✧ NOUN-CASES is another important topic which comes under phrase.

To identify the object of preposition, you simply need to

NOUN. The CASE of a noun tells us about the position and role of that identify the prepositional phrase.
noun in a sentence. In English there are FIVE CASES.
6. NOUN FUNCTIONS AS AN APPOSITIVE – an appositive explains or
1.NOMINATIVE or SUBJECTIVE CASE: enhances a noun or pronoun that comes just before it or a noun or
pronoun that is near to it. A noun or pronoun in apposition to
When a noun acts as the subject of a verb in a sentence, it is said to another noun or pronoun can replace the noun or pronoun.
be in the nominative or subjective case. (SUBJECT is the person or the
thing who or which carries out the action of the verb in the sentence) 7. NOUN FUNCTIONS AS OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT – the objective
To find noun in nominative case make a question with What? or complement follows a direct object and renames the direct object.
Who? before the verb. Question with What is made if noun is a thing. Remember the objective complement follows a direct object and
If noun is a person than Who is used to make a question. names or renames the direct object.

2.ACCUSATIVE or OBJECTIVE CASE: 8. NOUN FUNCTIONS AS NOUN OF DIRECT ADDRESS – the noun of
direct address is used to address someone or something. Remember
When a noun acts as the object of a verb in a sentence, it is said to be the objective complement follows a direct object and names or
in accusative or objective case. It experiences the verb done by the renames the direct object.
subject. If they are the direct objects of verbs orif they are the
objects of preposition (Direct object is the person or the thing upon • 1. SUBJECT OF THE SENTENCE - a noun is used as the subject what
whom or upon which the action of the verb is carried out). To find is being talked about in a sentence. Examples: Father works in a farm.
noun in accusative case make a question with What or Whom after / The lady walks gracefully. / Miss Cruz goes to school early.
the verb and its subject. A noun that comes after a preposition is also
in the accusative case and it is known as the object of preposition. 2. PREDICATE NOUN - a noun that is usually after the linking verb
Question with What is made if the noun is a thing. If the noun is a Examples: Mario is a teacher. / My friend is an architect. / Rosario
person than Whom is used to make a question. was a valedictorian. / The prince became a beggar.

3.DATIVE CASE: 3. DIRECT OBJECT - a noun that receives the action of the verb.
Examples: The girl lost the bag. / The robber killed the policeman. /
When a noun acts as an indirect object (Indirect object of the verb is The boy found a book. / She likes watermelon.
the noun for whom or for which the action of the verb is carried out.
It usually comes just after the verb) of a verb in a sentence it is said 4. INDIRECT OBJECT - a noun that receives the secondary action of
to be in the dative case. There should not be a preposition before the the verb. Examples: The secretary gave her boss a gift. / I bought my
indirect object because in that case it will be the object of that grand daughter a new dress. / The president gave Teresita a letter.
preposition. Indirect objects are those to whom or for whom the
verb is done. 5. OBJECT OF PREPOSITION - a noun that serves the object of
preposition.(in, on, at, from, etc) Examples: Three students are
4.POSSESSIVE CASE (GENITIVE CASE): absent from the class. / The children played under the tree. / We
stayed in the field.
Possessive case shows the possession, ownership, or authority of a
noun. That is this case shows a relationship between two nouns or 6. AN APPOSITIVE - a noun renaming or identifying the person or
between a noun and a pronoun. The possessive case is made by thing first mentioned. Examples: Jose Rizal, the hero, was born in
adding an apostrophe and an s to the noun or we use the preposition Calamba. / My friend, an architect, has just arrived.
of to show this relationship. Remember either apostrophe and an s
or preposition of is used to make the possessive case of living beings 7. DIRECT ADDRESS NOUNS - a name or word used in directly
or personified objects. But to make the possessive case of a non- addressing the person. Examples: Paolo, wake up. Mr. CEO, the
living thing we use only preposition of. conference room is now ready for the meeting.

