One, Chapter three Countries preceded by New or an adjective such as a direction New Zealand, South Africa Countries with only one word France, Sweden, Venezuela Continents European, Africa, South America States Florida, Ohio, California Sports Baseball, Basketball Abstarct nouns Freedom, happiness General areas of subject matter Mathematics, Sociology Holidays Christmas, Thanksgiving |