Forms Of Verb

Forms of Verbs

Finite Forms: We have already known about Finite Form and Non-finite Form of Verbs.

Finite Forms take Subject but Non-finite Forms take no Subject. Only Present Form and Past Form can take subjects. So Only Present Form and Past Form of a Verb are the Finite Forms.
And now we can say that the Finite Form maybe classified into two forms and they are (1) Present Form and (2) Past Form Present Form and Past Form are the sub-classes of Finite Form of any Verb.

Non-finite Forms:

In the same way, Non-finite Form is also classified into three classes. They are: (a) Participle, b) Infinitive and c) Gerund.
None of them can take any Subject. Actually none of them is used as a Verb because they behave like other Parts of Speech. So they do not need any Subject. (a) Participles: Participles are normally used as Adjectives. That means when a Verb is used as an Adjective, it is called Participle. In the Sentence, ‘I see a flying bird’ ‘flying’ like an Adjective qualifies the Noun ‘bird’. So ‘flying’ is the Participle form of the Verb ‘to fly’.
Like wise, in the Sentence, ‘I have a broken pen’ ‘broken’ qualifies the Noun ‘pen’. So ‘broken’ is an Adjective here. As it is an Adjective, it is also a participle form of the Verb ‘to break’.
In the cited two Sentences both ‘flying’ and ‘broken’ are Participles. Both are used as Adjectives. Both are derived from ‘actions’ and turned into Adjectives. But ‘flying’ indicates that the action is still going on because ‘flying bird'.
Again, ‘broken’ is also derived from an action but the action is already over or finished because ‘broken pen’.
So there is a vivid difference between the two Forms. The former one indicates that the action is continuing and the later one indicates that the action is already finished or got perfect. But as acting as Adjectives, both are Participles. But the former action ‘flying’, as it as continuing, is called Present Participle. And the later action ‘broken’, as it being finished, is called Past participle. So Participle Form is divided into two classes: (i) Present Participle and (ii) Past Participle. Present Participle is always formed by adding the Suffix ‘ing’ to a Verb. (Verb + ing) So going, reading, playing, ect. are Present Participle Forms but normally they are used as Adjectives. (b) Infinitive: Infinitive is another Non-finite Form of a Verb. When a Verb takes ‘to’ before it to be turned into a new Form, the Form is called Infinitive. We can say, To + Verb = Infinitive. Sometimes the ‘to’ before the Verb as a sign of Infinitive may be silent. Then it is called ‘bare Infinitive’. That means, To + Verb = Full Infinitive and ('to' when remains silent) + Verb = bare Infinitive.
Both Full Infinitive and bare Infinitive are used as different Parts of Speech. Generally, Full Infinitive is used as Noun and bare Infinitive is used as Adjective To walk is good for health. Here ‘To walk’ is used as Subject = Noun.
I saw him (to) walk.
Here ‘walk' is used as an Adjective to qualify the Object ‘man’(Noun).
Another thing should be noted that Infinitive usually indicates Futurity of an action and also to indicate the purpose of any action, the Full Infinitive Form of the respective Verb is used.

It should be Noted that: Present Form indicates Present Tense. Past Form indicates Past Tense. Present Participle indicates continuity. Past Participle indicates perfection and
Infinitive indicates futurity.
(c) Gerund: Gerund is another Form of a Verb. It is also formed by adding the suffix ‘ing’ and always used as a Noun.
A Gerund is used in a Sentence as a Subject as well as an Object and also as a Prepositional Object. That is, Verb + ing = Noun. So Present Participle and Gerund apparently looks the same but their uses are different.
When an ‘ing’ Form of a Verb is used as a Noun, it is called Gerund but when it not used as an Adjective, it must be a Present Participle. Though they look like the same, they are never really the same.
It is a swimming pool. Here, ‘swimming’ is an Adjective. So it is Present Participle but not Gerund.
I like swimming because swimming is a good exercise. Here, both the ‘swimming’ are Noun. So they are Gerund.
In the same way Present Form and bare Infinitive Form of a Verb also look like the same in appearance but they are also different in their functioning.
Any Present Form of any Verb must have a Subject but a bare Infinitive Form must have no Subject witout taking any Auxiliary Verb.
I got to school. Here, ‘go’ is Present Form because it has a Subject.
I saw him go to school. Here, ‘go’ is bare Infinitive and is used as an Adjective that qualifies the Object ‘him’.
I want you go to school. Here also ‘go’ is a bare Infinitive because it has no Subject. Here, ‘you’ is the Object of the Verb ‘want’. An Object must be in the form of Objective case and never can be a Subject. So we can say now that a Verb has six different Forms, not three Forms. And they are:
1. Present Form
2. Past Form
3. Present Participle Form
4. Past participle Form
5. Infinitive and
6. Gerund

