Mastering Noun Usage: Essential Skills for Effective Writing

1. Writing I Basics, Nouns and Articles

2. essays ↙↓↘ paragraphs ↙↓↘ sentences ↙↓↘ phrases ↙↓↘ words

3. Parts of Speech • Nouns • Pronouns • Verbs • Adjectives • Adverbs • Prepositions • Conjunctions • Articles • Injections

4. Basic Elements of a Sentence • Subject • Verb • Examples: • You sing. • I dance.

5. What can be a subject? • Nouns 名詞 • Noun phrases 名詞片語 • Noun clauses 名詞子句 • Infinitive phrases 不定詞片語 • Gerunds 動名詞

6. What is a clause? • A smaller sentence inside another sentence • Example: • I know he is happy. ↓ a clause ↓ a noun clause

7. Types of Nouns • Count Nouns • Singular count nouns always come with an article. • Plural count nouns always come with an “s” or “es” at the end. • Noncount Nouns • Noncount Nouns are always singular. • No indefinite articles come with noncount nouns. Exercise on Page 107

8. Noncount Nouns • Refer to a “whole” furniture • Abstractions luck • Phenomena of Nature sunshine • Some nouns can be either count or noncount nouns, but they differ in meanings. hair; light

9. Unit Expressions • a spoonful of sugar • a glass of milk • a cup of coffee • a piece of paper • a piece of jewelry • a bag of flour • a bar of soap • a pound of meat • a head of lettuce

10. Some Common Noncount Nouns • Whole group • Fluid • Solids • Gases • Particles • Abstractions • Languages • Fields of study • Recreation • Activities • Natural Phenomena See Page 108 Exercises on Pages 109-111

11. Don’t forget articles! • Definite article: “The” --used before definite nouns • Indefinite articles: “A”, “an” --used before singular indefinite count nouns --use “an” if the following word starts with a vowel; otherwise, use “a” Exercises on Pages 113-118

12. Irregular Plural Nouns • Chart 7-1 on page 100 Exercises on Pages 101-102

13. Using Nouns as Modifiers • When a noun is used as a modifier, it is in its singular form. vegetable soup • When a noun used as a modifier is combined with a number expression, the noun is singular and a hyphen (-) is used. a five-year-old boy

14. Expressions of Quantity • one, each, every • two…, both, a couple of, a few several, many, a number of (used with count nouns) • a little, much, a great deal of (used with noncount nouns) • no, some/any, a lot of/lots of plenty of, most, all (used with both count and noncount nouns) Exercises on Pages 120-124