Nouns

Grammar Rule for Nouns

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a noun is:

a person, place, thing, or idea

If you can read this page, you probably already understand nouns pretty well, so we'll try to teach you something that you might not know and that is important for the TOEFL, GMAT, SAT II: Writing, and other standardized tests that test your English.

Special note about pronouns: You should also be aware that TestMagic does NOT adhere to the traditional system of classifying parts of speech--in the traditional system of classifying parts of speech, nouns and pronouns are placed into two separate groups. There is a certain logic for this division that makes perfect sense, but in our years of teaching, we have learned that our students can raise their scores faster if we include many (but not all!) pronouns in the set of nouns. For example, according to the TestMagic system, I, me, she, him, them, and us are considered nouns.

Tricky Grammar Relating to Nouns!

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Many nouns can function as adjectives. For example, if we talk about dog food, and we try to figure out the part of speech of dog, we might want to say that it is a noun. Actually, it is a noun if you look at it by itself, but at TestMagic, we say that it is "a noun functioning as an adjective" in that instance.

Some people will call a noun in this position a noun modifier, and it is also correct to say this. And some people will call all the nouns together a compound noun--a series of nouns together to form one noun phrase. Even though different teachers use different methods to explain, the concept is still the same--sometimes a noun can come before another noun to modify it.

Here are some more examples of this structure:

• university bookstore
• Stanford Univeristy bookstore
• drug addiction
• telephone company
• videocassette recorder

By TestMagic.com

Inversion - By TestMagic.com

There are at least eighteen types of inversion:

1. neg intro

2. intro adverbial (in, down, prepositional phrase)

3. intro -ed

4. comparative

5. intro comparative

6. as

7. so... that...

8. had, should, were

9. there is

10. here is

11. intro -ing

12. emphasis

13. the bigger, the better

14. questions

15. "story speech"

