English Nouns

Front 1

Modifier in a noun phrase

Back 1

Adds meaning to the head noun by description or characterization

Front 2

Premodifier in a noun phrase

Back 2

Occurs before the head noun, and is typically realised as an adjective phrase or a noun.

Front 3

Postmodifier in a noun phrase

Back 3

Occurs after the head noun, and is typically realised as a preposition phrase, a dependent clause or an adjective phrase.

Front 4

Compound noun phrase

Back 4

Contains two or more nouns that are connected by means of a coordinating conjunction, in which case neither noun modifies the other. Instead we have a compound head.

Front 5

Apposition

Back 5

When two noun phrases, separated by a comma, might function as a subject, in which case we use the term compound head.

Front 6

Common nouns

Back 6

General terms that refer to anything fitting a description

Front 7

Proper nouns

Back 7

Specific names of people, places, events etc.

Front 8

Countable nouns

Back 8

Can occur in both singular and plural form

Front 9

Uncountable nouns

Back 9

Refer to a general "mass" of something, and are usually singular in form

Front 10

Collective nouns

Back 10

Refer to groups of something, normally people.

Example:family, team, crew, etc.

Front 11

Compound nouns

Back 11

Composed of two or more nouns (toothbrush), noun + non-noun (bestseller), or only non-nouns (stand-in), and may be written together, separately or with a hyphen.

Front 12

The genitive

Back 12

Typically used to express possession, but may also be used to refer to a period of time (an hour’s drive) or a type of something (a women’s college).

Front 13

Partitives

Back 13

Expressions used to quantify uncountable nouns.

Front 14

General partitives

Back 14

Non-specific partitives that can be used for most uncountable nouns such as: a piece of, a bit of, etc.

Front 15

Typical partitives

Back 15

Partitives that combine only with specific nouns, such as: a pinch (of salt), a herd (of cattle), etc.

Front 16

Measure partitives

Back 16

Partitives that measure precise quantities of something, such as: a pint (of beer), a ton (of steel), an inch (of water), etc.

Front 17

Invariable nouns

Back 17

Nouns that always have the same form. Include uncountable nouns, proper nouns, and nouns that only occur in the plural.