5.VOCATIVE CASE or NOMINATIVE OF ADDRESS: 8. OBJECT COMPLEMENT - an object complement is a word that
completes the meaning of a direct object. It is used when the direct
When a noun is addressed or called out in a sentence than that noun object would not make complete sense by itself. Example: I named
is said to be in the vocative case. This usually happens when you take my cat Garfield.
the name of the listener while talking. Vocative case sets the identity
of the spoken party or listener. It is important to separate the ✧ Most singular nouns are made plural by simply putting an –s at the
vocative noun from the rest of the sentence with the help of a end. There are many different rules regarding pluralization
comma. Or else the meaning of the sentence changes completely. depending on what letter a noun ends in. Irregular nouns do not
follow plural noun rules, so they must be memorized or looked up in
✧ Essential Uses of Nouns the dictionary.

1. NOUN FUNCTIONS AS SUBJECT – The subject of the sentence tells A noun is plural when it represents two or more people, places,
"who" or "what" about the verb in the sentence. things, or ideas. You can identify most plural nouns because they end
in –s or –es, although there are plenty of exceptions. In particular,
2. NOUN FUNCTIONS AS DIRECT OBJECT – The direct object in a irregular plural nouns each have their own special plural forms, such
sentence answers "whom" or "what" after the action verb in the as child and its plural form, children.
sentence.
To make a regular noun plural, you add –s or –es to the end,
3. NOUN FUNCTIONS AS INDIRECT OBJECT – The indirect object in depending on the word’s ending. Sometimes, letters of the original
the sentence tells "to whom" or "for whom" the action is done in the word get changed to make the plural form, such as half and its plural
sentence. form, halves. We explain which words get which suffixes in the next
section.
4. NOUN FUNCTIONS AS PREDICATE NOMINATIVE – A noun that
follows a linking verb in a sentence may function as a predicate Irregular plural nouns are an exception. Each irregular plural noun
nominative. A predicate nominative will always rename the subject has its own unique plural form, such as mouse and its plural, mice, or
of the sentence. Remember, the predicate nominative follows the goose and its plural, geese. Most nouns can be turned into plural
linking verb and renames the subject. nouns, including collective nouns that represent groups.

However, mass nouns, also known as uncountable nouns or non-

count nouns, like art, usually aren’t expressed as plurals, even when
5. NOUN FUNCTIONS AS OBJECT OF PREPOSITION – The object of they represent multiple things.
the preposition in a sentence is the last word in a prepositional
✧ Plural noun rules
There are many plural noun rules, and because we use nouns so The word plural is defined as ‘relating to or constituting a class of
frequently when writing, it’s important to know all of them! The grammatical forms usually used to denote more than one or in some
correct spelling of plurals usually depends on what letter the singular languages more than two’ and ‘relating to, consisting of, or
noun ends in. containing more than one or more than one kind or class’, according
to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. So a noun that consists or relates
1. To make regular nouns plural, add –s to the end. to more than one person, place or thing can be defined as a plural
noun.
cat – cats, house – houses
Changing a Singular Noun to a Plural Noun
2. If the singular noun ends in –s, –ss, –sh, –ch, –x, or –z, you usually
add -es to the end to make it plural. A common noun can be made plural by adding an ‘s’, ‘es’, ‘ies’, ‘ves’;
by changing ‘us’ to ‘i’, ‘is’ to ‘es’, ‘on’ to ‘a’ and so on. There are some
iris – irises, truss – trusses, marsh – marshes, lunch – lunches, tax – common nouns that remain the same in the singular and plural
taxes, blitz – blitzes forms. A few others do not fall under any other category of plural
nouns. They are termed irregular nouns. These common nouns can
3. In some cases, singular nouns ending in –s or –z require that you be made plural by a change in the spelling or by the addition of a
double the –s or –z prior to adding the –es for pluralization. suffix to the root word.