16. nor

17. so do I/neither do I

18. intro adjective

Type	Examples	Notes
1. neg intro	Never do I sleep. Only at night can I study. In no way could I help you with your Japanese grammar question. I believe that only rarely will I need your help. Not until I got home did I realize that my shoes were untied.	Question form is obligatory. Used with all verbs. This one is very common on the TOEFL and somewhat common on the GMAT and GRE. We need to learn the various types of words and phrases that require this type of inversion. Notice that sometimes the inversion occurs right after the neg intro form and sometimes it occurs in the next subject and verb. See Neg Intro for more info.
2. intro adverbial	Into the room ran the lady. First comes love, then comes marriage. After A comes B, then comes C, next comes D. Down came the rain and washed the spider out.	Inversion is optional. Used with be-verbs, linking verbs, and verbs of direction. This one is less common on the TOEFL, but more common on the GMAT and GRE. Notice that sometimes we have an adverb, like first and down and sometimes we have an adverb phrase like into the room or after A. These adverbs and adverb phrases usually show location or direction. This type of inversion usually only occurs with be-verbs, linking verbs and verbs that show direction or movement, like come, go, run, etc.
3. intro –ed	Found in San Francisco is Lombard Street, the so-called crookedest street in the world. Lost among the old tables and chairs was the priceless Victorian desk. Located between San Francisco and Marin County is the Golden Gate Bridge.	Inversion is obligatory. Used with be-verbs. This one is very common on the TOEFL, GMAT, and GRE. This type of inversion usually occurs with be-verbs, but sometimes with linking verbs. Notice that the phrase is the complement of the be-verb.
4. comparatives	Cheetahs run faster than do antelopes. You speak Chinese better than do I. Jessica is more interested in Computer Science than is Benjamin.	Inversion is optional. Used with all verbs. This form of inversion is common on the TOEFL, GMAT, and GRE. We normally only have inversion here if we are comparing subjects of the verb, not objects. For example, in the following two sentences, we are comparing objects, carrots and potatoes, not the subject I.: J I like carrots more than I do potatoes. J L I like carrots more than do I like potatoes. L Now, in this sentence, we are comparing subjects, I and my friend Carl: J I like carrots more than does my friend Carl. J
5. intro comparative	Bigger than an apatosaur is the blue whale. More important than your personal statement is your GPA. No less impressive than the invention of the laser was the development of the wheel.	Inversion is obligatory. Used with be-verbs. This form is more common on the GMAT and GRE than it is on the TOEFL. Notice that we can only use this form of inversion when the verb is a be-verb since in every case, the comparative is the complement of the be-verb. Remember that less than is also a comparative.
6. as	Megumi is from Japan, as is Sato. So-eun wants to leave early today, as does Oi. If thrown into the water, camels can swim, as can cats.	Inversion is obligatory. Used with all verbs. We can only use inversion if we are using as for comparisons. as is one of the trickiest words in English; it can have many different meanings.
7. so… that…	So happy was I that I bought flowers for everybody in class. So quickly did she leave that we did not even realize was gone. So rarely does a comet appear visible to the naked eye that when one does, it is considered a major event.	Question form is obligatory. Used with all verbs. This is not so common on the TOEFL, but is fairly common on the GMAT and GRE. The so… that… clause must before the verb in for this type of inversion.
8. had, should, were for if-clauses	Had I remembered Tomomi's birthday, she wouldn’t be mad at me now. Note that the word if does NOT appear in the clause when inversion is used: Had I remembered = If I had remembered Should you need a hand, I will be more than happy to help you. Should you need a hand = If you should need a hand Were I you, I think I would study more for your exam tomorrow. Were I you = If I were you	Inversion is obligatory. Used with all verbs. This is somewhat common on the TOEFL and more common on the GMAT and GRE. This type of inversion is kind of special. Notice that we can only use this type of inversion when we are using an if-clause. In other words, if is omitted: even though the word if does not appear in the clause, we still have the meaning of an if-clause. For more information, see had, should, were.
9. there is, there are, there exists, there comes, etc.	There is a good restaurant nearby. There comes a time in every person’s life when she realizes that she is responsible for her own happiness, not other people. Scientists hypothesize that there exists a certain type of particle that can travel faster than the speed of light.	Inversion is obligatory. Usually used only with these verbs. This form of inversion is common on the TOEFL, GMAT, and GRE, as well as in spoken and written English. Most people remember there is and there are. BUT we must also remember that there are other verbs that we can use instead of is and are. The most common ones are exist, come, and go.
10. here is, here are, here comes, here come	Here is some good food for you to try. Here are the books that I don’t need anymore. Here comes the bus!	Inversion is obligatory. Usually used only with these verbs. You will probably not see this on the grammar section of the TOEFL or on the GMAT or GRE. It could, however, appear on the Listening Comprehension Section of the TOEFL. We use this form mostly in spoken English.
11. intro -ing	Burning out of control was the forest located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Coming in last in the race was Joe "Elephant Legs" Blow. Not helping the situation was little Susie, who was throwing newspaper on the spreading fire.	Inversion is obligatory. Used only with be-verbs. This form is not common on the TOEFL, but might show up on the GMAT or GRE. Notice the intro –ing phrase is the complement of the be-verb.
12. emphasis	Boy am I hungry. Is it ever hot in here! Do you know how to cook!	Inversion is optional. Used with all verbs. You will probably not see this on the grammar section of the TOEFL or on the GMAT or GRE. It could, however, appear on the Listening Comprehension Section of the TOEFL. We use this form mostly in spoken English.
13. the bigger, the better	The closer an object is to another object, the greater is the gravity between the two objects.	Question form is optional. Used with all verbs.
14. questions	Is this the last example? Do you enjoy reading these lists? Are we finished yet?	Inversion is obligatory. Used with all verbs. You will probably not see this on the grammar section of the TOEFL (TOEFL doesn't test questions anymore) or on the GMAT or GRE. It would, however, appear on the Listening Comprehension Section of the TOEFL.
15. "story speech"	“I think it’s time to go,” said Susan. “It’s time for you, but not for me,” replied Gary. “Maybe we should collect our thoughts for a moment,” commented Lany.	Inversion is optional. Used with verbs that report speech. You will probably not see this on the grammar section of the TOEFL or on the GMAT or GRE.
16. nor	No one has volunteered for the job, nor do we expect anyone to volunteer in the future. Hok-ming cannot speak Portuguese, nor can José speak Cantonese. The zoo regulations will not permit you to touch the animals, nor would most people advise you to do so.	Inversion is obligatory. Used with all verbs. You might see this on the adaptive TOEFL if you are scoring high and it could appear on the GMAT or GRE. Remember that nor is considered a conjunction, but we use it between two sentences (not between any two elements like the other conjunctions).
17. "so do I"/ "neither do I."	“So do I.” “So can Terry.” “Neither do most people I know.”	Inversion is obligatory. Used with all verbs. You will probably not see this on the grammar section of the TOEFL or on the GMAT or GRE.
18. intro adjective	Beautiful beyond belief was my baby daughter. Happy about their acceptance into their dream schools were Lany and Tomo. Quick and painless will be your medical procedure.	Inversion is obligatory in most cases. Used with be-verbs. This one is fairly rare and probably would not appear on the TOEFL, but you might see it on the GMAT or GRE. Inversion is sometimes not used in poetic language.

