Collins Cobuild English Grammar (13 page)

company

council

crew

data

enemy

family

flock

gang

government

group

herd

jury

media

navy

nobility

opposition

panel

press

proletariat

public

staff

team

Some collective nouns are also
partitives
(nouns that are used to talk about a quantity of something). For example, you talk about
a flock of sheep
and
a herd of cattle
. See paragraph
2.198
for more information about these.

Referring to people and things by name: proper nouns

1.52
    When you talk about a particular person, you can use their name. Names are usually called
proper nouns
.

People’s names are spelled with a capital letter, and do not have a determiner in front of them.

…Michael Hall.
…Jenny.
…Smith.

Ways of using people’s names when you are speaking to them directly are explained in paragraphs
9.95
to
9.99
.

1.53
    Sometimes a person’s name is used to refer to something they create. You can refer to a painting, sculpture, or book by a particular person by using the person’s name like a countable noun. You still spell it with a capital letter.

In those days you could buy
a Picasso
for £300.
I was looking at
their Monets and Matisses
.
I’m reading
an Agatha Christie
at the moment.

You can refer to music composed or performed by a particular person by using the person’s name like an uncountable noun.

I remembered it while we were listening to
the Mozart
.
…instead of playing
Chopin
and
Stravinsky
all the time.

relationship nouns

1.54
    Nouns that refer to relationships between the people in a family, such as
mother
,
dad
,
aunt
, and
grandpa
, can also be used like names to address people or refer to them. They are then spelled with a capital letter.

I’m sure
Mum
will be pleased.

titles

1.55
    Words that show someone’s social status or job are called
titles
. They are spelled with a capital letter.

You use a title in front of a person’s name, usually their surname or their full name, when you are talking about them in a fairly formal way or are showing respect to them.

…
Doctor
Barker.
…
Lord
Curzon.
…
Captain
Jack Langtry.
…
Mrs
Ford.

Here is a list of the most common titles that are used before names:

Admiral

Archbishop

Baron

Baroness

Bishop

Brother

Captain

Cardinal

Colonel

Congressman

Constable

Corporal

Dame

Doctor

Emperor

Father

General

Governor

Imam

Inspector

Justice

King

Lady

Lieutenant

Lord

Major

Miss

Mr

Mrs

Ms

Nurse

Police Constable

Pope

President

Prince

Princess

Private

Professor

Queen

Rabbi

Representative

Saint

Senator

Sergeant

Sir

Sister

A few titles, such as
King
,
Queen
,
Prince
,
Princess
,
Sir
, and
Lady
, can be followed just by the person’s first name.

…
Queen Elizabeth
.
…
Prince Charles
’ eldest son.
Sir Michael
has made it very clear indeed.

Ways of using titles when you are speaking to people directly are explained in paragraphs
9.97
and
9.98
.

titles used without names

1.56
    Determiners, other modifiers, and phrases with
of
are sometimes used with titles, and the person’s name is omitted.

…Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
…the Archbishop of Canterbury.
…the President of the United States.
…the Bishop of Birmingham.

titles used as countable nouns

1.57
    Most words that are titles can also be countable nouns, usually without a capital letter.

…lawyers, scholars, poets,
presidents
and so on.
…a foreign
prince
.
Maybe he’ll be a
Prime Minister
one day.

other proper nouns

1.58
    The names of organizations, institutions, ships, magazines, books, plays, paintings, and other unique things are also proper nouns and are spelled with capital letters.

…British Broadcasting Corporation
…Birmingham University.

They are sometimes used with
the
or another determiner.

…the United Nations …the Labour Party …the University of Birmingham …the Queen Mary …the Guardian …the Wall Street Journal …the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The determiner is not spelled with a capital letter, except in the names of books, plays, and paintings.

…The Grapes of Wrath
…A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Some time expressions are proper nouns, and are dealt with in
Chapter 4
.

Nouns that are rarely used alone

1.59
    There are some nouns that are rarely used alone. They need extra material such as an adjective or a following phrase, because the meaning of the noun would not be clear without it. Some of these nouns have many meanings; others have very little meaning on their own.

For example, you cannot usually refer to someone as
the head
without saying which organization they are head of. Similarly, you cannot say that there was
a note
in someone’s voice without describing it as, for example,
a triumphant note
or
a note of triumph
.

These nouns are used on their own only if it is obvious from the context what is meant. For example, if you have just mentioned a mountain and you say
the top
, it is clear that you mean the top of that mountain.

used with modifiers

1.60
    A
modifier
is an adjective or a noun that is added to a noun in order to give more information about it.

…her wide experience of
political affairs
.
I detected an
apologetic note
in the agent’s voice.
He did not have
British citizenship
.
Check the
water level
.

For more information on modifiers, see
Chapter 2
.

extra information after the noun

1.61
    Extra information after the noun is usually in the form of a phrase beginning with
of
.

…at the
top of the hill
.
There he saw for himself the
extent of the danger
.
Ever since the
rise of industrialism
, education has concentrated on producing workers. …a high
level of interest
.

For more information, see paragraphs
2.272
to
2.302
.

always used with modifiers

1.62
    Some nouns are always used with a modifier. For example, you would not say that someone is
an eater
because all people eat, but you may want to say that he or she is
a meat eater
or
a messy eater
.

Similarly, if you use
range
, you have to refer to a particular
price range
or
age range
. If you use
wear
to mean
clothing
, you have to say what sort of clothing, for example
sports wear
or
evening wear
.

Tim was
a slow eater
.
…the other end of
the age range
.
The company has plans to expand
its casual wear
.

always used with possessives

1.63
    Some nouns are almost always used with a possessive, that is a
possessive determiner, ’s
, or a prepositional phrase beginning with
of
, because you have to show who or what the thing you are talking about relates to or belongs to.

The company has grown rapidly since
its formation
ten years ago.
Advance warning of
the approach of enemies
was of the greatest importance.
…the portrait of a man in
his prime
.

metaphorical uses