Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Certain prepositions can be used in conjunction with nouns to emphasize, connect, or clarify ideas expressed in sentences. In this combination, the preposition always comes directly after the noun. Here are some of the most common prepositions used with nouns:

to

• This preposition indicates the recipient of an action, a destination, relationship, and limit.

Emily has an addiction to shopping.
My daughter had an adorable reaction to the puppy.
Mark has an intense dedication to his work.
The damage to the property is much worse than I thought it would be.

for

• Use this preposition to indicate an objective, a reason, duration of time, as well as specify the use of something.

There is always a reason for a change.
I attended the class for one year.
I have high hopes for humanity.

of

• This preposition expresses causality or the relationship between subjects, indicate belonging and reference, as well as to specify the number or an amount.

I am the cause of all his problems.
I took a photo of the sea.
A good number of people understand Chinese.
My son has a fear of the dark.

in

• This preposition expresses a conditional state of being, indicate a location, opinion, belief, feeling, color, shape, and size. It also specifies day, month, season, and year.

Call me in case you need me.
I am in my friend’s place now.
I noticed a little change in the season.
There appears to have been a delay in the shipment.

on

• Use this preposition to indicate a state of being, an intention, a surface of something, days and dates, and parts of the body.

She went away yesterday on business.
I will attend his party on the 15th of August.
His focus on success hindered his social life.
I wear my wedding ring on my finger.

at

• The preposition at is only paired with a few nouns. We used “at” to indicate a place and one’s activity. “At” is also used to refer an email address and time. Often, we use the preposition in conjunction with which.

There are people at the park.
I have little chance at winning this game.
Meet me at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

from

• From is only occasionally used with nouns. The preposition usually refers to two things at opposition with each other, or specifies an origin or starting point when used in conjunction with to.

The woman sought protection from her husband.”
His transition from rags to riches was something out of a fairy tale.

with

• Nouns combined with the preposition with a point to relationships and connections between two or more things.

What is the matter with you?
The teacher noticed a small problem with the project I submitted.
Her close relationship with her sister is admirable.
If you’re having trouble with the activity, ask your teacher for help.

about

• When paired with a noun, about means concerning or in regards to.

His anxiety about public speaking is so bad.
Do you have any information about the new law?
She wants to hear the story about the princess.

between

• A noun that takes the preposition between forms a comparison between two things.

She talked about the comparison between pop music and rock.
There is a conflict between good and evil.
Is there a difference between green onions and chives?

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

A noun is a person, place or thing, and an adjective is a word that describes a noun. Sometimes we use a noun to describe another noun. We can use a noun as an adjective when it follows a noun that it modifies. In that case, the first noun “acts as” an adjective.

• We write the “noun as adjective” and the real noun in several ways.

two separate words (bathroom door)
two hyphenated words (head-master)
one word (bedroom)

• The “noun as adjective” always comes first.

a race car is a car that you use in racing
a horse race is a race for horses
a car race is a race for cars
a love story is a story about love
a ping-pong ball is a ball for playing ping-pong
tennis shoes are shoes for playing tennis
an art exhibition is an exhibition of arts
a book shop is a shop that sells books

• The “noun as adjective” is singular. Just like a real adjective, the “noun as adjective” is never changing. It is usually in the singular form.

car race – car races
(NOT cars race, cars races)
footballer – footballers
(NOT feetballer, feetballers)
shoe cabinet – shoe cabinets
(NOT shoes cabinet, shoes cabinets)

• Some nouns look plural but we normally treat them as singular. When we use these nouns “as adjectives” they stay the same.

News:
a news reporter, two news reporters
Billiards:
one billiards table, two billiards tables
Athletics:
an athletics coach, two athletics coach

• When we use certain nouns “as adjectives” (clothes, sports, customs, accounts, arms), we use them in the plural form.

sports team – sports teams
customs officer – customs officers
clothes shop – clothes shops

• Just like adjectives, we can also use more than one “noun as adjective” together.

machine production costs: we are talking about the costs of producing machines
Spain football team coach: we are talking about the coach who trains the team that plays football for Spain
animal research center: we are talking about a center that researches into animals

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

A collective noun is a word used to represent a group of people, animals, or things, it therefore includes more than one member. You can’t have a team without individual members; even so, we discuss a team as a whole.

Remember that nouns are words naming people, animals, places, and things. Collective nouns are in a class all their own. Collective nouns can be singular or plural, depending on a sentence’s context. Always treat a collective noun as singular unless the context highlights the individuals in the group.

The audience is happy.
The audience are all wearing formal attire.
(In the first sentence audience is singular. In the second, it’s plural.)

If you’re uncomfortable treating a collective noun as singular or plural, put a term like members of in front so it reads smoothly as a plural.

The members of the audience are all wearing formal attire.