Head Nouns

A head noun is:

The word that is modified by an adjective clause.
Examples

Want to see an example? Look at this sentence:

* I like the car that you bought.

In this sentence, car is the head noun because the adjective clause modifies it.

Usually the head noun is the noun that comes right before the adjective clause, but not always.


Tricks

Look at these examples. The head nouns are underlined. Notice that the head noun is NOT the noun right before the adjective clause.

1. The people in Japan I met were very polite and friendly.

2. The CD in the purple jewel case that I was just listening to is not very good.

3. The TOEFL prep programs here in the USA that I visited seemed quite helpful.

By TestMagic.com

Determiners

You need to know determiners to do well on grammar tests.

We use determiners with nouns. The most common determiners are the, a, and an, but there are many more that are also important.

Here's a list of most of the determiners. You will notice that some of them are repeated; these are the determines most TestMagic students forget.


List

* the
* a
* an
* another
* no
* 's
* the
* a
* an
* no
* another
* 's
* some
* any
* my
* our
* their
* her
* his
* its
* another
* no
* 's
* 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc.
* 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, etc.
* each
* every
* its
* another
* no
* 's
* this
* that

Complements

Complements are words that come after linking verbs and modify nouns. The most common noun complements are adjectives and nouns, but can be many other part of speech as well.

TestMagic uses the term noun complement more liberally than do some other grammar resources; doing so will make grammar explanations for tests much, much easier and faster.



Examples

All the highlighted words or phrases below are complements.

My sister is a doctor.

Tomomi is happy.

The book is on the table.

Carl is here.

We should try to remain calm.

The test proved to be more difficult than we had imagined.

I consider you a friend.

Megumi called her ex-boyfriend a philistine.



In all of these examples, the highlighted words are considered by TestMagic to be complements since they all serve to modify the nouns that are underlined.

Adverbs

Examples of adverbs:

quickly, happily, fast, ago, home, downtown, nearby, always, sometimes, never
Adverb rules

What you need to know about adverbs:

* An adverb is a word that modifies (or describes) a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or even a sentence.
* Adverbs are OPTIONAL in a sentence--in other words, they are not necessary in the sentence, so we can use none in our sentence, or we can use several adverbs.
* Many adverbs end in -ly, but many do not (e.g., tomorrow, together, today).

Adverb exceptions

Many nouns can actually functions as adverbs in certain situations. For example, if we look at this sentence:

I went downtown yesterday.

and we try to figure out what part of speech downtown is, we might say that it is a noun, but it is in fact an adverb.
More examples of adverbs functioning as nouns

Here are many nouns that can function as adverbs, depending on the sentence:

today, tomorrow, yesterday, Saturday, Friday, last year, next month, home, downtown

For example:

* See you tomorrow!
* See you Friday!
* I studied hard last year.
* I'm going home.
* I live downtown.

In these examples, all the highlighted words are adverbs.

Adjective

Examples:

quick, happy, fast, timely, funny, friendly, pretty, red, blue, white, yellow, big, little
Rule

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an adjective is:


a word that modifies (or describes) a noun


adjectives are OPTIONAL in a sentence--in other words, they are not necessary in the sentence, so we can use none in our sentence, or we can use a million of them!!


Be careful!!

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Many adjectives look like adverbs because they end in -ly. For example, if we look at this sentence:

The friendly teacher helped me a lot.

and we try to figure out what part of speech friendly is, we might say that it is an adverb, because it ends in -ly. However, friendly is in fact an adjective.
-ly Adjectives

Here are some -ly adjectives that you might see on the TOEFL or other tests:

costly, neighborly, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly

Pronouns

EXAMPLES OF PRONOUNS


she, he, it, they, we, some, many, half, others, etc.

SENTENCES WITH PRONOUNS

Trees are important to the environment because they produce oxygen.
they = trees

Tomomi offered me all of her soda, but I only drank half.
half = half of the soda

Some people like red, others like yellow.
others = other people

Some of the people that I met were very friendly.
some = people

Rules
pronouns = nouns
Pronouns replace other nouns.
Pronouns have to be singular or plural, just like the nouns they replace.

Conjuctions

Yeah, we know. Just the name makes you not want to read any more, right? Right!

Actually, I bet you know a lot of subordinating conjunctions already. Just look at these examples:

Examples of subordinating conjunctions

* that
* if
* although
* because
* while
* since
* after
* before
* when
* where
* how
* whether
* in that

You already know all or most of these words, right?

