10 Possessive case of Nouns

There are rules for forming the possessive case of nouns. Many non-native speakers of English encounter certain difficulties when they use nouns in the possessive case. The rules are discussed below:

1. Rule one:
To form a possessive case of a noun, you simply add apostrophe and 's' e.g. I saw the girl's uncle.

2. Rule two:
When the noun is an inanimate noun, avoid the use of apostrophe and 's' e.g. The table's leg is broken (informal). Instead you say: The leg of the table is broken.

3. Rule three:
If the noun is a plural ending with an 's', do not add 's' with the apostrophe sign, just put only the sign e.g. I saw the girls' father yesterday.

4. Rule four:
If the noun comes at the end of the sentence, still add the apostrophe and 's' e.g. That man is a friend of John's. (not that man is a friend of John).

5. Rule five:
In abstract nouns ending with 'ss' or 'ce', add only the apostrophe sign e.g. We should be happy to suffer for righteousness' sake. For silence' sake, the  boy walked away.

6. Rule six:
For names ending with 's' e.g. James, Jones, etc, the apostrophe sign and 's' should be put. For example: James's father, Jones's aunty, etc.

7. Rule seven:
If the word is a compound word, add apostrophe and 's' to the last word in the compound e.g., He sat on his class teacher's table. Note, if in a compound where we have two nouns whereby the first noun is qualifying the second, add the apostrophe and 's' to the first noun e.g. Grace Lawson collected the subject's prize.

8. Rule eight:
NOTE THESE!– women's liberation not 'women libration', women's studies not 'women studies', womenswear not 'women's wear', menswear not 'men's wear', women folk not women's folk'.

9. Rule nine:
Note these phrases: A week's time as in: I will see you in a week's time; a year's time, etc. Also note the use of else in a possessive form as in: Somebody else's book.

10. Rule ten:
Another expression that many speakers misuse is Students' Union. It's NOT *Student's Union* as often mistakenly used. It can also be used as Student Union. Finally, note the use of Parent-Teachers' Association (NOT Parents' Teachers' Association nor Parent Teachers' Association). A hyphen is put between Parent and Teacher and no apostrophe is used.

In the next article we are going to write about Collocations in English.

Singularity and plurality in Nouns

A singular noun has one number while a plural noun has more than one number. There are about six ways of forming plural nouns. These ways are discussed below.

– By adding "s" or "es" to the singular nouns
Examples:
Singular         Plural
Clock           clooks
Book            books
Train            trains
Table           tables
Cargo          cargoes
Mango         mangoes
Glass          glasses

Please note the following plural nouns ending with 'o':
Singular              Plural
Manifesto        manifestos
Motto                  mottos
Buffalo               buffalos
Commando     commandos
Piano                    pianos

Note: Some nouns that end with letters "O", " Ch", "S" etc. form their plural by the additional "es".

– By adding " en", or "ren" to the singular nouns
Singular         Plural
Child             children
Ox                    oxen
Brother         brethren

– By the changing of a vowel of the singular nouns
Singular         Plural
Tooth            teeth
Louse            lice
Mouse         mice
Man              men
Foot             feet
Goose         geese

– By changing letter "y" in the nouns to "ies"
Singular           Plural
Lady                ladies
Body               bodies
Fly.                    flies
Duty                duties
Army               armies
Reply               replies

– By changing "f" to "ves"
Singular          Plural
Thief              thieves  
Leaf                leaves
Life                  lives
Knife              knives
Wolf               wolves
Elf                   elves

Note: 'chief' does not become 'chieves'. You just simply add 's'- 'chiefs'.
'Handkerchief', 'dwarf', 'scarf', and 'hoof' can become plural either by adding 's' or 'ves'.

– By not changing the singular nouns (problematic nouns)
There are some nouns that don't take "s", " es", or anything to form their plural forms. Their spellings remain the same for both singular and plural forms. I call such nouns the problematic nouns. Examples:
Singular            Plural
Deer                  deer
*Fish                 fish(es)
Sheep               sheep
Furniture         furniture
Traffic               traffic
*Staff                  staff
Luggage           luggage (British)
Baggage           baggage (American)
*Property            property
Information      information
Equipment        equipment
*Damage            damage
Environment    environment

Note this: Bag and baggage (not bags and baggage nor bags and baggages)

Note that some of the words listed above can takes 's' in some specific cases.
For instance:
The members of clergy are respected.

