Nouns

CHAPTER XV

NOUNS

C. THE USES OF NOUNS.

     296. There are eleven different uses which nouns may have in the expression of thought. Six of these uses we already know about.
     A Noun may be used in a sentence as —
     1. The Subject of a verb:

	The wind sways the tops of trees.
	Can woodpeckers make such large holes?

2. The Subjective Complement of a copulative verb (or of a passive verb phrase [§ 501]):

	These trees are ancient landmarks.
	The former Emperor of Russia was styled the Czar.

3. The Object of a transitive verb (or verbal word [§ 594]):

We bend the branches to reach the fruit.

4. The Object of a Preposition:

The shadow of the tree reaches beyond the wall.

5. An Appositive to explain another noun or a pronoun:

	Homer the famous Greek poet was blind.
	She mourned him, her only son.

6. A Possessive:

The Native American’s wigwam gave place to the settler’s cabin.

This is the only use that requires a special form of the noun.

Rules for the Use of Possessives.

297. Sometimes the names of several persons are treated like a single noun in forming the possessive.
Thus, if Parker and Ward is the name of a business, we treat it like a compound noun, putting the possessive sign at the end when we speak of Parker and Ward’s business or company. To say Parker’s and Ward’s business or company would show that the men were in business separately, or owned different companies.

EXERCISE 227.

298. RULE I. — ( a ) To show separate possession of different things by several persons, use the possessive sign after the name of each. But —
( b ) To show joint possession, use the sign after the last name only.

EXERCISE 228.

299. To express the idea of possession it is often better to use a prepositional phrase than to use the possessive sign. In this way we avoid forms perceived as awkward or sounds felt as too hissing. Thus: —

“In the reign of Napoleon the Third” is better than
     “In Napoleon the Third’s reign”; and
“The houses of my father’s partner” is easier to understand than
     “My father’s partner’s houses.” And, instead of
“Socrates’s sayings” we may prefer to say —
     “The sayings of Socrates.” Hence —

300. RULE II. — Avoid hissing sounds or awkward expressions by using a prepositional phrase instead of a possessive.

EXERCISE 229.

EXERCISE 230.

301. A possessive noun does the work of a phrase or of an adjective, and, like an adjective, may be used without the noun it modifies, as in “This poem is Longfellow’s” [See § 361.]

7. NOUNS AS INDIRECT OBJECTS.

302. A noun may be used as the Indirect Object of a verb. Thus: —

We have sent the superintendent an invitation.

EXERCISE 231.

     303. Verbs like those in the preceding exercise often have two objects, —
     ( 1 ) One showing what is given, bought, etc., called the Direct Object, because it shows what the action directly affects; and —
     ( 2 ) The other showing to whom or for whom something is given, bought, etc. This is called the Indirect Object, because it is less closely connected with the verb.

304. When the direct object comes first, the indirect object is expressed in a prepositional phrase, introduced generally by to or for, sometimes by of or with, as in sentences 1–6, Exercise 231.

304a. The indirect object, whether expressed in a noun phrase or a prepositional phrase, is a complement to the verb. When it is a prepositional phrase, it is called a Prepositional Object of the verb.

EXERCISE 232.

305. The Indirect Object of a transitive verb shows to whom or for whom the action is performed.

306. When a transitive verb is changed into a passive verb phrase [§ 501], either object could be made the subject. Thus, —

They gave me <a> <cordial> invitation,

on one hand the direct object might be the subject: —

<A> <cordial> invitation was given me, — i.e. to me,

or on the other hand the indirect object—

I was given <a> <cordial> invitation.

Formerly the first variation of the passive was recommended as the only truly passive form.

EXERCISE 233.

8. NOUNS USED ADVERBIALLY

307. A Noun may be used Adverbially.

EXERCISE 234.

308. We see from the preceding sentences that not only adverbial and prepositional phrases, but also nouns and noun phrases may be used like adverbs. They may modify —

	Verbs:	We will remain a week. He has travelled a thousand miles. He was beaten several times.
	Adjectives:	This is a pound heavier. It is worth ninety dollars. My ladder is ten feet long.
	Adverbs:	You might write a great deal better. We will walk a mile farther. A minute later all was lost. Where shall we be a hundred years hence?

309. Nouns used adverbially may denote time, place, or manner, — showing when, where, or how; but they generally denote measure, showing how much, how far, etc.

EXERCISE 235.

9. NOUNS USED INDEPENDENTLY.

310. A Noun may be used Independently in a sentence, —
1. In calling to or addressing some person or thing; as, —

	Bring us some lilies, Mary.
	Gentlemen, have you agreed on a verdict?

We say of such nouns that they are used “independently in address.” They are therefore sometimes called vocatives.
2. In calling attention to something not addressed; as, —

	The wind, the wind! hear how it roars!
	Alas! poor creature! how she must have suffered!