So, I think we can safely say that you already know the most important stuff about subordinating conjunctions, but just in case, here's the most important rule:

subordinating conjunction + sentence

If you can remember this question, you'll be able to answer 85% of the TOEFL questions you'll see on the grammar section no sweat.

Yeah, we know that the name is kind of hard to remember. A lot of other books or teachers use different words because they think that their students won't remember the term subordinating conjunction, but, to tell you the truth, the term is actually very descriptive and helpful.

First, you need to understand that a subordinating conjunction is a conjunction. In other words, we use it to joing two things that are the same. In the case of subordinating conjunctions, we are joining two sentences.

Trust me, many TOEFL grammar questions are related to whether or not we have a conjunction between two sentences.

Let's look at some examples, maybe that will help us understand better.

Look at this sentence:

I was late to class.

Now look at this sentence:

The bus was late.

Now, grammatically, we have two sentences. If we have two sentences, we need something between them to 'connect' them; this is a basic English rule.

In this case, we can use the subordinating conjunction because. We would end up with this sentence:

I was late to class because the bus was late.

liburan sekolah

Liburan sekolah

“ Libur sekolah kali ini ada cerita seru yang akan aku ceritakan pada kamu, pasti kamu akan merasakan hal yang sama dengan yang aku rasakan, jika kamu mendengar ceritaku nanti” ujar Dewi dengan penuh semangat di hadapan semua teman-temannya di kelas lima pagi itu. belum selesai Dewi berbicara, bel tanda jam pelajaran di mulai berbunyi. Mau tak mau Dewi terpaksa menghentikan ucapannya dan segera duduk di teras bersama murid-murid lainnya untuk mengikuti tadarus bersama di sekolah mereka yang memang setiap pagi dilakukan.
Hari ini adalah hari pertama Dewi masuk sekolah, setelah dua minggu menikmati liburan kenaikan kelas, Semua murid kelas lima Abu bakar siddiq itu di minta Bu Ria untuk menceritakan liburan mereka. Dewi tidak menyia-nyiakan kesempatan itu, dia adalah orang yang pertama yang mengacungkan tangannya ketika pertama kali Bu Ria meminta murid-muridnya untuk bercerita di depan kelas.
“Baiklah, Dewi silahkan bercerita tentang liburanmu kali ini” ujar Bu Ria.
Dengan bersemangat Dewi segera maju kedepan kelas, dan mulai bercerita tentang liburannya yang sangat menyenangkan.
“Teman-teman semua, aku akan bercerita tentang liburanku. Di hari pertama liburan, papiku mengijinkan aku untuk browsing di warnet, aku sangat senang, di internet aku bisa tahu banyak hal, mulai dari pengetahuan umum, membuat email sampai dengan membuat blog, waktu itu aku pernah melihat ibu membuat blog untuk ibu sendiri, setelah itu aku jadi ingin mempunyai blog seperti ibuku. Sebelumnya aku juga sudah dibuatkan oleh ibuku sebuah email atas namaku sendiri, kerenkan, nah setelah itu aku baru membuat blog atas namaku sendiri, ternyata membuat blog itu sangat mengasyikkan, disana aku bisa menulis apa saja yang aku inginkan . aku juga menulis cerpen, dan aku juga memasukkan beberapa cerpen yang di tulis ibuku. Karena asyiknya membuat blog ini, maka tak terasa sudah maghrib. Papiku sedikit kecewa karena aku browsingnya terlalu lama, akhirnya papi memutuskan untuk memakai sebuah provider internet untuk komputer rumah kami.
Inilah yang sangat mengasyikkan buatku, setelah jaringan internet dirumahku sudah aktif, aku di ijinkan papi untuk menggunakan internet kapan saja aku mau. Dan di sepanjang liburan ini, aku browsing di internet setiap hari. Dan yang lebih menyenangkannya lagi, blogku sudah dibaca oleh beberapa orang, dan mereka memberikan komentar atas tulisan-ku, bahkan diantara mereka ingin menjadi sahabatku, kami sudah berkenalan meskipun hanya lewat email. Nah demikianlah cerita seru nya liburanku. Terima kasih.....” Dewi tersenyum puas setelah berhasil menceritakan liburanya yang paling seru.
Plok....plok....plok.... seisi kelas bertepik untuk dewi. Teman-teman dewi tidak menyangka ternyata cerita dewi sangat berbeda dengan liburan yang mereka rasakan, meskipun menurut mereka liburan mereka juga seru.