NOUN 



4295 



NOUN 



also called the accusative, is that grammatical 

 relation of a noun in which it serves as the direct 

 or indirect object of a verb, the second object 

 or predicate objective of a verb, the object of 

 a preposition or the subject of an infinitive, or 

 in which it is in apposition with another noun 

 in the objective case. When used as the indi- 

 rect object the word is said to be in the dative 

 case. Possessive case, or genitive, is that gram- 

 matical relation of a noun by which it denotes 

 ownership. 



Parsing the Noun. To parse a noun these 

 points must be covered: The class to which it 

 belongs; its number, person, gender and case; 

 its syntax, or use in the sentence. The follow- 

 ing is a type sentence: 



Rose, thou art the fondest child 

 Of dimpled Spring, the wood-nymph wild. 



Moore. 



Rose is a common noun, personified ; singular 

 number, second person, neuter gender, nominative 

 case by direct address. Child is a common 

 noun ; singular number, third person, common or 

 indeterminate gender, nominative case predicate 

 complement of the verb art. Spring is a proper 

 noun, personified ; singular number, third person, 

 feminine gender, objective case object of the 

 preposition of. Wood-nymph is a common noun, 

 compound in form; singular number, third per- 

 son, feminine gender, objective case in apposi- 

 tion with Spring. 



Common Errors. The chief sources of error 

 in the use of nouns are the employment of the 

 objective instead of the possessive case preced- 

 ing a participle used as a noun, the incorrect 

 formation of plurals and possessives, and the 

 misuse of everyday words, like party, line and 

 balance, in constructions where the meaning 

 calls for some other noun. Some of the com- 

 monest of these errors are covered in the fol- 

 lowing examples: 



Use three heaping spoons full of sugar, for 



Use three heaping spoonfuls of sugar. It is the 



word that should be pluralized. since the 



idea is not three separate spoons, but a single 



spoonful taken three times. 



My mother and ttoo of my sister-in-laws will 

 accompany me, for My mother and two of my 

 sisters-in-law will accompany me. Sister Is the 

 important word In the compound and therefor* 

 the one to be pluralized ; the other words are 

 ly descrlpt 



The family dates back to William's and Mary's 

 rcign t for The family dates back to William and 

 Mary's reign, or. still better, to the reign of Wil- 

 liam and Mary. Possessive nouns connected by 

 and but denoting joint possession require only one 

 sign of the possessive, and that should be affixed 

 to the last word of the so 



/ con find mother and sister's umbrellas, but 

 not yours, for / con find mother's and sister's 



umbrellas, but not yours. Here the idea of sepa- 

 rate ownership is implied, and therefore each 

 noun must be in the possessive case. 



Next week there will be an important sale of 

 ladie's and children*' clothing, for Next week 

 there will be an important sale of ladies' and 

 children's clothing. In forming the plural pos- 

 sessive the apostrophe follows the s if the plural 

 ends in s; it precedes the s where the plural is 

 irregularly formed, as in the case of children. 



These flowers came from Johnson's, the florist's, 

 for These flowers came from Johnson, the florist's. 

 With two nouns In apposition, it is correct to put 

 the sign of the possessive with the second only 

 never with both. 



The balance of the time I spent in reading, for 

 The remainder (or rest) of the time I spent in 

 reading. Balance is a commercial term, Improp- 

 erly used except with the idea of making things 

 equal. 



Only a dozen or so people attended the meeting, 

 for Only a dozen or so persons attended the > 

 ing. People is not correctly used for a small 

 number of persons. 



I live a long ways from New York, for / live a 

 long way (or distance) from New York. The 

 combination of the singular article a with a plural 

 noun is illogical. 



We have a fine line of outing shoes, for We 

 have a fine stock of outing shoes. The use of 

 line in this sense is an example of "trade jargon." 

 Line of work and line of business are good English 

 expressions, but not line of goods. 



Are you the party who was to look after these 

 repairs f for Are you the man (or person) who 

 was to look after these repairs? It is only in 

 legal phrases, such as party to the crime, party 

 of the first part, party to the suit, and the like, 

 that party may be used for only one person ; in 

 all other cases it signifies a number of persons. 



You had a right to warn him, for You ought to 

 have warned him, or It was your duty to warn 

 him. The noun right is not properly used to ex- 

 press the idea of obligation or duty. 



There are more than thirty scholars in my 

 arithmetic class, for There are more than thirty 

 pupils (or students) in my arithmetic class. A 

 scholar is a learned person, a man or woman of 

 scholarly attainments, not a mere learner. L.M.B. 



Outline on the N.M.I. 



(1) Definition 



(a) Derivation of noun 



(b) Meaning in grammar 



(2) Cl noses 



(a) Common 



1. Concrete 



2. Abstract 



3. Collective 



4. Nouns by use 



(b) Proper 



(c) Proper used as common 



(3) Properties 



(a) Person 



(b) Number 



(c) Gender 



(d) Case 



(4) Parsing the noun 



(a) Essentials to be stated 



(b) Type sentence 



(5) Common Errors 