bus – busses, fez – fezzes The Golden Rule of Using Plural Nouns in Sentences – Subject-Verb
Agreement
4. For most nouns that end with –f or –ef, you add an –s to form the
plural version. Be aware of exceptions, however. For some nouns When using plural nouns, take care to change the verb accordingly so
ending this way, you must change the –f or –ef to –ve before adding that the sentences do not look grammatically incorrect. The verbs
the –s. forms used along with a plural noun include, are (simple present
tense), were (simple past tense), are+verb+ing, were+verb+ing,
roof – roofs, belief – beliefs, chef – chefs, chief – chiefs have+past participle, have+been+past participle, will+have+verb+ing
and will+have+past participle. Examples:
Exceptions: wife – wives, wolf – wolves
None of the students has completed their homework. (Group of
5. If a singular noun ends in –y and the letter before the –y is a
people)
consonant, you usually change the ending to –ies to make the noun
plural. All the rescued animals have been returned to their natural habitats
safely. (Group of different animals)
city – cities, puppy – puppies
The textbooks and notebooks are kept on the shelves. (Objects)
6. If the singular noun ends in –y and the letter before the –y is a
vowel, simply add an –s to make it plural. All schools in the city are shut down due to the political protests
carried out in and around the city.
ray – rays, boy – boys

7. If the singular noun ends in –o, you usually add –es to make it
plural.

potato – potatoes, tomato – tomatoes

Exceptions: photo – photos, piano – pianos, halo – halos

With the unique word volcano, you can apply the standard
pluralization for words that end in –o or not. It’s your choice! Both of
the following are correct: volcanoes, volcanos

8 If the singular noun ends in –us, the plural ending is frequently –i.

cactus – cacti, focus – foci

9 If the singular noun ends in –is, the plural ending is –es.

analysis – analyses, ellipsis – ellipses

10 If the singular noun ends in –on, the plural ending is usually –a.

phenomenon – phenomena, criterion – criteria

11 Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized. sheep –

sheep, series – series, species – species, deer – deer

You need to see these nouns in context to identify them as singular

or plural. Consider the following sentence:

Mark caught one fish, but I caught three fish.

However, when it comes to fish, things can get a little complicated.

✧ Plural noun rules for irregular nouns

Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize

these or look up the proper pluralization in the dictionary.

child – children, goose – geese, man – men, woman – women, tooth

– teeth, foot – feet, mouse – mice, person – people
What Are Pronouns? When you think of pronouns, you most likely think first of personal
pronouns. Personal pronouns are pronouns that change form based
You use pronouns every day. In fact, even if you don’t know what on their grammatical person—that is, based on whether they refer to
pronouns are, you use them—and in this sentence alone, we’ve now the person speaking or writing (the first person), the person or thing
used pronouns four times. being spoken to (the second person), or the person or thing being
spoken about (the third person). Here is a list of the main personal
Pronouns are words (or phrases) you substitute for nouns when your pronouns :
reader or listener already knows which noun you’re referring to. For
example, you might say, “I have a dog. She’s brown and white.” I/me, she/her, he/him, they/them, It, we/us, you
There’s no need to clarify that you’re describing your dog in the
second sentence because you already mentioned her in the first. By Relative pronouns
using the pronoun she, you can avoid the annoying repetition of the
dog. Relative pronouns are another class of pronouns. They connect
relative clauses to independent clauses. Often, they introduce
In English grammar, pronouns are a type of generic noun that can additional information about something mentioned in the sentence.
represent any other noun. Their job is to make communication faster Relative pronouns include these words:
and more efficient because you don’t have to repeat the same word
over and over again. Some pronoun examples include: I, me, us, you, that, what, which, who, whom,
themselves, who, that.
Traditionally, who refers to people, and which and that refer to
Pronouns are one of the eight traditional parts of speech, and they animals or things.
are also sometimes understood as making up a small subcategory of
nouns. The distinguishing characteristic of pronouns is that they can Who vs. whom—subject and object pronouns
be substituted for nouns. For instance, if you’re telling a story about
your sister Sarah, the story will begin to sound repetitive if you keep Knowing when to use who and when to use whom trips a lot of
saying or writing Sarah over and over again: Sarah has always loved writers up. The difference is actually pretty simple: Who is for the
fashion. Sarah announced that Sarah wants to go to fashion school. subject of a sentence or clause, and whom is for the object of a verb
or preposition.
You could try to mix it up by sometimes referring to Sarah as “my
sister,” but then it sounds like you’re referring to two different Who is a subject pronoun. It’s in the subjective case, just like I, he,
people: Sarah has always loved fashion. My sister announced that she, they, and we. Whom is an object pronoun, which puts it in the
Sarah wants to go to fashion school. objective case along with me, him, her, them, and us. An easy way to
determine whether you should use who or whom in a sentence is to
Instead, you can use the pronoun she to refer to Sarah after answer the sentence’s question by substituting another pronoun that
introducing her: Sarah has always loved fashion. She announced that is affected by case. With the new pronoun in place, determine
she wants to go to fashion school. whether the sentence still makes sense.