All the Forms are individually different in characters and in their functioning. Finite Forms: 1.The Present Form and 2. The Past Form are Finite Forms Both these Forms must have a Subject. Without Subject they never cannot be used in a Sentence.
And inversely it can also be said that no Subject can be used in a Sentence without any Finite Verb like the Present Form or the Past Form of any Verb.
If there is any Subject, there must be a Finite Form (either the Present Form or the Past Form of any Verb) with it. Again, if there is any Finite Form (Present or Past) of any Verb, there must also be a Subject with them. None can go leaving the other. Present Form used only to indicate Present Tense and Past Form is used only to indicate Past Tense. Non-finite Forms: Non-finite Forms are used as others Parts of Speech. And they are:
3. Present Participle (Verb + ing, but vener used as Noun). Always qualifying word and indicates the continuity of any action. 4. Past Participle, also always a qualifying word and indicates the finished condition on any action.But when it is used as an Adjective, it is bare Infinitive i.e. used without ‘to’ (the sign of Infinitive remains silent). 6. Gerund (Verb + ing = Noun) always used as Noun.But except Gerund, the rest three Non-finite Forms of a Verb can be used as a Verb with the assistance of an Auxiliary Verb.

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About Tenses

About Tenses

In English Grammar Tense is considered to be the most important and vital factor. I like to light upon the importance of Tense in English Grammar.

From the very beginning of learning English, a learner has to know that Tense is the main factor of English and if any body knows the 12 forms of Tense, he is good at English. For this reason, it is often found that all the learners of English try to memorize the 12 forms of Tense. They never learn Tenses logically. So often they do variety of mistakes in using Tense in a Sentence. We should remember that Tense is one of the tools of English Grammar. I like to call it a Language tool.

Conjunction and Interjection

Conjunction

Conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases and clauses.
Rina and Bina are good girls. Here ‘and’ joins the two Nouns ‘Rina’ and ‘Bina’to make the total Subject. So ‘and’ is a Conjunction.
Rahim or his father did the work. Here ‘or’ joins ‘Rahim’ and ;his father’ to make an  alternative Subject. So, ‘or’ is a Conjunction.

He studied hard but he failed in the examination. Here, but joins two clauses ‘He studied hard’ and ‘he failed in the examination’ to show an opposite consequence. So, ‘but’ is a Conjunction.

He saw that Rahim was going to school. Here, ‘that’ joins a subordinate clause ‘Rahim was going to school’ to the main clause ‘He saw’. So, ‘that’ is a Conjunction.In the sentence ‘Rahim together with his father is going to Dhaka. Here, it may be seemed that ‘together with’ might be a Conjunction too, but here, the Phrase ‘together with’ which is not a Conjunction.

Here ‘his father’ is not a part of the Subject but an Object of the Preposition ‘with’. A Prepositional Object never can be a Subject. In this Sentence ‘Rahim’ is only the Subject and the verb ‘is’ is used in singular form. The Preposition ‘with’ has just related its Object ‘his father’ to the Noun ‘Rahim’. So, ‘together with’ is not a Conjunction. If ‘his father’ might be a part of the Subject, the Verb would be used in plural form ‘are’.

If a word joins two words or two clauses is called a Conjunction.

A Preposition and a Conjunction are not the same.A Conjunction joins two words or two Phrases.  On the other hand, a Preposition relates a Noun or a Pronoun or a Noun Phrase (NP), which is neither a Subject nor an Object of any Verb, to a Sentence. Preposition relates no other Parts of Speech except Noun or Pronoun or NP. A Preposition only establishes a relationship of the NP with any other word of the Sentence.