Here is a list of common collective nouns that contain words that describe groups of animals, people, or things. Some of these words can be interchangeable and are used to describe different things.

Here are some examples of common collective nouns used for people.

A crowd – A crowd of people cheered the nurses.
A panel – I spoke in front of a panel of experts.
A band – A band of musicians performed at our party.
A board – The board of directors had a meeting this afternoon.
A choir – A choir of singers performed in the concert.
A troupe – I joined a troupe of dancers.

Here are some examples of common collective nouns used for animals.

A flock – A flock of birds flew south.
A flock – I reared a flock of sheep
A hive – I saw a hive of bees in the tree.
A litter – There is a litter of puppies in the pound.
A pack – A pack of wolves surrounded us.
A school – I swam with a school of fish.
A pride – I saw a pride of lions in the sanctuary.

Common Collective Nouns Used for Things
Here are some examples of common collective nouns used for things:

A bouquet – My husband gave a bouquet of flowers on our anniversary.
A bunch – I picked a bunch of flowers from the garden.
A forest – I got lost in a forest of trees.
A pack – I bought a pack of cards.
A pair – This pair of shoes fits me well.
A wad – She has a wad of notes.

Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Concrete nouns are simply those nouns that can be experienced physically. Nouns are people, places, and things. Most nouns are concrete nouns.

It’s easy to know if something is a concrete noun because you experience it through one of your five senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. If you cannot see, hear, taste, touch, or smell the person or thing, it is not a concrete noun.

In the sentence: “Can you answer the phone ?” the noun phone is a concrete noun: you can touch it, see it, hear it, and maybe even smell it or taste it.

In the sentence: “What is that sound?”
Even though sound can’t be touched—and the sound may even be coming from several places—you can hear the sound, so it’s a concrete noun.

Here are other examples of concrete nouns and sentences:

Sight

cat – The cat is purring.

Eric – Eric is my classmate.

bag – This red bag is mine.

water – Please give me that glass of water.

group – This is a big group of students.

vegetable – I don’t like vegetables.

man – I saw the man on the street.

Hearing

shout – I heard his shout.

Fly Me to the Moon – I like the song Fly Me to the Moon.

bark – The dog’s bark is so loud.

music – I like the music.

whisper – I can’t hear her whisper.

noise – The noise is too loud.

sound – I don’t like that sound.

Taste

fried chicken – I love eating fried chicken.

Cadbury Chocolate – My favorite chocolate is Cadbury Chocolate.

cupcake – Can I have a cupcake?

medicine – Did you buy the medicine?

beer – I like the taste of beer.

ice cream – I like eating ice cream in summer.

Smell

flower – You smell like a flower.

Prima Ketchup – I prefer Prima Ketchup than others.

perfume – I like the smell of your perfume.

horse – This room smells like a horse.

aromas – I enjoyed the aromas in the restaurant.

Touch

skin – Your skin is so soft.

Merino wool – Merino wool has really good quality.

pennies – Give me some pennies, please.

baggage – The baggage is so heavy.

chair – This chair seems sturdy.

puppies – The puppies have short fur.

The subjunctive mood of a verb expresses either doubt or fact about a condition. It is usually in the if-clause. It is also in clauses after verbs that express a doubt, a wish, regret, request, demand, or proposal.

The subjunctive mood of the verb to be is “be” in the present tense and “were” in the past tense, no matter if the subject is singular or plural.

Some verbs commonly followed by the subjunctive mood are:

ask, demand, determine, insist, move, order, pray, prefer, recommend, regret, request, require, suggest, wish.

The events organizers asked that everyone settle down.

His parents insisted that their grandchild attend an international school.

It is the management’s requirement that she agree to the terms.

You can use the subjunctive mood after the phrases “It is recommended that…” or “We recommend that…”. Use the base form of the verb even if the subject in the clause is a 3rd person singular pronoun.

It is recommended that he take a short break before the tournament.

We recommend that you do what’s best for you.

It is recommended that everyone wear a mask.

Uses of Subjunctive Mood

• Use subjunctive mood to talk about non-factual situations. This kind of statement is usually with an if-clause.

If I were a bird, I would fly all over the world.

If she were him, she’d take the job.

If Jill were rich, she’d buy a house by the beach.

• It is also used to describe a wish. 

Roy wishes he were taller.

I wish she were able to travel with me this summer.

She wishes her boyfriend were more romantic.

• Subjunctive mood is also used to express a demand. In this case, follow the subordinate clause with the main clause containing the command.

The host’s requirement is that everyone be dressed appropriately for the event.

The government orders that every citizen stay at home.

Their requirement is that everyone buy a tablet.

• In some cases, you use could, should, or would to express the same sense in subjunctive and conditional.

Conditional: She wishes he would be more ambitious.

Subjunctive: She wishes he were more ambitious.