English Master Series (Tricks of Noun - I) Module

Dear aspirants,

Here we are with our third module of English Master Series. Hope this will surely help you with your English Language preparation. Here in this Module, we will study about Tricks of Noun.

MODULE-3

TRICKS OF NOUN - 1

A Noun that denotes one person or thing, is said to be in the Singular Number.

Ex: Elf, Lass, Zoo.

A Noun that denotes more than one person or thing is said to be in the Plural Number.

Ex: Elves, Lasses, Zoos.

COMPOUND NOUNS

Words can be combined to form compound nouns. These are very common, and new combinations are invented almost daily. They normally have two parts.

The first part tells us what kind of object or person it is, or what its purpose is.
The second part identifies the object or person in question.

Note:

Compound nouns often have a meaning that is different, or more specific, than the two separate words.

Sometimes compound nouns are connected with a hyphen: dry-cleaning, daughter-in-law, and well-being are some examples of hyphenated compound nouns.

Questions asked in Competitive exams

1. Whenever he goes to Mumbai / he stays in/ five-stars hotels.

2. All his sisters-in-laws/ are extremely co-operative/ and she doesn’t miss her real sisters at all.

Sol:

1. Whenever he goes to Mumbai he stays in five-star hotels.

2. All his sisters-in-law are extremely co-operative and she doesn’t miss her real sisters at all.

Elements of Compound Noun

A) Noun + Noun: bedroom, water tank, motorcycle, printer cartridge

Ex:

I love watching fireflies on warm summer nights.
While you’re at the store, please pick up some toothpaste, a six-pack of ginger ale, and some egg rolls.

B) Noun + Verb: rainfall, haircut, train-spotting

Ex:

He always gets up before sunrise.
I really could use an updated hairstyle.

C) Noun + Adverb: hanger-on, passer-by

Ex:

It is no longer the merry, saucy hanger-on of the homestead, but is become the suspicious thief, shunning the gaze of man, and knowing that danger may lurk in every bush.
He turned his back on the towers; and sought distraction in the faces of the passers-by.

D) Verb + Noun: washing machine, driving licence, swimming pool

Ex:

Be sure to add bleach to the washing machine.
Let’s be sure to stay somewhere with a swimming pool.

E) Verb + Adverb: lookout, take-off, drawback

Ex:

The feds and PMF headquarters both issued a priority one lookout for her.
A layman's work may have the advantage of originality or the drawback of imperfect knowledge.

F) Adverb + Noun: onlooker, bystander

Ex:

It is pleasant to contrast this neurotic joy of one onlooker with the matter-of-fact reflexions of another.
They might have considered her an innocent bystander in her relationship with Allen, but being on the sideline again would, at minimum, make them suspicious.

G) Adjective + Verb: dry-cleaning, public speaking

Ex:

There is nothing less sleep-inducing than feeling like both your feet have dry-cleaning bags rubber-banded around them.
Why is public speaking useful for students?

H) Adjective + Noun: greenhouse, software, redhead

Ex:

Let’s watch the full moon come up over the mountain.
Please erase the blackboard for me.

I) Adverb + Verb: output, overthrow, upturn, input

Ex:

Compassed the overthrow of the kingdom of Damascus, he also took Arpad, an important place three hours to the north of Aleppo.
The last word ended on the upturn, as if it were a question, not a statement.

IMPORTANT RULES

Rule 1. Some nouns are the same in both their singular and plural forms.

Ex: So I can have one deer or two deer - or one sheep or two sheep. Or I might be hooked on one T.V. series or two T.V. series.

Note: Wages can be used in both singular and plural form:-

Wages: means Result in a singular form. Ex: Wages of hard work is sweet.

Wages: means Labour in a plural form. Ex: Wages are paid in cash.

Rule 2 . Certain Nouns exist in Plural forms only. Thus, “s” cannot be removed from such Nouns to make them singular. They take Plural verb with them.

Ex: tongs, savings, fangs, amends, embers, tactics, archives, auspices, bellows, pliers, pincers, gallow, etc.

Ex:

The embers of the fire were still burning.
Where are the tongs?

Rule 3. A Hyphenated Compound Noun requires that you make the first, major noun plural.

For ex:

There are two runners-up in a beauty pageant (not runner-ups).
There might be a meeting for editors-in-chief (not in editor-in-chiefs).

Rule 4. Mumps, Measles, shingles, Linguistics, Summons, Economics, Rickets, News, Innings are certain Nouns that are plural in form but singular in meaning. They take a singular verb.

Ex:

Ethics demand honesty.
Economics is an interesting subject.

Questions asked in Competitive exams

1. Two summons have been issued by the court/ but he has not/ yet appeared before the court.

2. Lasers are/ indispensable tools/ for dedicate eyes surgery.

Sol:

1. Two summonses have been issued by the court but he has not yet appeared before the court.

Note: Summonses may sound funny, but it is the plural of the singular noun summons.

2. Lasers are indispensable tools for dedicate eye surgery.

to be continued....

We hope this module will help you with your English Language preparation. We will come back soon with our next module and after each module, there will be an Exercise based on the modules.

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