 Normally, a Conjunction joins the words of same ranks. It joins two or more Nouns or Pronouns, two or more Verbs, or two or more Adjectives, etc. And when a Conjunction joins two or more of the same ranks, it is called a Coordinating Conjunction, such as: and, but,  or,  etc. But when a Conjunction joins a Subordinate Clause to a Principal Clause (or a Main Clause), it is called a Subordinating Conjunction.

From that view, in ‘Rahim and Karim went there’, ‘and’ is a Coordinating Conjunction. But in the complex Sentence, ‘I know that he will come’, ‘that’ is a Subordinating Conjunction.So, there are two kinds of Conjunction i.e.  (1) Coordinating Conjunction  and (2) Subordinating Conjunction. Subordinating Conjunctions are used only in Complex Sentences to join the Subordinate Clause to the Main Clause.

Interjection

Interjection is a word that expresses an emotion.

Emotion is nothing but a state of mind i.e. a sudden change of mind. Whenever something happens to us unexpectedly for which we are not prepared, our mind gets a strike or thrust and the mind experiences a sudden change to generate emotion. When we express that emotion in a word, the word is called an Interjection.

So as Interjection is an emotion-expressing word.  An Interjection has no relation with any other word in the Sentence but it prevails an emotion over the Sentence. 
Interjections remain detached from the Sentence taking also a punctuation mark (sign of exclamation) and the Sentence again begins with a Capital letter. Such as: Alas! He is dead. Or, Hurrah! We have won the match.

      8 kinds of functions performed  by the word in Sentences have already been discussed. So I hope learning Parts of Speech well any one might be able to form a correct Sentence. Whenever you use a word in a Sentence, you must consider its function in the Sentence and according to its function you must change the word into its right form.

Suppose the word ‘beauty’. It is used in a Sentence as a Noun. She is a beauty.But ‘beautiful’ is used as an Adjective. She is a beautiful girl. ‘Beautifully’ is used as an Adverb. She decorated the room beautifully. ‘Beautify’ is used as a Verb. The plants beautify the house.

Here, it is clear that we can use the same word in different ways just changing its form by using Suffix and Prefix. So, to change a word from one Part of Speech to another one, you need to know well about Suffix and Prefix. 

Beauty + ful =  beautiful. ‘ful’ is a Suffix here.

Generally a Verb is changed into a Noun by adding a suffix ‘er’ to it. Such as:
play + er = player, He plays well and so he is a good player.
sing + er = singer, She sings sweetly and she is a famous singer.
teach + er = teacher, etc. She teaches English but she is not a good teacher.

Again, en + courage = encourage. ‘Courage’ is used as a Noun but we add ‘en’
before it to change it into a Verb. I have no courage but he encouraged me to do it.

When the letters are added before the main word to change it, the letters as a whole are called a Prefix. On the other hand, when they are added after the main word, they are called a Suffix. In the above examples, ‘ful’ and ‘er’ are Suffix but ‘en’ is a Prefix.

You can have a good and clear concept of Suffix and Prefix by reading any reliable Grammar book and you should learn the rules of usage of different Suffixes and Prefixes. 

Sometimes, without adding any Suffix or Prefix a word, remaining unchanged, may also be used as different Parts of Speech. In that case the word has to change its position in the Sentence. Such as:

I drink Water. (Noun) I water the plant. (Verb) I like water color. (Adjective)

Sometimes, some words remaining unchanged (in the same form) give different meaning playing the roles of different Parts of Speech in different Sentences. Such as:

Well (adj.) opposite to ill. – He is well today. (not ill). Well (n.) as in ‘tube-well’. The water of this well is not drinkable. Well (Adv.) as an Adverb form of ‘good’ where good is an Adjective. He played well today.

So now you have to practice much to form Sentences using the words in right forms considering their respective functions as well as Parts of Speech.

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Preposition

Preposition

 A Preposition is a word which is placed before a Noun or a Pronoun or a Noun-equivalent word or a Phrase to show its relation to another word in a Sentence.

