What does a noun do in a sentence?
It acts as the subject of a sentence that performs the action of the verb. The
subject has to be a noun. It cannot be a verb, an adverb, an adjective or any
other part of speech. Nouns are basic to sentence structure because they, along
with pronouns, provide the subject of the sentence. In addition, a noun
functions as a direct object of a verb, an indirect object of a verb, object of
a preposition, or a compliment.
(1) Noun as the subject of the verb
The subject (in bold) can be a person, place, thing or idea. It performs an
actor shows a state of being as expressed by the verb. The subject is easily
recognized as it usually comes at the beginning of a sentence and is followed
by a verb.
Examples:
The man stepped on my toes.
The car smashed into a wall.
Both of them fell down the stairs.
I accidentally hit my head on the
bookshelf.
2) Noun as a direct object
The direct object (in bold) is a noun in a sentence. The object is acted
upon by the subject, and It typically comes after the verb.
Examples:
Tom bit his nail.
I am painting the doghouse.
Her dog followed her to the park.
The strong wind blew their tent down.
(3) Noun as indirect object
The indirect object (in bold) is a noun in a sentence. An indirect object
represents a person or thing that receives the effect of the action of the
verb. It usually comes between the verb and the direct object.
Examples:
He fed the monkeys bananas.
The mother was cooking her family a seafood dinner.
Jack sent a letter to his parents.
She poured drinks for the boys.
(4) Noun as the object of a preposition
The object of a preposition (in bold) is a noun in a sentence. The object
comes after the preposition as shown here in the following examples.
Examples:
Joe broke his nose in a fight. (Proposition: in)
Two puppies followed behind the girl. (Proposition: behind)
Birdwatching is a favourite hobby of the villagers. (Proposition: of)
Everyone is complaining about the boss. (Proposition: about)
(5) Noun as the object of a verbal
A verbal is a word formed from a verb but functions as a noun or an
adjective. Only a noun can be an object of a verbal, which can be a gerund, an
infinitive or a participle. It is shown in bold in the following example
sentences. The objects are underlined.
Examples:
Winning the lottery jackpot was his
biggest dream.
To escape from the prison was all he wanted.
Having found his father’s car keys, he demanded a reward.
(6) Noun as a predicate complement
The predicate complement is a noun (or an adjective) that is joined to the
subject of the sentence by a copulative verb. A copulative verb is also known
as a linking verb. The following
sentences show the predicate complement in bold. The copulative verbs are
underlined.
Examples:
The tribal chief is the fattest man in the tribe.
These two apples are the only rotten ones.
Aunt Barbie could be the biggest woman in the neighbourhood.
(7) Noun acts as an adjective or modifier of another noun.
Words that are usually used as nouns are also used as adjectives, as a
separate word preceding the noun or combined with the noun to form a single
word (see ‘Compound nouns.’) For example, the mountain is usually a noun, but it
can be used as an adjective to modify a noun, goat as in (1) below. The
following show in bold the nouns acting as adjectives and the modified nouns
that follow them and the single words comprising nouns acting as adjectives and
the nouns that they modify.
Examples:
That one looks like a mountain goat.
Dog fleas must seek out another dog
when the dog dies.
Blowing out the candles, the grandmother's denture landed on the birthday
cake.
He was snoring under a big beach umbrella.
Grandfather used to say duck eggs are better than chicken eggs.
A noun must be in the singular form when used as an adjective as shown
above. There are, however, some exceptions: a sports club, a goods train, a sales
conference.
Nouns acting as adjectives are combined with the nouns that they modify to
form a single word.
She saw a dark figure waving to her from her doorway.
There is a layer of fine dust on your bookcase.
In the farmhouse, the hoots of owls were the only things they heard.
Each night he set several mousetraps around the house and in the garage.
He brought along his toothpaste but forgot his toothbrush.
