Noun Functions

A NOUN is a part of speech. It can FUNCTION in 9 different ways A NOUN is a part of speech. It can FUNCTION in 9 different ways. (PRONOUNS stand in the place of nouns & can function any way a noun can.) This week, you will need to know when it functions as a subject, direct object, indirect object, predicate noun, or object of preposition. Your test will only be on 5 of the 9 functions of a noun.

Subject- the doer of a sentence or what the whole sentence is about The subject USUALLY does the action: John ran away from the monster. My mother dusts five days a week. Nearing the yellow light, the driver sped up. “It’s not fair!” shouted John. Note that occasionally, as in d, the subject can follow the verb. Sometimes the subject receives the action. That’s what’s called a passive voice sentence. There will always be a form of “to be” (is,are,was,were,be) & a past participle (jumped, laughed, eaten, spoken, sung, frozen, etc.) The song was sung acapella. The book was written in 1988. John was hit in the head.

2. Direct Object A direct object follows the verb & receives its action. It answers the question “what” or “whom” after an action verb: John threw the ball. (Threw what?) Tomorrow morning Elisa will meet your sister. (will meet whom?) We helped him with his homework. (Helped whom?) He doesn’t understand anything about what he just read. (Understand what? “Anything” is a pronoun.) While hiking, Alicia found a silver bracelet. (found what?)

3. Indirect Object The indirect object follows the verb & answers to/for whom. (It can also be to/for what, but it’s usually to/for whom.) The indirect object can be a pronoun. John gave me the money. (to whom?) Elisa sent John a letter. (to whom?) Addison bought Alex a car. (for whom?)

4. Predicate Nominative (Predicate Noun) A predicate nominative or predicate noun follows the LINKING verb & renames the subject OR further defines the subject. John is a student. A Christmas Carol is a good book. Elisa became a lawyer. Addison will be an excellent surgeon. Emory is a private university.

Object of a Preposition Prepositions are words that link the rest of the sentence to their object. English is full of them: of, near, after, before, from, to, through, under, over, across, with…to name a few. A preposition has to have an object & the object is a noun or pronoun. NOTE: WHAT SHOULD BE HIGHLIGHTED AS THE PREPOSITION IN EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: He left after class. I work with your friend. My best friend lives across the street. Over the river & through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go.

Go here for the assignment. Extra practice 1.http://www.softschools.com/quizzes/grammar/functions_of_nouns/quiz3150.html 2.http://www.grammaruntied.com/nouns/nounquiz1/Iquizn.html 3.http://www.quia.com/quiz/814440.html 4.http://www.towson.edu/ows/exercisenoun_functions2.htm (In this one, “subjective complement” is the term used for a predicate nominative.)