The function of a Preposition is only to relate a Noun or a pronoun or a Noun Phrase (NP) to the sentence. It only connects an NP to a sentence like a tool word. In an English Sentence a Preposition is used to connect only a Noun or a Pronoun or a Noun Phrase, never any other Parts of Speech else.

We have already known that so many Nouns, Pronouns and Noun phrases (NP’s) are used in a Sentence but maximum three of them are directly related to the Verb as a Subject, an Indirect Object and a Direct Object. The rest remain detached so long each of them is not connected with an individual Preposition.

In the Sentence:

He went to the capital city with his father by train yesterday.

The Verb ‘went’ is an Intransitive Verb. So it cannot take any object. So only ‘He’, Pronoun, is the Subject of the Verb. It can take or connect no other Noun Phrase. There are more Noun Phrases like ‘the capital city’, ‘his father’, and ‘train’ in the Sentence. They are three in number. They have no direct relation to the Verb ‘went’. So they need three Prepositions, one for each, to be connected to the Sentence and they took the Prepositions like ‘to’, ‘with’ and ‘by’ respectively.

But the very word ‘yesterday’ needs no Preposition to be connected because it is not a Noun. It is an Adverb.  Except a Noun or a Pronoun, no other Part of Speech needs any Preposition.

Now can see what happens if we omit the Prepositions: (He went the Capital Cityhis father train yesterday). We can now realize the importance of Prepositions as well as the necessity of Prepositions in an English Sentence.

A Verb has maximum three bonds to hold NP’s. Some Verbs have only one bond and they can hold only one NP and that is only the Subject of the Verb. In that case, the Verb is an Intransitive Verb. They never take any Object though there may be so many PrepositionalObjects (P.O.).

Some verbs have two bonds to hold two NP’s and one of the NP’s is the Subject and the other one is the Object. In that case, the Verb is a Transitive Verb. There also may be so many Prepositional Objects.

Some Verbs have three bonds and that is the maximum. With the three bonds they can hold three NP’s. One of the three NP’s is the Subject of the Verb. One of the remaining NP’s is Indirect Object and the other one is Direct Object. And the Verb is also a Transitive Verb and it may be called a ‘Double Object Verb’.

Now to connect other NP’s, if any, to a Sentence we need more one bond for each NP to be connected. And it is only the Preposition that creates a bond. Every individual Preposition always creates a single bond. So we use a Preposition to create a bond for every extra NP, other than the Subject and the Objects. Thus using a Preposition before each of NP’s we can connect so many NP’s as we need and the NP’s connected by Prepositions are called ‘Prepositional Objects’.

Now we can go for logical analysis. Study the following Sentences:

‘Read the above passage.’

Here, the word ‘above’ apparently looks like a Preposition and also placed before a Noun ‘passage’ but it is not a Preposition. If we omit the word ‘above’ the word ‘passage’ do not become a detached word. It is already related to the Verb ‘Read’ as the Object of the Verb. So, the word ‘above’ does not connect it and that is why ‘above’ is not a Preposition here. Rather ‘above’ qualifies or describes the Noun ‘passage’. So ‘above’ is an Adjective here.

Again, ‘There is no roof above my head.’ Here, ‘above ‘is a Preposition. It connects the Noun Phrase ‘my head’. If we omit the word ‘above’, ‘my head’ becomes detached. So, ‘above’ is the connector of the NP here and is a Preposition.

Again, ‘A helpless man wants help from above’.

Here, ‘above’ is a Noun as it is an Object of the Preposition ‘from’ and it is connected by ‘from’. If we omit ‘from’, it will be detached from the Sentence.

Now we can conclude:

1. That a preposition is placed before only a Noun or a Pronoun or a Noun Phrase to connect it to the respective Sentence.
2. That a Preposition never connects any other Part of Speech except Noun, Pronoun and NP’s.
3. That the Subject and Objects of a Verb never take any Preposition though they are also Noun or Pronoun or Noun Phrase.
4. That there must be a Noun or a Pronoun or a Noun Phrase after a Preposition.

In the Sentence, ‘Please come in’.  Here, ‘in’ is not a Preposition because there is no NP after ‘in’. It does not connect any NP. Rather it is an Adverb as it modifies the Verb ‘come’.

