Grammar: Objects and Complements

Objects and Complements

• Object of Verbal: Functions as an object for gerunds, participles, or infinitives (e.g., "Washing hands frequently is a way of avoiding SARS").
• Object Complement: Complements a direct object (e.g., "He considers himself God").
• Subject Complement: Complements a subject (e.g., "That deadly disease is SARS").
• Nominative Address: Used for direct address (e.g., "God, have mercy on us").
• Appositive: Identifies or describes another noun before it (e.g., "The killer disease, SARS, affected the whole world").

Pluralization of Nouns

• Adding -s: Regular nouns typically form plurals by adding "s" (e.g., "student" to "students").
• Adding -es: Nouns ending in sibilant sounds (s, z, sh, zh, ch, j) form plurals by adding "es" (e.g., "buzz" to "buzzes").
• Changing -y to -ies: Nouns ending in "y" preceded by a consonant change to "ies" (e.g., "saleslady" to "salesladies"); if preceded by a vowel, simply add "s" (e.g., "monkey" to "monkeys").
• Nouns Ending in -o:
  • Preceded by a consonant: add "s" or "es" (e.g., "tomato" to "tomatoes").
  • Preceded by a vowel: add "s" (e.g., "radio" to "radios").
• Same Form for Singular and Plural: Some nouns remain the same (e.g., "moose" and "equipment").
• Special Plural Forms: Certain nouns have unique plural forms (e.g., "child" to "children").

Latin-derived Nouns Pluralization

• Change of Ending:
  • "-um" to "-a" (e.g., "bacterium" to "bacteria").
  • "-us" to "-i" (e.g., "alumnus" to "alumni").
  • "-on" to "-a" (e.g., "phenomenon" to "phenomena").
  • "-is" to "-es" (e.g., "basis" to "bases").
  • "-ix" to "-ices" (e.g., "matrix" to "matrices").
  • "ex" to "-ices" (e.g., "index" to "indices").

What is a Noun?

• Nouns name persons, places, things, events, or ideas and function in various grammatical roles.

Classification of Nouns

• Proper Noun: Specific names (e.g., "Simba", "Marxism").
• Common Noun: Generic names (e.g., "river", "lion").
• Concrete Noun: Perceptible by senses (e.g., "blackboard").
• Abstract Noun: Not perceivable by senses (e.g., "love").
• Collective Noun: Refers to a group (e.g., "company").
• Non-collective Noun: Single entities (e.g., "bishop").
• Count Noun: Countable items (e.g., "book").
• Non-count/Mass Noun: Uncountable but measurable (e.g., "sugar").
• Singular Noun: One entity (e.g., "diary").
• Plural Noun: More than one (e.g., "diaries").
• Simple Noun: Single word (e.g., "editor").
• Compound Noun: Two or more words (e.g., "bookworm").
• Masculine/Feminine Noun: Refers to male/female (e.g., "boy"/"girl").
• Neuter Noun: Inanimate objects (e.g., "textbook").

Functions of Nouns

• Subject: Main topic of a sentence (e.g., "SARS is a lethal illness").
• Direct Object: Receives action of the verb (e.g., "We worship God").
• Indirect Object: Receives action indirectly (e.g., "She gave the patient a mask for SARS").
• Object of the Preposition: Follows a preposition (e.g., "Economies suffer because of SARS").

This quiz covers the identification and usage of various grammatical objects and complements, including verbal objects, subject complements, and nominative address. Participants will explore examples to deepen their understanding of these key components in English grammar.