Noun: Formation and Usage

1.   Nouns

Nouns give names to people, things and ideas. They can be divided into common nouns, which identify generic examples (for example, tree), and proper nouns, which identify specific examples and take an initial capital letter (for example, James). The following section details some of the points that need to be taken into account when using nouns in English.

 

1.1.    Noun formation

As in C_ATALAN, in English nouns can be formed from adjectives, verbs and other nouns: for example, happy → happiness (feliç → felicitat), write → writer (escriure → escriptor) and friend → friendship (amic → amistat). A thorough treatment of suffixation is beyond the scope of this study, but in the following three divisions we will give examples of the most important suffixes used to derive nouns from adjectives, verbs and other nouns.

 

1.1.1.     Nouns derived from adjectives

Nouns derived from adjectives are generally abstract nouns expressing the quality of the adjective: for example, importance expresses the quality of being important.

The two most productive suffixes for forming nouns from adjectives are -ance and -ence, which derive from adjectives ending in -ant and -ent, respectively, and which correspond to the C_ATALAN suffixes -ància and -ència. (These two suffixes are also used to derive nouns from verbs; see Mo 1.1.2.)

 

Nouns derived from adjectives: -ance
abundant → abundance	extravagant → extravagance	radiant → radiance
arrogant → arrogance	fragrant → fragrance	relevant → relevance
brilliant → brilliance	important → importance	reluctant → reluctance
distant → distance	instant → instance	vigilant → vigilance
elegant → elegance	irrelevant → irrelevance

 

Nouns derived from adjectives: -ence
absent → absence	evident → evidence	permanent → permanence
affluent → affluence	frequent → frequence	present → presence
belligerent → belligerence	innocent → innocence	prudent → prudence
decadent → decadence	intelligent → intelligence	sentient → sentience
eloquent → eloquence	lenient → lenience	silent → silence
eminent → eminence	negligent → negligence	violent → violence
equivalent → equivalence	patient → patience

Other important suffixes used to derive nouns from Latin adjectives are -ity, which corresponds to the C_ATALAN suffix -itat, and -acy, which is used especially when deriving nouns from adjectives ending in -ate.

 

 

Nouns derived from adjectives: -ity
able → ability	false → falsity	pure → purity
civil → civility	legal → legality	real → reality
dense → density	major → majority	sane → sanity
equal → equality	novel → novelty	virile → virility
final → finality	obese → obesity

 

 

 

Nouns derived from adjectives: -acy
accurate → accuracy celibate → celibacy delicate → delicacy	illegitimate → illegitimacy private → privacy	supreme → supremacy vacant → vacancy

 

 

Finally, in the case of nouns derived from adjectives of Anglo-Saxon origin, the most productive suffix is -ness.

 

 

Nouns derived from adjectives: -ness
bright → brightness	ill → illness	sick → sickness
fit → fitness	kind → kindness	thick → thickness
good → goodness	mad → madness	weak → weakness
hard → hardness	mean → meanness	well → wellness
high → highness	same → sameness	wet → wetness

 

 

 

 

1.1.1.     Nouns derived from verbs

Two of the most common suffixes used to derive nouns from verbs are -er and -or, which correspond to the C_ATALAN  -dor (and variants), and are used to describe the person or thing    that performs the action described by the verb. The suffix -er is by far the more common of     the two – there are literally thousands of -er nouns derived from verbs – and it is used with both Latin- and Anglo-Saxon-based words; the use of -or is generally limited to words of Latin origin. Because it is used less often, it is a good idea to study carefully the list of -or words.

 

 

Nouns derived from verbs: -er
bake → baker	kill → killer	smoke → smoker
buy → buyer	open → opener	surf → surfer
dive → diver	pay → payer	talk → talker
drive → driver	play → player	use → user
heat → heater	race → racer	wait → waiter
help → helper	read → reader	walk → walker
hold → holder	ride → rider	wash → washer
joke → joker	sell → seller	write → writer
kick → kicker	serve → server

 

 

Because many nouns and verbs share the same form (eg work means both treball and treballar), some words here also appear in the  Nouns derived from other nouns list in Mo 1.1.3.

 

 

Nouns derived from verbs: -or
abduct → abductor	convey → conveyor	govern → governor
act → actor	create → creator	mediate → mediator
agitate → agitator	credit → creditor	operate → operator
animate → animator	debt → debtor	sail → sailor
assess → assessor	dictate → dictator	sculpt → sculptor
audit → auditor	direct → director	translate → translator
capture → captor	edit → editor	vibrate → vibrator
conjure → conjuror	educate → educator	visit → visitor

 

 

Though less productive, the suffix -ant is also used with some verbs to describe the doer of an action.