* 'Fish' will be 'fishes' if we are referring to different species/types, such as tilapia fish, cat fish, electric fish, etc. For example: my mother bought ten tilapia fish from the market today; last week, she bought five fishes which included: tilapia, electric and cat.

*  'Clergy' will be clergies if we refer to different religions or denominations.

*  'Property' can be 'properties' if we mean 'characteristics' or 'features'. In legal parlance, we can also have properties.

*  'Damage' can be used in two forms. When we use it to mean demolition or destruction, note that the plural form does not take "es".
Example:
– The damages done by the flood are unspeakable. (Wrong)
– The damage done by the flood are unspeakable. (Correct)

The word will only take 'es':
  When used as third person singular verb such as:
– A baby damages fragile objects while growing up.

  When used to mean a certain amount of money ordered by a law court to be paid to somebody for an offence committed.
– Some damages were paid to the family of the victims.

Note that when we want to quantify some of the nouns in the table above, we use 'piece'. For instance:
– A piece of equipment
– Two pieces of equipment
– A piece of furniture
– Ten pieces of furniture.

We can also use 'member' for some of the nouns in the table above. For instance:
– The members of the clergy are respected.
– A member of staff.
– Five members of staff.

Note that we can also use 'staffers', but in American English. We can add 's' to 'staff' when we mean staff members of different groups or organizations. For instance:
– All the schools and their staffs were well represented at the meeting.
– All the law makers and their staffs are corrupt.

In the next article we are going to write about possessive case of Nouns.

Parts of speech: Nouns in English

There are about eight parts of speech in English. Some belong to the open class system and they include: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs, the other part of speech belong to the close class system and they include: prepositions, conjunctions and exclamations. Some other classes of part of speech include: articles, determiners, etc.

Noun may be defined as the name of a person, an animal, a place or thing. A noun could also be used to describe or refer to feelings, ideas, etc.

Classes of nouns
We have the following classes of nouns:
– Proper and Common Nouns
– Abstract and Concrete Nouns
– Countable and Uncountable Nouns
– Collective Nouns

1.  Proper Nouns
Proper Nouns are specific names of people, animals, places or things. For example: Eze, lion, Ibadan, bench, etc.

Note: Proper Nouns usually started with capital letters. However, this is not so in all cases, for example 'lion' and 'bench', as seen above.

2.  Common Nouns
Common Nouns are generally names of people, animals, places or things. Examples include: humans, boys, girls, woman, men, animals, furniture, cities, countries, towns, foods, etc.

3.  Abstract Nouns
Abstract Nouns are names given to things we cannot see but only know they exist when we feel them. They are not tangible nouns. Examples include: air, love, happiness, joy, etc.

4.  Concrete Nouns
Concrete Nouns are nouns we can see, feel, and touch. They are tangible nouns. Examples include: chair, table, book, road, football, etc.

5.  Collective Nouns
Collective Nouns are names given to a group of items of the same kind. It could also be a group of people. Examples include: cutlery, furniture, jewelry, crowd, spectators, audience, congregation, and mob. Other examples include:
A bunch of keys
A held of cattle
A shoal of fish
A bevy of ladies
A band of musician
A crew of sailors
A gang of thieves/prisoners/workmen
A flock of sheep
A covey of birds
A drove of horses
A team of oxen
A muster of peacocks
A pack of wolves
A leap of leopards
A gaggle or geese
A swarm of locusts
A hive of bees
A suite of furniture
A set of tools
A plague of insects
An anthology of poems
A library of books
A bouquet of flowers
A forest of trees, etc.

Note the following:
'Congregation' is a number of people in a Church, Mosque or Hall.
'Audience' is a number of people in a theatre, concert or cinema who are watching and listening.
'Spectators' are a number of people in a field or stadium watching without listening.
'Assembly' is a number of people gathered for some common purpose.
'Crowd' is a number of people gathered in the street.
'Mob' is a number of people protesting.

In the next article we are going to write about singularity and plurality in Nouns.

Sodium and its compounds

Sodium is a typical alkali metal. It occurs naturally in its ores chiefly as sodium chloride (common salt), sodium trioxonitrate(V) (Chile saltpetre) and sodium trioxocarbonate(IV) (soda ash). Sodium is extracted industrially by the Downs Process. Here, common salt is electrolysed in the molten condition. Calcium chloride is added to common salt to serve as a flux (to bring the melting point of common salt from 800°C to about 600°C). In the molten sodium chloride are Na+ and Cl- ions.