Every Preposition takes a NP after it. If there is no detached Noun in a Sentence, no Preposition is needed and we should take a note that generally every Noun has a boundary limitation, material or virtual.

And I think, that is all for Preposition. But now I like to go into a common controversy to have a logical solution.

Study the following Sentences:

1. I go to school. (Correct Sentence)
2. I go to home. (Incorrect Sentence) but I go home. (Correct Sentence)

Learners are directed not to use the Preposition ‘to’ before ‘home’. They are often told that ‘to’ cannot be placed before ‘home’. But why? What is the logical explanation?

We know that normally a concrete Noun has a boundary limitation. But ‘Home’ has no boundary limitation. ‘Home’ is the opposite word to ‘Abroad’ and there is difference between ‘Home’ and ‘House’. If we consider the both for the same, that will be a mistake. Both ‘Home’ and ‘Abroad’ are considered to be Adverb but ‘house’ is a Noun. ‘House’ has boundary limitation. We can build a house. We can buy a house. We can sell a house. So it is a noun and an Adjective may qualify the house but no Adjective can qualify ‘Home’.

Suppose a boy was born in a slum of Barisal City but he works and lives inDhaka, the Capital city, now. Being asked he will answer that his home-land isBarisal though he has no house in Barisal. Only he was born in Barisal. ‘Home’ bears a concept of one’s identity. ‘Home’ cannot be built but house can be built or shifted.

On the other hand ‘Home’ comes into being with one’s birth and ends with one’s death. So ‘Home’ is Adverb and an Adverb is never connected by any Preposition.

Again, in the Sentence, ‘My father is at home today.’ Here, ‘home’ has a boundary limitation, may it be a virtual boundary. By the Sentence we can understand that he normally lives else where but now he is in the locality. He is now available in the locality. But if we say ‘He is in the house’, that means ‘He is in doors.’ But ‘at home’ means may be he in doors or out of doors.

Again,

1. He came to Barisal.            

2. He came here (not came to here).

Barisal is Noun but ‘here’ is not a Pronoun because ‘here’ does not limit any boundary. So ‘here’ is Adverb and no need to be connected by any Preposition.

But in ‘I will go to Dhaka from here’, ‘here’ is a Pronoun because it limits its Boundary, a starting point of the Journey for Dhaka.

So, we must analyze every thing logically.

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Adjective verb Adverb

Adjective verb Adverb

Adjective is always a qualifying word and it always qualifies only a Noun or a Pronoun.

Adjective is an attributive word and it always attributes either a Noun or a Pronoun.

 It may be said that Adjectives are the adjuncts to a Noun or a Pronoun. So Adjectives are always NP related. Without being related with a Noun or a Pronoun an Adjective has no access to a Sentence.

A parasite never can survive beyond another tree. Likewise an Adjective cannot exist without being associated with a Noun or a Pronoun.

Suppose, ‘He is an honest man’. Here, man is a Noun and the words ‘an’ and ‘honest’ are related to the word ‘man’, so both the words are Adjectives. 

But if we write ‘He is an honest’ which is not possible because there is no Noun or Pronoun for the words ‘an’ and ‘honest’ to qualify. So the Adjectives ‘an’ and ‘honest’ have no access to the sentence.

On the other hand if we rewrite the sentence just only omitting the article ‘an’ as He is honest’, it is quite possible. In this sentence the word ‘honest’ instantly goes to be related to the Subject ‘He’, a Pronoun.

We should know one thing that an Article, as a part of a sentence, is an Adjective first because it is always related to a Noun and then it is an Article. ‘Articles’ is a sub-class of Adjective.   

It does not a matter where an Adjective is arranged in a sentence, but it does a matter whether it is related to a Noun or a Pronoun or not. If not, it is never an Adjective but if it is related to a Noun or Pronoun, in any sentence, wherever its position maybe, it must be an Adjective, irrespective of its form and face.

And also it should be noted that in a sentence, there may be more than one Adjective to qualify or describe even a single Noun or a single Pronoun.

So an Adjective is a qualifying word that qualifies or describes only a Noun or a Pronoun, irrespective of its position in a sentence as well as irrespective of its form and face.

If it is not related to a Noun or a Pronoun it is never an Adjective. So to identify an Adjective we must find out its relation to a Noun or a Pronoun in the Sentence.

