The four properties of nouns The four formal properties of nouns are case, gender, number, and person. Thus, how each noun will function depends on which property the noun is exhibiting. Consider the following examples for each of the four properties: Case Case defines the role of the noun in the sentence—as the subject or object or to show possession. Nouns in the subject and object role appear identical in form; nouns that show possession, however, are slightly different as they usually require an apostrophe. The French player (subject) is especially tall. The manager chose the French player (object). The French player's (possessive) skill is famous. Gender Gender classifies nouns into masculine and feminine, for example, king, queen, boyfriend, and girlfriend. In the past, many nouns changed their form according to their gender, for example, author and authoress. However, these days, the use of gender-specific nouns is rare. Many common nouns, such as engineer or teacher, can refer to men or women. Number Number shows whether one or more objects are being referred to. Most nouns change their form when they become plural, by adding –s or –es, for example, cloud/clouds or church/churches. A noun ending in –y, preceded by a consonant, becomes plural with –ies, as in fly/flies, cry/cries, or city/cities. But forming plurals is not always straightforward. There are many irregular forms of noun plurals, such as woman/women or crisis/crises. When in doubt, consult your dictionary, or submit your paper to one of Scribendi.com's English editing services. Person Person shows whether someone is speaking (first person, I and we), is being spoken to (second person or addressee, you), or is being spoken about (third person, he, she, it, and they). We, the leaders, will decide. The noun "leaders" is in the first person. Class, pay attention! The noun "class" is in the second person. A launch carried all the passengers. The nouns "launch" and "passengers" are in the third person. Number, Gender, and Case When we use a noun, we have to take into consideration three things: • Its number–singular or plural • Its gender–masculine, feminine or neuter • Its case–how it’s used in the sentence Here’s the definite article “the” in all its numbers, cases, and genders. the Singular Plural Masc. Fem. Neuter Masc. Fem. Neuter Nominative Case Genitive Case Accusative Case But wait–there’s more! Not only does the article change with case, so does the noun that goes with it. Here’s an example on the next page: . famous. Gender Gender classifies nouns into masculine and feminine, for example, king, queen, boyfriend, and girlfriend. In the past, many nouns changed their form according to their gender, for example,. take into consideration three things: • Its number–singular or plural • Its gender–masculine, feminine or neuter • Its case–how it’s used in the sentence Here’s the definite article “the” in all. properties: Case Case defines the role of the noun in the sentence—as the subject or object or to show possession. Nouns in the subject and object role appear identical in form; nouns that show possession,