Sodium is used:

i. In the manufacture of lead(IV)tetraethyl, an anti-knock addictive used in petrol.

ii. In sodium vapour lamps (having intensity yellow illumination).

iii. In the production of titanium needed for the manufacture of heat-resistant alloys in rockets.

iv. In an alloy for making coolants for nuclear reactors.

Sodium has some important compounds (e.g NaCl, NaOH, Na2SO4, Na2CO3) that are useful industrially.

1. Sodium chloride (NaCl): When pure, it is not deliquescent (dampness is due to impurities (like MgCl2) which are deliquescent). It is a convenient starting material for manufacturing compounds like caustic soda, washing soda, baking soda and salt-cake. It is also used for the preparation of chlorine gas and hydrogen chloride needed for the manufacture of bleaching agents and fine chemicals. In addition, sodium chloride is used in salting out process in soap making or in solvent extraction of organic substance from water.

2. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) is prepared industrially by the electrolysis of brine (a saturated solution of sodium chloride). The pellet is deliquescent. Its dissolution in water is exothermic. The resulting aqueous solution is alkaline (turns red litmus blue).

Sodium hydroxide is used in the manufacture of soaps (saponification). It is also used in the textile industries for treatment of cotton. Also, an aqueous sodium hydroxide solution is used in qualitative analysis to form the hydroxides of metal ions in solution as precipitates. This facilitates the identification of some actions in unknown samples.

3. Sodium tetraoxosulphate(VI) (Na2SO4):

It is prepared in the laboratory by neutralizing sodium hydroxide solution by dilute H2SO4. The hydrated form is the Glauber's salt, Na2SO4.10H2O.

Sodium tetraoxosulphate(VI) is used:

i. In the manufacture of glass (a mixture of two silicates e.g. Na2SiO3 and CaSiO3)/

ii. In the manufacture of sodium sulphide (by heating it with coke).

Sodium sulphide is used for stripping the hair from hides and for making shaving powder.

iii. In drying the ethereal layer during solvent extraction of organic compounds from water.

4. Sodium trioxocarbonate(IV) (Na2CO3):

It is obtained industrially by the Solvay process. The raw materials are concentrated brine (NaCl), ammonia gas (NH3) and limestone (CaCO3) which yields quicklime (CaO) and carbon(IV)oxide (CO2) when heated. The process involves essentially the following steps:

i. formation of ammoniacal brine when brine is saturated with ammonia gas.

ii. Reaction between the ammoniacal brine and carbon (IV) oxide (produced by heating limestone) to form sodium hydrogen trioxocarbonate(IV) and ammonium chloride.

iii. Sodium hydrogen trioxocarbonate (IV) (not very soluble in water) is filtered from the reaction mixture and the washed.

iv. Heating of sodium hydrogen trioxocarbonate (IV) to sodium trioxocarbonate (IV) and carbon (IV) oxide (which is recycled). Sodium trioxocarbonate (IV) is stable to heat i.e. not decomposed on heating.

v. If the anhydrous sodium trioxocarbonate (IV) (soda ash) is dissolved in hot water and allowed to cool, it gives the crystalline form (washing soda).

The important uses of sodium trioxocarbonate (IV) are:

i. Softening of water for domestic purposes.

ii. Manufacture of glass (formation of silicates). The mixture of Na2SiO3, CaSiO3 and unreacted SiO2 constituent the glass.

iii. Manufacture of caustic soda.

Calcium and its compounds

Calcium is a typical alkali earth metal. It occurs as calcium trioxocarbonate (IV) in different forms: chalk, limestone, marble, calcite, Iceland spar and aragonite. It also occurs as calcium tetraoxosulphate (VI) e.g. gypsum, anhydrite. However, it is extracted industrially by the electrolysis of calcium chloride (a by-product from Solvay process), using graphite anode (also the container) and iron cathode. It is a silvery white metal. The density is 1.55g per cm3 and the melting point is about 850°C. It is not as reactive as sodium and so it is not necessary to keep it below the surface of petroleum oil (in contrast to sodium). However, a white film of oxide is formed on the surface on exposure to air. Calcium compounds generally burn with s brick-red flame.

