Nouns (名词)

Sarah · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 98 Location: London

1. What is a noun?

A noun is the name of someone or somebody, which is similar as the one in English language.

Generally, a noun can be put behind a numeral-measure word combination, but can not be modified by a adverb.

2. Classification of nouns

2.1 Common nouns, which are the words that refer to any member of a class of similar things.

For example:

天空(sky) 水(water) 雨(rain) 书(book)

大学(university) 社会(society) 国家(country) 世界(world)

白昼(day) 汽车(car) 时间(time) 早上(morning)

医生(doctor) 医院(hospital) 机场(airport) 海洋(ocean)

2.2 Proper Nouns are the names of persons, places, organizations, etc.

For example:

毛主席(Chairman Mao) 上海(Shanghai) 日本(Japan)

颐和园(Summer Palace) 长城(the Great Wall) 太平洋(Pacific Ocean)

2.3 Nouns of Locality and time, which indicate the position or direction. These kind of nouns can also be used as adverbial adjuncts.

For example:

南(south) 外面(outside) 下面(below)

上面(above) 中间(middle) 前后(front and rear)

今天(today) 后天(the day after tomorrow) 去年(last year)

明年(next year) 傍晚(evening) 昨天(yesterday)

3 Plural form of the nouns.

Generally, there are no changes in plurality of nouns in Chinese, which is quite different from English. A noun in Chinese never changes its form in terms of number. For example:

一个苹果 (an apple) 一个学生 (a student) 一年 (a year)

二个苹果 (two apples) 许多学生 (many students) 十年 (ten years)

3.1When you refer to a noun with a plural meaning, you can add a word or phrase that indicates a number preceding it. In Chinese language, the plural form is not as strict as that in English. Very often, people interpret a noun as its plural meaning by their own sense or inference, not through the form of nouns.

For example:

① I am a worker (我是一名工人): singular meaning of the noun ‘worker’

② We are workers (我们是工人): plural meaning of the noun ‘worker’

③ A worker of this factory was injured in the accident (这个工厂的一名工人在这次事故中受伤): singular meaning of the noun ‘worker’

④ Workers won glory for this factory in the sports meet (工人在体育比赛中为工厂赢得荣誉): plural meaning of the noun ‘worker’

3.2 The suffix “们” is usually combined with a person noun to express the plural meaning, except the case that there is already a number before the noun.

For example:

Correct usage:

teachers (老师们) children(孩子们) 学生们(students)

Wrong usage:

三个学生们 (three students) 许多的人们 ( many people)

3.3 Some monosyllabic nouns can be reduplicated to express the meaning of ‘every’, i.e. plural meaning.

For example:

年年: every year 人人: every one 天天: every day

4. Functions of nouns:

generally a noun can serve as subject, object and attributive in a sentence. Nouns of Locality and time can serve as adverbial adjuncts, while other kinds of nouns can not.

4.1 As the subject, for example:

杭州在中国的浙江省 (Hangzhou is in Zhejiang Province of China)

天空是蓝色的 (Sky is blue)

学生们在教室里学习 (Students are studying in classroom)

4.2 As the object, for example:

小洪在外面 (Xiao Hong is outside)

我在看书 (I am reading a book)

中国在东方 (China is in the east)

4.3 As the attributive, for example:

汉语语法比英语语法简单 (Chinese grammar is simpler than English)

我喜欢妹妹的微笑 (I like my sister’s smile)

中国国家队赢得了比赛 (China national team won the game)

4.4 Nouns of Locality and time can serve as adverbial adjuncts,

for example:

我明天去北京 (I will go to Beijing tomorrow)

我们早上有体育课 (We have physical education class in the morning)

请进来 (Please come in)