 

 

Nouns derived from verbs: -ant
apply → applicant	cool → coolant	inform → informant
assail → assailant	defend → defendant	lubricate → lubricant
assist → assistant	depend → dependant	occupy → occupant
attend → attendant	dispute → disputant	pollute → pollutant
celebrate → celebrant	dominate → dominant	react → reactant
claim → claimant	emigrate → emigrant	relax → relaxant
colour → colourant	enter → entrant	seal → sealant
combat → combatant	examine → examinant	serve → servant
confide → confidant	immigrate → immigrant	stimulate → stimulant

 

The suffix -ee is used to describe the one receiving the action of the verb. Examples:

 

Nouns derived from verbs: -ee
arrest → arrestee	devote → devotee	parole → parolee
assign → assignee	draft → draftee	pay → payee
attend → attendee	employ → employee	refer → referee
award → awardee	induct → inductee	retire → retiree
deport → deportee	intern → internee	train → trainee
detain → detainee	nominate → nominee	trust → trustee

 

Two other very productive suffixes are -tion, used especially for verbs ending in -ate, and -sion, used especially after verbs ending in -d or -de, -s or -t. -tion corresponds to the C_ATALAN

-ció and -sion/-ssion to the C_ATALAN -sió/-ssió. These generally designate an abstract noun describing the result of the action of the verb.

 

 

Nouns derived from verbs: -tion
absolve → absolution	duplicate → duplication	negate → negation
agitate → agitation	educate → education	negotiate → negotiation
animate → animation	elevate → elevation	note → notion
approve → approbation	estimate → estimation	obligate → obligation
associate → association	execute → execution	operate → operation
attribute → attribution	fascinate → fascination	opposite → opposition
automate → automation	fornicate → fornication	penetrate → penetration
calculate → calculation	generate → generation	persecute → persecution
circulate → circulation	graduate → graduation	pollute → pollution
complete → completion	hesitate → hesitation	populate → population
conjugate → conjugation	humiliate → humiliation	promote → promotion
cooperate → cooperation	ignite → ignition	prosecute → prosecution
create → creation	imitate → imitation	radiate → radiation
cultivate → cultivation	indicate → indication	relate → relation
decorate → decoration	integrate → integration	rotate → rotation
dedicate → dedication	legislate → legislation	separate → separation
delegate → delegation	locate → location	terminate → termination
delete → deletion	medicate → medication	tolerate → toleration
designate → designation	meditate → meditation	translate → translation
devote → devotion	migrate → migration	vaccinate → vaccination
dictate → dictation	motivate → motivation	vegetate → vegetation
dominate → domination	narrate → narration	vibrate → vibration
donate → donation	navigate → navigation

 

 

Nouns derived from verbs: -sion/-ssion
admit → admission	discuss → discussion	permit → permission
cohere → cohesion	divert → diversion	persuade → persuasion
collide → collision	divide → division	possess → possession
concede → concession	erode → erosion	profess → profession
conclude → conclusion	evade → evasion	recede → recession
confess → confession	exclude → exclusion	revert → reversion
confuse → confusion	explode → explosion	revise → revision
converse → conversion	express → expression	submit → submission
corrode → corrosion	impress → impression	succeed → succession
decide → decision	intend → intension	suspend → suspension
depress → depression	invade → invasion
deride → derision	omit → omission

 

Other important suffixes that designate the action described by the verb are -ance and

-ence (in C_ATALAN, -ància/-ança and -ència/-ença; see also Mo 1.1.1.), -ment (in C_ATALAN, -ment, but there is often a lack of correspondence) and -al.