Some of the important reaction of calcium are:

i. In air: it forms calcium oxide (quicklime).

ii. With water: calcium metal is used in the extraction of thorium and in steel casting (as deoxidizer). The important compounds of calcium are calcium oxide (CaO), calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2), calcium trioxocarbonate (IV) (CaCO3), calcium tetraoxosulphate (VI) (CaSO4) and calcium chloride (CaCl2).

1. Calcium oxide (lime, quicklime) CaO, is a white solid, made industrially by the action of strong heat on limestone (CaCO3).

It is a refractory substance (it will not melt even when heated to a very high temperature) hence its use in producing light (limelight). Its important reactions are:

i. With water, slaked lime Ca(OH)2 is formed.

This reaction is called slaking. The slaked lime is changed to lime-water if water is added and filtered..

Because quicklime is basic and hygroscopic, it is used as the drying agent for ammonia gas.

ii. With silica: CaO + SiO2 —> CaSiO3

2. Calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2 is a white powder, prepared by addition of water to calcium oxide. Its dissolution in water is exothermic. It is sparingly soluble in water but the solubility decreases with increasing temperature. It is basic hence gives reactions expected of bases (e.g. neutralization with aqueous mineral acids). The compound is useful in many ways:

i. In agriculture, to reduce acidity in soils (liming).

ii. In preparation of calcium trioxocarbonate (IV) e.g. chalk.

iii. In the making of mortar by builders.

3. Calcium trioxocarbonate (IV), CaCO3, occurs naturally as marble, chalk, limestone and in many other forms such as stalagmites and stalactites from the roof and floor of carvers. It is a white solid which is practically insoluble in water. Some of its reactions are:

i. With dilute acids (HCl and HNO3); it evolves carbon (IV) oxide (CO2).

ii. With water containing dissolved CO2, it dissolves to give soluble calcium hydrogentrioxocarbonate(IV):

Calcium trioxocarbonate (IV) is used:

i. In the extraction of iron using the blast furnace.

ii. In the manufacture of cement.

iii. In the Solvay process of manufacturing sodium trioxocarbonate (IV).

4. Calcium tetraoxosulphate (VI), CaSO4, is a white solid. It occurs naturally as anhydrite (CaSO4) and gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O), known as plaster of Paris (POP). This involves heating gypsum to a temperature between 100°C and 200°C.

Plaster of Paris is used medically in making casts to maintain joints in a fixed position. It is used industrially for cement and wall-plasters.

5. Calcium chloride, CaCl2, is a white solid. The solution is prepared by adding marble to dilute HCl until a little of marble remains.

The mixture is filtered. The evaporation of the filtrate to dryness gives the fused solid (anhydrous CaCl2). This is very deliquescent hence its use as a drying agent for most gases (except ammonia with which it reacts).

Calcium and its compounds

Calcium is a typical alkali earth metal. It occurs as calcium trioxocarbonate (IV) in different forms: chalk, limestone, marble, calcite, Iceland spar and aragonite. It also occurs as calcium tetraoxosulphate (VI) e.g. gypsum, anhydrite. However, it is extracted industrially by the electrolysis of calcium chloride (a by-product from Solvay process), using graphite anode (also the container) and iron cathode. It is a silvery white metal. The density is 1.55g per cm3 and the melting point is about 850°C. It is not as reactive as sodium and so it is not necessary to keep it below the surface of petroleum oil (in contrast to sodium). However, a white film of oxide is formed on the surface on exposure to air. Calcium compounds generally burn with s brick-red flame.

Some of the important reaction of calcium are:

i. In air: it forms calcium oxide (quicklime).

ii. With water: calcium metal is used in the extraction of thorium and in steel casting (as deoxidizer). The important compounds of calcium are calcium oxide (CaO), calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2), calcium trioxocarbonate (IV) (CaCO3), calcium tetraoxosulphate (VI) (CaSO4) and calcium chloride (CaCl2).

1. Calcium oxide (lime, quicklime) CaO, is a white solid, made industrially by the action of strong heat on limestone (CaCO3).

It is a refractory substance (it will not melt even when heated to a very high temperature) hence its use in producing light (limelight). Its important reactions are:

i. With water, slaked lime Ca(OH)2 is formed.

This reaction is called slaking. The slaked lime is changed to lime-water if water is added and filtered..

