Grammar Guide: Nouns

Today's Grammar Guide will focus on another common part of speech: nouns. Nouns are some of the first words that we try to memorize when we learn a new language. Without nouns, our thoughts and ideas would be difficult to express.

One aspect of nouns that many students of English find difficult is articles. Nouns can be categorized into 3 groups when trying to determine whether or not to use an article: generic nouns, indefinite nouns, and definite nouns. We will discuss these three groups today.

Generic Nouns
We use generic nouns when we want to talk about something in very general, unspecific terms. We could say that we use a generic noun as a symbol to represent a whole group.

A student must do homework everyday.
Students must do homework everyday.
Homework helps students learn.

In these sentences, a student, students, and homework are generic nouns. We are not referring to any student or students in particular; we are referring only to students in general. We are not referring to any specific homework assignment; we are referring to any and all homework.

The article a is used for singular count nouns.
No article is used for plural count nouns or non-count nouns.

Indefinite Nouns
We use indefinite nouns when we want to talk about something that is real but unidentified specifically. We could use an indefinite noun when we refer to something for the first time or without explaining its details.

Yesterday I met a new student.
Yesterday I met some new students.
Yesterday I had a lot of homework.

In these sentences, a student, some students, and a lot of homework are indefinite nouns. We are referring to a real student or real students, but the student or students are not specified further. We are referring to actual homework, but the homework is not specified. Generally, when we talk about something for the first time, the nouns are considered indefinite because they are not known by both the speaker and the listener. After we talk about something once, we can use definite nouns.

The article a is used for singular count nouns.
Some and other expressions of quantity like many, a few, a lot of, and numbers are used for plural count nouns.
Some and other expressions of quantity like much, a little, and a lot of are used for non-count nouns.

Definite Nouns
We use definite nouns when we want to talk about something that is specifically identified. Both the speaker and the listener are thinking of the same thing when they use a definite noun.

Did you meet the student from Japan?
Did you meet the students from Japan?
Did you do the homework from grammar class?

In these sentences, the student, the students, and the homework are definite nouns. We are referring to a specific student or specific students that both the speaker and the listener are aware of. We are referring to specific homework that both the speaker and the listener know about. After we mention an indefinite noun for the first time, we can use definite nouns to refer to that same thing.

The article the is used for singular count nouns, plural count nouns, and non-count nouns.

To learn more about nouns, come study with us at Nomen Global.