I need a red pen. Here, ‘a’ and ‘red’ is related to ‘pen’. ‘pen’ is a noun here because it is the Object of the Verb ‘need’. So ‘a’ and ‘red’ is related to a Noun. That’s why ‘a’ and ‘red’ must be Adjectives.

Note that an Adjective should be used in adjective form. For example, ‘good’ and ‘well’ bear nearly the same meaning but they are used in sentences differently.

Follow the sentences: ‘He is a good boy’ but never possible that ‘He is a well boy’.

On the other hand, ‘She dances well’ but never possible that ‘She dances good.’ Because, both have the same meaning but ‘good’ is in Adjective form but ‘well’ is in Adverb form. Only Adjectives but never Adverbs qualify or describe a Noun or a Pronoun.

For more examples: http://www.talkenglish.com/Grammar/adjectives.aspx 

 Verb is a word that indicates an action that means to do something. So it must have a doer. Nothing can be done without a doer. So every verb must have a Subject. 

Suppose, walk. It is not a verb because it has no subject i.e. the action is done by none. But the word is in verb form. It can be used as a verb with a Subject. But without a Subject it cannot be called a Verb.

So a word is a Verb when it indicates an action and takes a Subject. No finite Verb is possible without a Subject and also no Subject is possible without a finite Verb. Subject and finite Verb are closely related to each other.

Of course, in the sentence ‘Read the book’, there is no Subject or no doer and also the verb ‘Read’ is not a finite Verb. It is a non-finite Verb having no Subject. And the Sentence is an Imperative Sentence. All the Imperative Sentences are Informal English.

We can consider another Verb in a Sentence ‘He is honest’ where the Subject ‘He’ does nothing i.e. no action is performed by the Subject. In spite of that in the Sentence ‘is’ is the Verb and a finite Verb because it has a Subject ‘He’.

Here it is called a Linking Verb. Because whenever Verb ‘to be’ is used as a Principal Verb, it is always Linking Verb.

          So we can also say that Verb is a word that can take a Subject.

          ‘You should man the orphan’, here, the word 'man' took the place of a Verb and also takes a Subject ‘you’, that is why ‘man’ is a Verb. Similarly, in ‘I shall book a ticket, ‘book’ is also a verb.

        “Think before you ink”, here, ‘ink’ is a verb because it has a Subject ‘you’.

 So Verb is an action word but it must have a Subject. And even not being an action word, whenever it takes a Subject, it must also be a Verb.

Adverb is a modifying word. Its function in a sentence is to modify the Adjectives, Verbs and other Adverbs. Like Adjective, an Adverb cannot be used in a Sentence independently without being related to other words or other Parts of Speech. But unlike Adjective, Adverb is related to Adjective, Verb and Adverb whereas Adjective is related to Noun and Pronoun.

The functions of Adjective and Adverb are nearly the same but their fields are different. Adjective follows the Noun and the Pronoun, on the other hand, Adverb follows the Adjective, the Verb and the Adverb.

Adjective never qualifies other than Noun and Pronoun but Adverb never modifies a Noun and a Pronoun. Adverb always modifies other than a Noun and a Pronoun.

‘He is very slow’, here, ‘slow’ qualifies the Pronoun ‘He’. So ‘slow’ is an Adjective. But ‘very’ modifies ‘slow’ which is an Adjective. So ‘very’ is the Adverb.

Again, in ‘He walks very slowly’, ‘slowly’ is related to the Verb ‘walks’. So ‘slowly’ is an Adverb. Again, as ‘very’ modifies the Adverb ‘slowly’, ‘very' is also an Adverb. Now it is clearly observed that an Adverb can also modify another Adverb.

For more examples:
  http://www.talkenglish.com/Grammar/adverbs.aspx

Follow the Sentences: He is a good boy. Here. ‘good’ is related to and qualifies the Noun 'boy'. So ‘good’ is Adjective here. But in ‘He played well today’, here, both ‘well’ and ‘today’ are related to and modify the Verb ‘played’. So both of them are Adverb but ‘well’ is Adverb of Manner and ‘today’ is Adverb of Time.

