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A denominal noun is a noun that is formed from another noun, usually by adding a suffix--such as villager (from village), New Yorker (from New York), booklet (from book), limeade (from lime), lectureship (from lecture), and librarian (from library).Many denominal nouns are context sensitive (see Contextual Constructions, below). Nouns like Nixonite, bicycler, and saxophonist are formed from concrete nouns like Nixon, bicycle, and saxophone by derivation. There is a plethora of idiomatic cases of this sort in English, but what innovative examples mean can vary enormously from one occasion to the next, depending on certain cooperative measures between the speaker and addressees. Each has an unlimited number of possible meanings, or so it appears. Denominal nouns, then, although they have stricter requirements than, say, possessives or compound nouns, are also contextual expressions. (Herbert H. Clark, Arenas of Language Use. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1992)The fact that a denominal noun is not the result of a direct derivation from the action itself may explain the difficulties in interpreting denominal formations. The meaning of denominal nouns may not be directly related to the action performed by the referent... (Alexander Haselow, Typological Changes in the Lexicon: Analytic Tendencies in English Noun Formation. Walter de Gruyter, 2011) Contextual constructions arent merely ambiguous, having a small fixed set of conventional meanings. They have in principle an infinity of potential non-conventional interpretations, each built around a conventional meaning of the word or words it is derived from... Contextual constructions rely on an appeal to context--to the participants common ground. They always require non-conventional coordination for their interpretation.(Herbert H. Clark, Using Language. Cambridge University Press, 1996) Let us turn to the deverbal person noun forming affix -ant (defendant), which denotes a personal or material agent. . . . Possible verbal bases involve those ending in -ify, -ize, -ate, and -en. A look at Lehnert (1971) and the OED shows that, almost without exception . . ., these verbs are subject to the domain of agentive noun forming -eror. The rival suffix -ant has a somewhat peculiar distribution, since its attachment is partly lexically governed (i.e. unproductive) and partly rule-governed and productive. In the semantically distinguishable domains of medicalpharmaceuticalchemo-technical and legalcorporate jargon, -ant can be used productively to form words denoting substances and persons, respectively, as evidenced by the following examples disinfectant, repellant, consultant, accountant, defendant, to mention only a few.(Ingo Plag, Morphological Productivity: Structural Constraints in English Derivation. Mouton de Gruyter, 1999)What do nouns do? Nouns can do lots of things in sentences.Lets look at some of the jobs noundo:1. Subjects are nouns that tell us who or what a sentence is about.e.g. Maya kicked the ball.2. Direct objects are nouns that receive the action of certain kinds of verbs (transitive active verb)e.g. Maya kicked the ball.3. Indirect objects are nouns that receive the direct object.e.g. Mary kicked Joya the ball.4. Objects of prepositions are nouns that come after prepositions in prepositional phrases.e.g. Maya kicked the ball to Joya.Exercise Identify the function of the underlined nouns as indicated below:subject direct object indirect objectobject of preposition1. The jury selected Rima as winner.2. What is Jewel doing on his birthday?3. Bipasha is my friend.4. The committee elected Mahfuz its new Vice President. Live worksheets > English > Grammar > Nouns > Functions of Nouns Finish!! Please allow access to the microphone Look at the top of your web browser. If you see a message asking for permission to access the microphone, please allow. Close Functions of a Noun provides the eight different noun functions with examples so that you can understand how nouns function in a sentence.How Nouns Function in a Sentence!There are eight (8) different noun functions in English grammar. Providing several examples will help you understand how they are used in sentences.1. Noun Functions as SubjectSubject tells who or what about the verb.Jonathan ran to school because he was late.Fiji is a great place to visit in your holidays.2. Noun Functions as Direct ObjectDirect object answers whom or what after an action verb.Rebekah loved Jacob with all her heart.David threw the ball to Jonathan.3. Noun Functions as Indirect ObjectIndirect object tells to whom or for whom the action is done.Dad gave Bradley the money to buy the car.Rachel brought dad the newspaper.You identify the indirect object in the first sentence above by asking Dad gave the money to whom? The answer is Bradley.You identify the indirect object in the second sentence above by asking Rachel brought the newspaper to whom? The answer is dad. 4. Noun Functions as Predicate NominativeA noun that follows a linking verb may function as a predicate nominative. A predicate nominative always renames the subject. Thomas is the minister of the Baptist Church.I am the manager of the Pizza Hut.Notice in both sentences that the predicate nominative follows the linking verb and renames the subject (Minister = Thomas and Manger = I).5. Noun Functions as Object of PropositionObject of Preposition is the last word in a prepositional phrase.The boy was hurt in the accident.The driver filled the fuel tank of the bus.6. Noun Functions as Noun of Direct AddressNoun of Direct Address is used to address someone or something.Fellow citizens, it is time to clean up our city.And now, children, I want you to sit quietly in the bus.7. Noun Functions as an AppositiveAn Appositive explains a noun or pronoun that comes just before it.Rebekahs sister, Rachel, was an intelligent student.Rebekah, the eldest in the family, was a hard-working student.8. Noun Functions as Objective ComplementObjective Complement follows a direct object and renames the direct object.They elected George Bush president.People often called our minister a spiritual guide.Related ArticlesMore information on 8 Noun FunctionsMore information on Different Types of NounsResources For Functions of a NounEnglish Grammar in Use by Raymond MurphyPlain English Handbook by J. Martyn Walsh and Anna Kathleen WalshThe Only Grammar Book by Susan ThurmanMastering English Grammar by S.H. BurtonCheck out the 8 Types of Nouns With Examples

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