Because quicklime is basic and hygroscopic, it is used as the drying agent for ammonia gas.

ii. With silica: CaO + SiO2 —> CaSiO3

2. Calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2 is a white powder, prepared by addition of water to calcium oxide. Its dissolution in water is exothermic. It is sparingly soluble in water but the solubility decreases with increasing temperature. It is basic hence gives reactions expected of bases (e.g. neutralization with aqueous mineral acids). The compound is useful in many ways:

i. In agriculture, to reduce acidity in soils (liming).

ii. In preparation of calcium trioxocarbonate (IV) e.g. chalk.

iii. In the making of mortar by builders.

3. Calcium trioxocarbonate (IV), CaCO3, occurs naturally as marble, chalk, limestone and in many other forms such as stalagmites and stalactites from the roof and floor of carvers. It is a white solid which is practically insoluble in water. Some of its reactions are:

i. With dilute acids (HCl and HNO3); it evolves carbon (IV) oxide (CO2).

ii. With water containing dissolved CO2, it dissolves to give soluble calcium hydrogentrioxocarbonate(IV):

Calcium trioxocarbonate (IV) is used:

i. In the extraction of iron using the blast furnace.

ii. In the manufacture of cement.

iii. In the Solvay process of manufacturing sodium trioxocarbonate (IV).

4. Calcium tetraoxosulphate (VI), CaSO4, is a white solid. It occurs naturally as anhydrite (CaSO4) and gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O), known as plaster of Paris (POP). This involves heating gypsum to a temperature between 100°C and 200°C.

Plaster of Paris is used medically in making casts to maintain joints in a fixed position. It is used industrially for cement and wall-plasters.

5. Calcium chloride, CaCl2, is a white solid. The solution is prepared by adding marble to dilute HCl until a little of marble remains.

The mixture is filtered. The evaporation of the filtrate to dryness gives the fused solid (anhydrous CaCl2). This is very deliquescent hence its use as a drying agent for most gases (except ammonia with which it reacts).

Allotropes, Alloys and Ores of metals and non-metals

Both metals and non-metals show polymorphism or allotropy. This is the occurrence of an element in more than one form but in the same physical state. These forms are called polymorphs or allotropes.

Elements                      Major Allotropic Forms

Carbon                          Diamond and Graphite

Sulphur                          Rhombic sulphur

                                        Monoclinic sulphur

Tin                                  White tin and Red tin

Oxygen                           Dioxygen (Oxygen)

                                        Trioxygen (Ozone)

Phosphorus                   White phosphorus

                                         Red phosphorus

All the allotropes of an element have the same chemical properties even though they have different appearances or crystalline strictures. For instance, diamond (a hard form of carbon) and graphite (a soft form of carbon) can be shown to be the same element by combustion whereby a sample of each allotrope is burnt in excess oxygen. The product in each case is carbon(IV)oxide.

Metals are at times mixed intimately with other metals or non-metals to form alloys. The alloys combine the strength and the properties of the constituent elements.

Examples:

Alloys                       Constituent Elements

Brass                            Copper and Zinc

Bronze                          Copper and Tin

Steel                              Iron and Carbon

Duralumin                    Aluminum, Magnesium,

                                      Manganese and Copper

Sodium Amalgam       Sodium and Mercury

Zinc Amalgam              Zinc and Mercury

It should be noted that an amalgam is an alloy of mercury and another metal.

The form in which a metal occurs naturally is known as the ore. Metals can be removed or extracted from their ores by various means depending on their degree of activity. The activity series is the arrangement of elements in the decreasing order of reactivity or electropositivity or metallicity.

Those metals that are highly or moderately reactive do not occur free in nature but rather they occur in form of compounds in their ores.

The compounds found in ores are usually oxides or sulphides or trio of at on area (IV) of metals. These ores are either concentrated (by floatation) or roasting (heating in air) and then reduced chemically or electrolytically to release or free their metals. Elements in this category include potassium, sodium, calcium, aluminium and iron.

Ores                          Element sought

Haemitite                          Iron

Casseterite                       Tin

Bauxite                        Aluminum

Zinc blend                        Zinc

Galena                             Lead

Malachite                      Copper

However, there are other metals that have low reactivity and so they are usually found free in nature. Such metals include Platinum and Gold.

Metalloid are elements that are neither distinctly metallic nor clearly non-metallic e.g. Silicon, Arsenic, Tellurium, etc. The properties of metalloids are intermediate between those of metals and those of non-metals. For instance, they are semiconductors rather than being good conductors or nonconductors of electricity.