Pronouns can replace both proper and common nouns. Certain Figuring out when to use whom can be more difficult than knowing
pronouns have specific rules about when they can be used, such as when to use who because it typically comes before the sentence’s
the way it should never be used to refer to a human being. We verb when used in a question, as it often is—notice how the structure
explain all of the different types and their associated rules below. of the object pronoun example sentence needed to change more
Notice that some pronouns (such as which and whose) can function dramatically than that of the subject pronoun sentence.
as more than one type, depending on how they’re deployed in a
sentence. Demonstrative pronouns

What is an antecedent? That, this, these, and those are demonstrative pronouns. They can
point directly to an antecedent or replace one that has already been
Remember how we mentioned that in order to use a pronoun, you mentioned or is clear through context.
need to introduce the noun first? That noun has a name: an
antecedent. This is used for singular items that are nearby. These is used for
multiple items that are nearby. The distance can be physical or
Antecedents are necessary because pronouns are versatile. Think metaphorical.
about it—it can refer to a bike, a tree, a car, or a city, and we just
used it to refer to something else entirely: pronouns’ versatility. Take That is used for singular items that are farther away. Those is used
a look at these examples, in which pronouns are bolded and the for multiple items that are farther away. Again, the distance can be
nouns they’re referring to are underlined, to see how antecedents physical or metaphorical.
and pronouns work together:
Indefinite pronouns
My family tests my patience, but I love them.
Indefinite pronouns are used to refer generally to a person or thing
The sign was too far away for Jorge to read it. that doesn’t need to be specifically identified or has already been
mentioned. Here are some common indefinite pronouns: one, other,
Danita said she is almost finished with the application. none, some, anybody, everybody, no one

Antecedents aren’t necessary when the reader/listener knows who When an indefinite pronoun functions as the subject of a sentence or
or what you’re discussing. Generally, you don’t need an antecedent clause, it usually takes singular verbs.
for a pronoun like I, you, we, our, or me. But sometimes you do need
an antecedent in this kind of situation—like when you’re giving a Reflexive pronouns
speech where you introduce yourself and your credentials before
discussing the subject of your speech. Reflexive pronouns are forms of personal pronouns that end in –self
or –selves: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves,
There are also circumstances where you might not introduce the yourselves, themselves,
noun first and instead reveal it only after using pronouns to refer to
your subject. You might do this for dramatic or poetic effect in a You can use a reflexive pronoun as the object of a verb or preposition
piece of creative writing, for example. to refer back to the subject of the sentence or clause.