We get an Adverb normally by adding ‘ly’ to an Adjective.

That is (Adjective + ly) = Adverb. For example, slow + ly= slowly, wonderful + ly = wonderfully, final + ly = finally and so on.

So whenever we will use a word to modify an Adjective or a Verb or an Adverb, we must turn the word into an Adverb.

Remember that an Adjective qualifies only a Noun and a Pronoun and never an adjective, a Verb and an Adverb. On the other hand, an Adverb always modifies an Adjective, a Verb and another Adverb and never a Noun and a Pronoun.

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Noun & Pronoun

Noun & Pronoun    

Noun is one of the 8 kinds of Parts of Speech and Pronoun is the word which is used instead of a Noun. A Pronoun is the substituting word to a Noun.

Though Verb is called the soul of a sentence, Noun is the main component or element or the main factor of a sentence. In a simple sentence or in a clause Verb is always single but Noun and Pronoun are used in plenty.

      In that respect I like to cite a simile. Let us suppose a garland. A single string wreathes together a good number of flowers to present a beautiful garland. Similarly, a single Verb wreathes together a large number of Nouns and Pronouns to form a unique Sentence. 

      Noun is defined as a naming word. Or, ‘A Noun is the name of any thing’. Or, ‘Noun indicates the name of a person, place, thing, etc.

     But I think no such definition of Noun is perfect to make one understand a Noun clearly and properly because all the naming words are not Noun.

     In the sentence ‘Bangladesh team won the match’, the word ‘team’ is the subject and Noun. The word ‘Bangladesh’ being accompanied with the Subject ‘team’(N), just qualifies the subject ‘team’.

    So ‘Bangladesh’ is nothing but a qualifying word and it’s an Adjective. In no way ‘Bangladesh’ in this sentence can be treated as a Noun  though we still know that it is a naming word, a name of a state.

     To know what is Noun, we have to know the roles of a Noun in a sentence. Not only for a Noun but also for all Parts of Speech, we have to analyze their roles or functions in a sentence. 

In a Sentence, there are 4 functions of a Noun, viz.-

1. Subject of a Verb
2. Object of a Verb
3. Object of a Preposition and
4. Noun in Apposition or Appositive

    When a Word or a Phrase (a Group of words) performs one of the above 4 functions must be either a Noun or a Pronoun. Except Noun and Pronoun, no other Part of Speech can perform those functions. Note that a Pronoun cannot be used as a ‘Noun in Apposition’.

    Mr. Albert, Principal, gave Sujan a pen at college.

    Here, the word ‘gave’ is the verb and ‘Mr. Albert’ is the Subject and so it is a Noun.

    The word ‘Sujan’ is the Indirect Object (I.O.) of the verb ‘gave’. So it is also a Noun.

   The word ‘pen’ is the Direct Object (D.O.) of the verb ‘gave’. So it is also a Noun.

   The word ‘college’ is the Object of the Preposition ‘at’ (P.O.). So it is also a Noun.

   The word ‘Principal’ is used as the ‘Noun in Apposition’. So it is also a Noun. 

    Now we can see how a single verb wreathes so many Nouns together in a Sentence. But if we use an alternative word instead of Noun in any of those places, except ‘Noun in Apposition’, the very alternative word will be a Pronoun.

    Here it should be noted that Noun and Pronoun are equivalent. A Pronoun is used instead of a Noun. When a word is used instead of a Noun to avoid its repetition is called Pronoun.

Sujan is a good boy. He goes to school regularly.

    In first sentence ‘Sujan’ is the Subject and in the second sentence ‘He’ is the Subject. But both the word ‘Sujan’ and ‘He’ mentioned the same person.

   The two words differ only in their form but differ nothing in their application or in their practical functioning.

   So, Noun and Pronoun are considered to be the same. According to their usage, in a word, both of them are called Noun Phrase (NP).

     You must pay your attention that a word used instead of a Name is not a Pronoun. Rather, a word used instead of a Noun is called a Pronoun. Name and Noun are not the same.

   When a Name is used as a Subject or Object or Noun in Apposition is called a Noun. Otherwise no Name is Noun.

