Noun
Noun
A noun is a word used to name something: a person/animal, a place, a thing, or an idea. For example, all of the
following are nouns.
- Leah, Ignacio, Lan, Marek
- Japan, Venezuela, Atlanta, Kroger, the Gap
- pencil, store, music, air
- biology, theory of Relativity, Pythagorean theory
Hint: They are sometimes preceded by noun markers. Noun markers are
also called determiners and quantifiers. They are words like a, an,
the, this, that, these, those, each, some, any, every, no, numbers
(1,2,3,etc.), several, many, a lot, few, possessive pronouns (his, her,
etc). See determiners for more information.
&Nouns are classified in several ways…
- Nouns can be singular or plural.
Singular nouns name only one person, place, thing
or idea.
One apple, a pencil, the book
Plural nouns name two or more persons, places,
things or ideas. Most singular nouns (Not ALL) are made plural by adding –s.
For example, (pencil is a singular noun. The word pencils is
a plural noun.)
Exception #1: If a
noun ends with the –s, sh, ch, or x like the words, kiss, church, ash
or box, then they are made plural by adding –es (kisses, churches,
ashes, and boxes).
Exception #2:There are also irregular nouns that do not follow any rules. For example, the plural form of the word child is children.
Nouns can be Proper Nouns or Common Nouns
- A. Proper nouns refer to specific people, places, things and
ideas. A person's name (Leah Graham) is a proper noun, for example. Other
examples are names of places (Atlanta, Georgia) and names of things (the Navy). They are always capitalized!
- People’s names and titles- King Henry, Mrs. Smith
- Names for deity, religions, religious followers, and
sacred books- God, Allah, Buddha, Islam, Catholicism, Christians
- Races, nationalities, tribes, and languages- African
American, Polish-American, Black, Chinese, Russian
- Specific Places like countries, cities, bodies of
water, streets, buildings, and parks
- Specific organizations- Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA), ….
- Days of the week, months, and holidays,
- Brand names of products
- Historical periods, well-known events, and documents- Middle
ages, Boston Tea Party, Magna Carta
- Titles of publications and written documents
b. Common nouns are
all other nouns. For example: cat, pencil, paper, etc. They
are not capitalized unless they are the first word in the sentence.
- Nouns can also be collective.
Collective nouns are nouns that are grammatically considered singular,
but include more than one person, place, thing, or idea in its meaning. Words
like team, group, jury, committee, audience, crowd, class, troop,
family, team, couple, band, herd, quartet, and society.
Generally, collective nouns are treated as singular because they
emphasize the group as one unit.
The committee is going
to make a decision.
Nouns can also be
either count or non-count.
Nouns that are non-count cannot be
counted. For example,
one cannot go outside to have two fresh airs. One goes
outside for fresh air.
5. Nouns can be Abstract or concrete
- Concrete nouns are
nouns that you can touch. They are people, places, and some things. Words
like person, court, Georgia, pencil, hand, paper, car,
and door are all examples of concrete nouns.
- Abstract nouns are
nouns that cannot be physically held. For example, things like air,
justice, safety, Democracy, faith, religion, etc.
6. Nouns can be Gerunds
A gerund is the –ing form of the verb and is used as a
noun. For example,
Running is good for you.
Running is the noun/gerund and is is the verb.
Running is the noun/gerund and is is the verb.
My crying upset him.
Crying is the subject and upset is the verb
Crying is the subject and upset is the verb