 

Nouns derived from verbs: -ance
accept → acceptance	continue → continuance	maintain → maintenance
acquaint → acquaintance	deliver → deliverance	observe → observance
allow → allowance	disturb → disturbance	perform → performance
annoy → annoyance	expect → expectance	pursue → pursuance
appear → appearance	govern → governance	remember → remembrance
assist → assistance	ignore → ignorance	repent → repentance
attend → attendance	illumine → illuminance	resist → resistance
avoid → avoidance	import → importance	suffer → sufferance
clear → clearance	inherit → inheritance	vary → variance

 

 

Nouns derived from verbs: -ence
abstain → abstinence	differ → difference	occur → occurrence
coincide → coincidence	diverge → divergence	persist → persistence
compete → competence	emerge → emergence	precede → precedence
condole → condolence	excel → excellence	prefer → preference
confer → conference	exist → existence	refer → reference
confide → confidence	indulge → indulgence	reside → residence
consist → consistence	infer → inference	subsist → subsistence
defend → defence	obey → obedience	verge → vergence
depend → dependence	depend → dependence

 

 

Nouns derived from verbs: -ment
agree → agreement	enjoy → enjoyment	pay → payment
ail → ailment	equip → equipment	place → placement
amend → amendment	increase → increment	ship → shipment
amuse → amusement	judge → judgement	state → statement
argue → argument	move → movement	treat → treatment

 

 

Nouns derived from verbs: -al
accrue → accrual	deny → denial	renew → renewal
approve → approval	deprive → deprival	rent → rental
arrive → arrival	dispose → disposal	revise → revisal
bury → burial	rebut → rebuttal	revive → revival
carouse → carousal	refuse → refusal	survive → survival
defer → deferral	remove → removal

 

1.1.2.    Nouns derived from other nouns

The most common suffix used to derive nouns from other nouns is -er, which indicates profession, residence, activity or origin. Note that, because many nouns and verbs share the same form, a word such as worker can be said to derive from both a noun and verb (work means both treball and treballar).

 

 

Nouns derived from other nouns: -er
bank → banker	hat → hatter	report → reporter
bat → batter	heat → heater	review → reviewer
bloom → bloomer	hostel → hosteller	roof → roofer
blush → blusher	island → islander	room → roomer
boat → boater	jail → jailer	sand → sander
bomb → bomber	jewel → jeweller	shovel → shoveller
camp → camper	log → logger	speed → speeder
cream → creamer	London → Londoner	steam → steamer
dream → dreamer	mail → mailer	surf → surfer
dust → duster	mark → marker	toast → toaster
falcon → falconer	mill → miller	trap → trapper
field → fielder	murder → murderer	trip → tripper
fight → fighter	New York → New Yorker	truck → trucker
fish → fisher	oil → oiler	weed → weeder
forest → forester	paint → painter	weld → welder
garden → gardener	prison → prisoner	work → worker
gun → gunner	ranch → rancher	wreck → wrecker

 

The suffixes -eer and -ster are used to indicate persons involved with the noun in question.

 

 

Nouns derived from other nouns: -eer, -ster
auctioneer engineer gangster	gamester mountaineer mutineer	racketeer trickster volunteer

 

Three common suffixes that convert nouns into abstract nouns are -dom, -hood and -ship.

 

 

Nouns derived from other nouns: -dom, -hood, -ship
authorship	leadership	scholarship
brotherhood	manhood	sportsmanship
childhood	martyrdom	stardom
citizenship	membership	womanhood
fatherhood	motherhood	workmanship
friendship	neighbourhood
kingdom	partnership

 

 

The suffix -ful, when forming nouns, indicates quantity (eg arm → armful). This is also a productive suffix for deriving adjectives from nouns (see Mo 2.1.1.).

 

 

Nouns derived from other nouns: -ful
cupful eyeful	glassful handful	plateful roomful

 

 

Some common diminutive suffixes are -et, -ette and -y.

 

 

Nouns derived from other nouns: -et, -ette, -y
booklet cigarette doggy	droplet Johnny kitchenette	piglet ringlet wavelet

 

1.2.   Noun + noun

English often uses nouns to modify other nouns: for example, horse race means cursa de cavalls and race horse means cavall de curses. (For more information concerning these constructions, see section Sy 1.5.) As far as the morphology of these combinations is concerned, there are three possibilities: 1) separate words, as in the two previous cases; 2) combinations using a hyphen, such as input-output, and 3) fusions, such as bloodstain. In general, the more a certain combination establishes itself in the common language, the more likely it is to be written as one word. For example, fire fighter was originally written as two words, but has gradually evolved into both a hyphenated form (fire-fighter) and a single word (firefighter).

How the two nouns are spelled can also make a big difference: policeman is written as one word because the two elements of which it is composed, police and man combine well. However, its synonym, police officer is written as two words (or with a hyphen: police- officer) because the sequence eo in policeofficer looks strange to English speakers. Similarly, racehorse is now quite often written as a single word, whereas horserace is not; the combination eh is unusual in English, so the two elements in racehorse are easily distinguished, but the combination er is quite common and thus makes it difficult to see the separation in horserace.