We say of such nouns that they are used “independently in exclamation.”
( a ) A noun used in either of these ways stands by itself as a separate part of the sentence, and should be set off from the rest of it by commas or an exclamation point.

EXERCISE 236.

10. NOUNS USED WITH PARTICIPLES.

311. A Noun may be used with a participle that modifies it [§ 616] to make an adverbial phrase showing the time or cause of what is predicated. Thus: —

	Our commander being slain, we retreated. [Showing what caused the retreat.]
	My suspicions having been aroused, I began to watch him. [Showing why or when I watched him.]

312. A noun used in this way is sometimes said to be used “absolutely.” The entire phrase, however, is used as a substitute for an adverbial clause [§ 542], and really modifies the verb of the accompanying assertion. The examples given above mean —

	We retreated because our commander was slain.
	I began to watch him since my suspicions had been aroused.

EXERCISE 237.

11. NOUNS AS OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT.

313. A Noun [or an adjective] may be used as the Objective Complement of a transitive verb. Thus: —

	Age makes a man feeble.		Ice keeps water cool.
	Elizabeth made Raleigh a knight.		Do you call your dog “Bruno?”

EXERCISE 238.

314. In “Age makes a man feeble” the verb makes alone does not express the action performed on a man, for we need the adjective feeble to show what quality is produced in him. We mean not “Age makes a man,” but “Age makes-feeble, or enfeebles, a man.”
So, too, the meaning of made in the second sentence is completed by the noun knight, which shows that knighthood was conferred upon Raleigh, — as if we had said “Elizabeth made-knight, or knighted, Raleigh.”

315. Words used to complete the meaning of a transitive verb, and at the same time to add some name or quality to the object of it, are called Objective Complements, — “objective” because they refer to the object, and “complements” because they complete the predicate.

EXERCISE 239.

316. A word used as the complement of a transitive verb and referring to the object of it is called an Objective Complement.

EXERCISE 240.

Parsing.

317. We analyze a sentence by separating it into its elements, — words, phrases, or clauses, — and showing how each one is connected with some other; if we then analyze each phrase and clause, we show how every word is used.
But we need to be perfectly familiar with the forms and classes of words as well as with their use. To do this we must examine each word by itself, and follow some system in telling what is grammatically important about it. This is called parsing the word.

318. To parse a word is to tell what is of grammatical importance about it.

319. We should analyze a sentence before we parse the words in it, for the forms and classification of words depend upon their use, and this we discover through our analysis.

320. We should parse the words of a sentence in the following order: —

	I.		The Base (subject, verb, complement).
	II.		The Modifiers of the Base.
	III.		The Secondary Modifiers, etc.
	IV.		The Connective Words.

     321. In parsing¹ a word we should tell —
     1. The part of speech to which it belongs.
     2. In what subdivision of that part of speech it is found; that is, what kind of noun, verb, adjective, etc., it is.
     3. Its grammatical form, — number, case, tense, etc.
     4. Its use or construction, or what it has to do with some other word.

322. How to Parse a Noun. The following form may be used in parsing nouns: —

Alexander II. gave <the> <Russian> serfs <their> freedom [many years ago].

     Alexander II. is a noun, because it is a name; proper, because it is a special name meant for one person only; singular, because it denotes but one; used as the subject of the verb gave, for it refers to the person about whom the assertion is made.
     freedom is a noun. abstract, because it names [a quality or] condition; singular, used as the object of the verb gave, for it shows what was given.
     serfs is a common noun, because it is a name for any or all of a certain kind; plural, because it denotes more than one; used as the indirect object of gave, for it shows to whom freedom was given.
     years is a common noun; plural; used adverbially to modify ago; it shows how long ago the event happened.

     323. The following briefer form may be followed: —
     Alexander II. is a singular proper noun; subject of the verb gave.
     freedom is a singular abstract noun; object of the verb gave.
     serfs is a plural common noun; indirect object of the verb gave.
     years is a plural common noun; used adverbially to modify gave.

EXERCISE 241.

NOUNS: SUMMARY.

324. About Nouns we have learned to distinguish the following: —

Kinds . . . . .	Common Proper	Collective Abstract Gender specific
Forms . . . . .	Singular Plural	(Common) Possessive
Uses, or Constructions.

     1. Subject of the verb ——.
     2. Subjective complement of the verb ——.
     3. Object of the verb ——.
     4. Object of the preposition ——.
     5. An Appositive explaining the noun (or pronoun) ——.
     6. Possessive form modifying the noun ——.
     7. Indirect object or Prepositional object of the verb ——.
     8. Used adverbially to modify the verb ——, adjective ——, or adverb ——.
     9. Used independently in address (or exclamation).
     10. Used with the participle —— to make an adverbial modifier of the verb ——.
     11. Objective complement of the verb ——, referring to the object ——.

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