English 101 - NOUN (series 1.A1)

     This is the second part of my English 101 series. After a brief discussion on the different parts of speech, this is about nouns, I would say the first and the heart of English sentence construction and word usage. Let's start with what is a word. A word is a group of letters that we utter. The letter m-o-t-h-e-r  is a word we use to refer to a certain person. When there is a group of words, we call it a sentence, phrase, or clause. 

Noun forms part of our everyday words, our speech. Some of my students who have had a weaker foundation in the lesson Parts of Speech confusingly referred to it as Figure of Speech (simile, metaphor, personification, etc). Noun, from the Latin word "nomen", literally means name. A noun is a word that names a person, a place, a thing, an animal, an event, an idea, or a concept. A noun can be divided into Concrete and Abstract.

Concrete nouns > names a material thing, people, place, anything that can be perceived through our senses, or does have a material existence.
Examples: planet, soldier, star, Earth.
The following cannot be perceived by the senses but have material existence: atom, proton, neutron, and cell.

Abstract nouns > names a concept, quality, emotion, condition, and attitude which have no material existence.
Examples:  joy, love, justice, freedom, power

Nouns have two kinds under these two divisions, namely, Common and Proper Nouns.

Common Nouns > names a "general" name of a person, a thing, a place, an animal, an event, a concept, or an idea.
Examples: boy, pencil, city, puppy, birthday, meetings, sports, knowledge, leadership

Proper Nouns > names a specific name of a person, a thing, a place, an animal, an event, a concept, or an idea.
Examples: Prince William, Mongol, Manila, Lassie, April, Olympic Games, Democrats

We also have the gender of nouns, in which we categorize each of them into hers, his, neutral, or common. The purpose is to identify the nouns to whom or which they should be used. The Genders of the noun are Masculine, Feminine, Common, and Neuter.

Masculine Gender Nouns > a noun used to refer to persons or animals of the male kind.
Examples: groom, prince, lad, rooster, king, duke, fiance, lion, uncle, nephew

Feminine Gender Nouns > a noun used to refer to persons or animals of the female kind.
Examples: bride, princess, lass, hen, queen, duchess, fiancee, lioness, aunt, niece

Common Gender Nouns > a noun used to refer to persons or animals whose gender has not been known or specifically stated.
Examples: citizen, visitor, people, student, child, singer, doctor, cat

Neuter Gender Nouns > a noun used to refer to objects.
Examples: car, house, ring, blouse, pants

Below are other nouns which are especially important in distinguishing the verb it agrees with. They will be discussed in my next blog post.

Collective Nouns > nouns used to refer to a whole group of people, places, things, or ideas.
Examples:

• Persons = family, committee, team, group, jury, crew, platoon, squad, troop, cast, battalion, bevy, colony, pride, class, coven, congregation, panel
• Animals = herd, club, gaggle, brood, litter, flock, pack, colony, caravan
• Things = bunch, bouquet, armada, fleet, deck, flotilla

Count Nouns > nouns that can be counted such as houses, books, clothes, shoes, etc.
Mass Nouns > nouns that cannot be counted individually, such as the words love, money, food, knowledge, and kindness.

We also have what we call the Number of nouns in which a vital role in sentence construction is very important, the Singular and Plural Nouns.
Singular nouns as the word implied, refer to a single person, place, thing, animal, or idea.
Plural nouns, however, implied more than one.
The list of these nouns with their corresponding plural forms will be provided in my next series as well as the different uses of nouns.

EmOtioNaL & SoCiAl HiBeRnATioN

Getting away with all of the pros and cons of life. Being still with all the predicaments of life. Disconnecting from the social hiatus of this confusing and noisy world. Hibernating in the winter of our lives. Everything happens for a reason, some things reach their limits.
Grief. Anger. Depression. They can take the life out of you, yet they can bring out the best in you. Yes.. hoping and putting faith in something gives the strength to live on, move on, and take the action. But life isn't that easy, nor that complex that you can just look at it as situational as it is or as it was..it's LIFE per se. Whatever these lines meant for me and you, take a hold and grasp everything it says. It is precious... yet the time does come you want to get out of it by whatever means. It is when a blast from the past would eventually bring the reason for letting it out, letting it go, keeping it going, moving away, getting away, or disconnecting from everything around us.

Winters.. some people go out to enjoy what life brings. Winters.. some people hide, sleep, freeze, stop..not because they do not want to enjoy that season, but to come out with something from themselves, to emerge someone from a ruin destroyed, used up, and broken. Someone who keeps still quite a while from all of the turmoil life brings..in his life..in this life..in this world. The winters in our life...

Withdrawn from your own emotions yet intact with the reality, Disconnected from outside his realms yet looking on it as just moving pieces of everyday terrain. Going back, getting back .. choices are there to continue or pursue, be still or move on... some manage to go on but partially continue what he wants to do and yet remain disconnected. Enjoying every bit of himself and looking at a distance by introspecting his own self or communing with nature. Right or wrong, image, belief, ego, pride, confusion, decisions to make, choices.. it makes life complicated. Withdraw, or play, or quit. Disconnect, go around, or stop. 

Most of the time, being alone in yourself...letting time pass by..doing what you want.. is hibernating from all the round-abouts of life.