Finally, we should also mention that a noun that modifies another noun is almost always written in the singular. Examples:

car salesman tooth decay apple pickers

a ten-dollar bill

In fact, even some invariable plural nouns use a singular form when modifying another noun. Examples:

pyjama tops scissor case trouser press

Exceptions:

arms control clothes closet glasses frames pants pockets

 

 

1.3.   Plural nouns

The great majority of plurals in English are regular, formed by adding the suffixes -s or -es to the noun. We will discuss the spelling of these forms in section Mo 1.3.1. As for the irregular plurals, there are five main categories, which we will study in section Mo 1.3.2.

 

1.3.1.    Regular plural nouns

The majority of  English  nouns form the plural by adding  the suffix -s.  If  the noun  ending   is voiced, the s is pronounced /z/ (like the z in the C_ATALAN word zoo); if the ending is unvoiced,  the -s is pronounced /s/.

 

 

Voiced endings	Unvoiced endings
pea, peas	cup, cups
cow, cows	tape, tapes
game, games	cat, cats
job, jobs	plate, plates
deed, deeds	rock, rocks
bag, bags	smoke, smokes
ball, balls
drum, drums
bean, beans
ear, ears

 

An exception to the previous rule is that, when a noun ends in a sibilant sound, the suffix is written -es (unless the noun ends in e, in which case it is written -s). The sibilant terminations are:

-ze, -z, -se, pronounced /z/

-ge pronounced either /ʤ/ (like the tg in the word metge) or /j/ (like the j in the word jove)

-s, -ce, -se, pronounced /s/

-ch, pronounced /ʧ/ (like the tx in the word cotxe)

-sh /ʃ/ (like the x in the word xeix)

 

Examples:

prize, prizes whizz, whizzes bruise, bruises judge, judges garage, garages bus, buses face, faces case, cases

match, matches dish, dishes

 

If the noun ends consonant + y, the y is replaced with i and the suffix is -es. Examples:

baby, babies agency, agencies lady, ladies

sky, skies reply, replies army, armies city, cities

 

 

1.3.2.    Irregular plural nouns

In English there are five classes of nouns that form the plural irregularly: nouns ending in -f or -o;

nouns that undergo a vowel change; nouns that use the suffix -en;

nouns whose singular and plural forms are the same; nouns borrowed from Latin and Greek.

What’s more, there are two nouns that don’t fit into any classification: die, dice; or house, in which the s is unvoiced (/haʊs/), has as its plural houses, in which the s becomes voiced (/haʊzɪz/).

Some nouns ending in -f or -o always form the plural by simply adding the suffix -s. Others always form the plural irregularly, either by changing the -f to -ves, in the case of nouns ending in f, or by adding -es in the case of those ending in -o. Finally, with a third group, both spellings are acceptable. The important thing is to remember which nouns are in the second group, those whose plurals are always irregular.

 

 

Nouns ending in -f that always form the plural changing the -f to -ves	Nouns ending in -o that always Form the plural adding -es
calf, calves	echo, echoes
elf, elves	embargo, embargoes
half, halves	hero, heroes
knife, knives	potato, potatoes
leaf, leaves	tomato, tomatoes
life, lives	torpedo, torpedoes
loaf, loaves	veto, vetoes
self, selves
sheaf, sheaves
shelf, shelves
thief, thieves
wife, wives
wolf, wolves

 

 

Nouns that form the plural by changing the vowel	Nouns that form their plural adding the suffix -en
foot, feet goose, geese	brother, brethren (note that in this case brother means confrare, not germà)
louse, lice	child, children
man, men	ox, oxen
mouse, mice
tooth, teeth
woman /ˈwʊmən/, women /ˈwɪmɪn/

 

 

There are many nouns in English whose singular and plural forms are the same. This is especially true of certain animals and fish.

 

Nouns whose singular and plural forms are the same
bison	salmon
cod	series
deer	species
fish	sheep
herring	shrimp
moose	trout
quail

 

 

Many nouns in English that have been borrowed from Latin and Greek form their plural according to the rules of the original language. Others form their plurals regularly and, for a third group, both spellings are acceptable.