    ‘Bangladesh’ --- It’s a word and also a Name but not a Noun because it is not yet used in a Sentence. Consequently, it is not a part of any speech or of any sentence. So it is not a Part of Speech at all yet, let alone a Noun.

   In the sentence ‘Bangladesh team won the match’, ‘Bangladesh’ is a Part of Speech but not a Noun.    Here, ‘Bangladesh’ is not used as a Subject. It just qualifies or describes the Subject ‘team’. So here ‘Bangladesh’ is an Adjective.

    In the same way, in the sentence ‘I know John’s father’, ‘John’s’ is an Adjective.

    But in the sentence ‘I know his brother too’, the word ‘his’ is an Adjective too, though ‘his’ is used instead of a Proper Name ‘John’.

    So a word used instead of a Name may not be a Pronoun. On the other hand, we can say, “A word used instead of a Noun must be a Pronoun.

   John is my friend and he sings well. In this sentence, both ‘John’ and ‘he’ are used as Subjects of the Verbs ‘is’ and ‘sings’ respectively and ‘he’ is used instead of the Noun ‘John’. Here, the word ‘he’ is a Pronoun.

    So only being used instead of a Name, a word may not be a Pronoun but a word used instead of a        Noun must be a Pronoun. And both a Noun and a Pronoun do the same functioning in sentences.        They both are used as a Subject and Object.

      In fact, a Noun is always a naming word but a naming word is not always a Noun if it is not used as a Subject or as an Object.

     On the other hand, a Pronoun is the substituting word to the naming word only when used as a     Subject or an Object, otherwise not.

    A Noun may also be used as a ‘Noun in Apposition’ but a Pronoun cannot be used in that way. There is no provision of ‘Pronoun in Apposition’.

     Maybe we are now very much clear about the relation, similarity and difference between a Noun and a Pronoun.

     Now, we may come to the point. When a word is used as a Subject or an Object, it must be either a Noun or a Pronoun. But remember that only a Noun can be used as Noun in Apposition’

    Inversely, we can say again, without being a Noun or Pronoun, no word or no other Part of Speech can be used as a subject or as an Object.

 

  So to identify a Noun or a Pronoun or a NP (Noun Phrase), we have to know the Subject and Object.

Let us examine the sentences below:

     a)      I like walk. It is an incorrect sentence because ‘like’ is a Transitive Verb. So ‘like’ needs an Object.

      But the verb ‘walk’ must not be an Object. To use it as an Object, it must be made into a Noun like ‘walking’ or ‘to walk’.

In ‘to walk’, ‘to’ is not a Preposition because a Preposition never connects a Verb like ‘walk’. Here, 'to' is the sign of Infinitive. It will be discussed later.

     So the correct sentence will be either ‘I like walking’ or ‘I like to walk’, where both ‘walking’ and ‘to walk’ are Noun.

      Likewise, ‘Walking is good for health’ or ‘To walk is good for health. Both ‘walking’ and ‘to walk’ are Subjects in the two sentences and of course they are Noun.

a)      He stole my pen. Here, the word ‘my’ must not be a Pronoun because ‘my’ is not the Object of the Transitive Verb ‘stole’.

       Here the word ‘pen’ is the Object and a Noun. ‘my’ describes or qualifies the Object ‘pen’.
       So ‘my’ is an Adjective.

      It should be noticed that a possessive form of a Noun or a Pronoun can be used as neither a Subject nor an Object. They are always used as Adjectives.

     So ‘My have a pen’ is never possible, but always ‘I have a pen.

      Again, we can say that the following words like my, his, your, Rahim’s, our, etc. cannot be used as a Subject or an Object. So we cannot call them Noun or Pronoun. They are used as Adjectives

     
      The words which are used as a Subject or an Object must be either Noun or Pronoun.

Inversely, again a Noun or a Pronoun never does any other functioning except being a Subject or an Object.

     One thing should notable here, that out of 8 kinds of Parts of Speech only Verb takes both a Subject and an Object.

      Among the rest, only Preposition takes an Object but never a Subject.

      So the functions of a Noun and a Pronoun are only to be the Subject, Indirect Object, Direct   Object and Prepositional Object. In addition, Noun may be used as the ‘Noun in Apposition’.

    I think that’s all about Noun and Pronoun.

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