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Professional communication skills

Article  in  Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care · October 1990

DOI: 10.3109/02813439008994945 · Source: PubMed

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Norwegian Institute of Public Health
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 Professional Communication Skills

Gail Palmer
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

2004

Nouns

ƒ Nouns
ƒ A noun is a word that names a person, a place,
or a thing. All nouns have six characteristics:
ƒ Countability
ƒ Gender
ƒ Number
ƒ Person
ƒ Type
ƒ Form
Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 2

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 Nouns
ƒ Countability
ƒ Countable Nouns:
ƒ Countable nouns typically are discrete units that can
be counted: chip, electron, transistor
ƒ Countable nouns can be made plural: chips,
electrons, transistors
ƒ Singular countable nouns require an article or some
other determiner: a chip, an electron, the transistor
ƒ Plural countable nouns require an article only to
restrict the interpretation of the noun: chips, the
(specific) chips; electrons, the (specific) electrons,
transistors, the (specific) transistors
Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 3

Nouns

ƒ Uncountable Nouns:
ƒ Uncountable nouns refer to substances,
concepts, or general terms for classes of
items: oxygen (substance) education
(concept), equipment (general term)
ƒ Uncountable nouns do not require an article
when the noun is referred to in a general
sense; use the only when the noun is
referred to in a specific sense: Education is
important; the equipment in this room
Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 4

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 Nouns

ƒ Gender
ƒ Masculine nouns refer to male human beings or
animals.
ƒ Feminine nouns refer to female human beings or
animals.
ƒ Neuter nouns refer to inanimate objects or abstract
concepts.
ƒ When replacing a noun with a pronoun, choose the
pronoun that corresponds in gender to the noun.

Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 5

Nouns

ƒ Number (Singular, Plural, or Collective)

ƒ Countable nouns can be either singular or plural
ƒ Uncountable nouns usually are singular
ƒ Collective nouns refer to a group acting as a unit:
class, team, herd, litter, group
ƒ A regular noun forms its plural by adding –s or –es
to its singular form
ƒ Some nouns have irregular plural forms: deer - deer,
foot - feet, thesis – theses
ƒ When replacing a noun with a pronoun, choose a
pronoun that agrees with the noun in number
Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 6

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 Nouns

ƒ Forming the Plural of Acronyms and Numbers

ƒ Optional apostrophe:
ƒ PAL’s PALs
ƒ 7’s 7s
ƒ Required apostrophe for all lower-case letters:
ƒ a’s b’s abc’s

Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 7

Nouns

ƒ Person
ƒ First person: includes the writer
ƒ Second person: includes the reader and
excludes the writer
ƒ Third person: excludes both the writer and
the reader
ƒ When replacing a noun with a pronoun,
choose a pronoun that agrees with the noun
in person

Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 8

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 Nouns

ƒ Type
ƒ Proper Nouns:
ƒ Have names:
ƒ Thomas Edison
ƒ Figure 4
ƒ Capitalize the first letter of each word in a name:
ƒ Professional Communication Skills
ƒ Georgia Institute of Technology

Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 9

Nouns

ƒ Type
ƒ Common Nouns
ƒ Do not have specific names: scientist, figure
ƒ Are not capitalized

Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 10

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 Nouns

ƒ Form
ƒ Nominative: the standard form for nouns
ƒ Student, students
ƒ Possessive: the form used to show
possession
ƒ Student’s, students’

Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 11

Nouns

ƒ Forming the Possessive Case of a Noun

ƒ Add –’s to a singular noun NOT ending in –s:
ƒ Edison’s, child’s, city’s, deer’s, mouse’s
ƒ Add –’ or –’s to a singular noun ending in –s:
ƒ Thomas’ or Thomas’s
ƒ Add –’ to a plural noun ending in –s:
ƒ Students’, cities’, states’
ƒ Add –’s to a plural noun NOT ending in –s:
ƒ Women’s, children’s, deer’s, mice’s

Gail Palmer School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology 12

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