 

Nouns borrowed from Latin and Greek
alga, algae	larva, larvae
analysis, analyses	parenthesis, parentheses
bacterium, bacteria	phenomenon, phenomena
crisis, crises	stimulus, stimuli
criterion, criteria	thesis, theses
hypothesis, hypotheses

 

1.4.   Capitalization

In general, the rules in English for the capitalization of nouns are the same as those in C_ATALAN. There are, however, some important differences which are marked with an asterisk.

English capitalizes nouns in the following cases:

Proper nouns

Pau Casals, John Doe, Barcelona, Russia, Africa, the Pyrenees, Mount Everest, Lake Superior, Christmas, the Fourth of July, The New York Times, Reader’s Digest, etc.

Days, months, holidays and special days

Monday*, Tuesday*, etc.

January*, February*, etc.

Languages, races, nationalities, etc. (ie gentilicis)

French*, English*, Londoners*, Catalans*, Europeans* Religions, their adherents and sacred texts

Christianity*, Judaism*, Hindus*, Muslims*, the Bible, the Koran

Organizations, businesses, institutions, etc.

the United Nations, the European Economic Community, Microsoft,

Alaska Airlines, the European Central Bank, the Asian Institute of Technology

Titles, when preceding proper names

Prince Philip*, Professor William Coll*, Chief Inspector Andrew Dalziel* Points of the compass, when referring to geographic regions

Seattle is located in the rainy Northwest*.

They searched for gold in the far North*.

School subjects, when referring to a specific course

Social Studies 302 Introduction to Physics

But there is no capitalization for general reference (except, of course, languages)

I’m studying philosophy and Spanish*.

Family members

A common noun referring to a family member is capitalized when it substitutes for the proper name of the person in question. Examples:

Why did Mother* scold you? I’ve just seen Grandmother*.

Note that these terms are only used when addressing other members of the same family; when we speak with non-family members, a possessive is used and there is no capitalization:

Opened on the initiative of her maternal grandmother, the house passed to her mother and finally to her and it is she who is in charge of

the business today.

 

Street names:

Basin Street*, Third Avenue*, 42nd Street*, Sunset Strip*, Thunder Road*

 

 

1.5.    Formation of the Saxon genitive

Regarding the morphology (and, we might add, the pronunciation) of the Saxon genitive, it is important to distinguish between proper nouns and common nouns. We will begin with the former.

Proper nouns

The Saxon genitive is usually formed by adding the suffix ’s (apostrophe + s) to a proper noun. It is pronounced:

/z/ after a voiced consonant or vowel (eg John’s /dʒɒnz/, Mary’s /ˈmɛːriz/, Maria’s

/maˈrɪəz/),

/s/ after an unvoiced consonant (eg Robert’s /ˈrɒbəts/, Roc’s /rɒks/) and

/əz/, adding a syllable, after a sibilant (eg Charles's /'tʃɑ□lzez/, Neus's /'neusez/).

Plurals that refer to families are written with a single apostrophe:

the Simpsons’ /sém·sənz/, the Kennedys’ /kè·nə·diz/.

Finally, note that the Saxon genitive of compound names is written adding the apostrophe +

s to the final element: Alexander the Great’s, King John the Fair’s, Billy the Kid’s, etc.

Common nouns

The Saxon genitive of common nouns is formed adding apostrophe + s to singular nouns (eg the boy’s mother) and the simple apostrophe to plural nouns ending in -s (eg the boys’ bicycles). There is one important point to consider:

The Saxon genitive of a plural noun ending in -s is pronounced exactly the same as the singular Saxon form; that is, boy’s and boys’ are both pronounced /bɔɪz/. Note that this  is exactly the opposite of what happens with proper nouns ending in -s, for which the pronunciation of the Saxon genitive is distinguished from that of name (eg James /dʒeɪmz/ and James’s /dʒeɪmzəz /). The reason is that the -s at the end of proper nouns forms an integral part of these nouns, whereas the -s forming the plural of common nouns is merely a suffix.

Examples:

Where once a teacher’s primary role was to disseminate content, today their task is to help students make sense of it.

The new model stresses the students’ learning.

In the case of plural nouns not ending in -s, the Saxon genitive is formed normally, with the addition of apostrophe + s. The most important nouns in this category are men, women and children. Examples:

The men’s clothes are in room 270. Sweden leads the way in women’s rights.

There’s too much violence in children’s TV shows.

 

As for compound nouns, the apostrophe + s is added to the last of the elements:

Her mother-in-law’s interference ruined their marriage. The chemistry teacher’s laboratory is on the third floor.