Using myself when you mean me is a common mistake writers and

speakers make. Reflexive pronouns are correct only when the subject
Personal pronouns and object of a verb are the same. If you’re using a pronoun as an
object but it refers to an antecedent that is not the subject of the on the Grammarly blog, and for writers across the internet, it’s a
sentence or clause. concise, catch-all pronoun that can fit just about any sentence.
However, language is constantly evolving, and new types of singular
Intensive pronouns third-person pronouns have emerged that refer to people entirely
without reference to gender, such as noun-self pronouns.
Intensive pronouns look the same as reflexive pronouns, but their
purpose is different. Intensive pronouns add emphasis by repeating 1. Personal Pronouns - A type of pronoun used to refer to specific
their antecedent noun or pronoun. Conceptualizing the difference individuals or groups.
between them and reflexive pronouns can be challenging because
the emphasis isn’t always obvious. E.g. I, We, You, They, He, She.

If you can remove a pronoun from a sentence and it loses emphasis 2. Possessive Pronouns - A type of pronoun that show ownership or
but its meaning stays the same, it’s most likely an intensive pronoun. possession of something.
Intensive pronouns can help you express pride, shock, disbelief,
credulousness (or incredulousness), or another strong emotion. E.g. Mine, Yours, His, Hers, Its Ours, Theirs.

Possessive pronouns 3. Reflexive Pronouns - They are used to refer back to the subject of a
sentence.
As their names imply, both possessive pronouns and possessive
adjectives show ownership. E.g. Myself, Yourself, Himself, Herself, Itself, Ourselves.

Possessive pronouns are sometimes called independent possessive 4. Demonstrative Pronouns - They point to or identify specific people,
pronouns or absolute possessive pronouns. They show possession of places, things, or ideas.
a noun by replacing it. They look like this:
E.g. This, That, These, Those.
mine, yours, ours, his, hers, theirs, its
5. Interrogative Pronouns - They are used to ask questions and gather
When you use an independent possessive pronoun, you drop the information.
noun that the pronoun is expressing a relationship to.
E.g. Who, Whom, Whose, Which, What.
Possessive adjectives also clarify who or what owns something.
Unlike possessive pronouns—which replace nouns—possessive 6. Relative Pronouns - They are used to connect one part of a
adjectives go before nouns to modify them. They include the sentence to another and show the relationship between them.
following: my, your, our, his, her, their, its
E.g. Who, Whom, Whose, Which.
Each possessive pronoun also has a form called the independent
possessive. They look like this: 7. Indefinite Pronouns - They are used to refer to non-specific people,
things, or ideas.
mine, yours, ours, his, hers, theirs, its
E.g. Someone, Something, Anybody, Anything, Nobody, Nothing.
When you use an independent possessive pronoun, you drop the
noun that the pronoun is expressing a relationship to. 8. Reciprocal Pronouns - They are used to talk about actions that are
done between two or more people.
Interrogative pronouns
E.g. Each other, One another.
Interrogative pronouns are used in questions. These are the
interrogative pronouns: who, whose, whom, what, which 9. Intensive Pronouns - They are used to add emphasis to a noun or
pronoun in a sentence.
Reciprocal pronouns
E.g. Myself, Yourself, Himself, Herself, Itself
There are only two reciprocal pronouns: each other and one another.
These pronouns describe a mutual relationship between two or more 10. Relative Possessive Pronouns - They are used to show possession
elements. and introduce relative clauses at the same time.

Distributive pronouns E.g. Whose, Of which.

Distributive pronouns refer to nouns as individual elements of larger

groups. They enable you to single out individuals while
acknowledging that they’re part of a group. Distributive pronouns
include the following: either, each, neither, any, none

Pronouns and gender identity

You might have noticed pronouns listed in some of your colleagues’

and friends’ email signatures or social media profiles. You might have
even been prompted to list your own pronouns in your profiles and
communications. While historically only the personal pronouns
he/him/his and she/her/hers were used for individuals, based on
their perceived gender, pronoun usage is broader and more
descriptive today.

Many people use gender-neutral language like they/them/theirs and

zie/hir/hirs because they feel these pronouns express their gender
identity more accurately than she or he. The most common gender-
neutral pronoun is the singular they. Today, it’s not uncommon to
see the singular they as the default neutral pronoun. It’s what we use