NOUNS

 

n   A noun is a person, place, thing or idea.

 

            The teacher asked a student to distribute the worksheets.   

            We live in Stone Mountain, a city in Georgia.

            Today is my eighteenth birthday.

            I am a strong advocate of nonviolence.

           

 

            ¯  All of the underlined words are nouns:

 

                        teacher, student, advocate = persons

                                    Stone Mountain, city, Georgia = places

                                    worksheets, today, birthday = things

                                    nonviolence = idea

 

 

 

n   Common & Proper Nouns

 

A common noun refers to people, places, things and ideas in general.

 

When I grow up, I want to be a psychiatrist.

My family went to the beach together last year for spring break.

Tomorrow I am going to see a movie with my boyfriend.

I perused an article in a tabloid about two celebrities who just hooked up.

My sister likes to read books.

 

 

A proper noun names specific people, places, things and ideas.

 

      Sigmund Freud was one of the founding fathers of psychiatry.

      The Morrisons went to Daytona Beach last year for spring break.

      Tomorrow I am going to see Grindhouse with Harold.

      I perused an article in Star about Justin Timberlake and Scarlet Johansen.

      StephanieÕs favorite book is Siddhartha.

 

 

¯    Compare the common nouns in red to the proper nouns in orange above.  As you can see, common nouns name general things while proper nouns name specific things.  The biggest difference between common and proper nouns is that common nouns begin with a lowercase letter (a, b, c) while proper nouns begin with a capital letter (A, B, C).

 

 

 

  n Concrete & Abstract Nouns

 

A concrete noun is a person, place or thing that you can perceive with one of your five senses.  In other words, if you can see it, smell it, hear it, taste it or touch it, than the noun is considered concrete.  Consider the following list of concrete nouns:

 

      ice                    sun                   dog                   piano                 perfume            

Mrs. Smith         Cincinnati           computer           Red Bull             jacket               

filet mignon        football              television           iPod                  aluminum          

meadow             vacation                        Sigmund Freud    Russia               Grindhouse       

family                beach                boyfriend           celebrities          Tupac Shakur    

psychiatrist        Star                  rock Ôn roll          Harold               kaleidoscope

      cell                   brain                 electricity           proton               ozone               

 

 

An abstract noun is an idea.  You cannot see, smell, hear, taste or touch an idea.  Think about the word happiness, for example.  What does happiness look like?  Is it fuzzy?  Is it sharp?  Does it have polka dots on it?  What does happiness smell like?  What does it feel like?  The truth is you canÕt really answer these kinds of questions when talking about abstract nouns.  While you may see someone smile, which is evidence of happiness, you cannot see the quality of happiness itself. Here are some more examples of abstract nouns:

 

love                  hate                  respect              indifference        dichotomy         

plausibility          impossibility       gregariousness   pride                 honor               

confusion           truth                  peace                passivity            violence            

humor                geometry           religion              sisterhood          racism              

prejudice            oxymoron           anachronism       confusion           hysteria

 

 

¯    Still confused?  Try this:  When you come across a noun and your not sure whether its concrete or

abstract, just ask yourself if you can see it, smell it, hear it, taste it or touch it.  If the answer is Òyes,Ó

youÕve got yourself a concrete noun.  If the answer is Òno,Ó youÕve got an abstract noun.

 

 

 

n   Singular & Plural Nouns

 

A singular noun refers to one person, place, thing or idea.  

 

      dog                   fox                    sheep                monkey             hippopotamus

 

 

A plural noun refers to more than one person, place, thing or idea. 

 

      dogs                 foxes                sheep                monkeys            hippopotami

 

 

¯    As you can see from the somewhat simple examples above, not every word creates its plural

      form in the exact same way. What follows are the 13 RULES for spelling plural nouns. 

 

1.   Add an -s to form the plural of most words.

dog ˆ dogs
balloon ˆ balloons
stereo ˆ stereos
barbeque ˆ barbeques
kiwi ˆ kiwis

2.   Add -es to spell the plural form of singular nouns that end in -s, -z, -x, -ch, or -sh.

               bass ˆ basses
                       blitz ˆ blitzes
                       fox ˆ foxes
                       church ˆ churches
                       crush ˆ crushes

         3.   If the singular noun ends in -y, change the -y into -i and add an -es to form
the plural.

               party ˆ parties

         4.  If the singular noun ends in –ay, -ey, -iy, -oy, or –uy, just add –s.     

               birthday ˆ birthdays
                       monkey ˆ monkeys
                       corduroy ˆ corduroys
             

         5. For singular nouns that end in -is, change the -is to -es to make the plural form.

               crisis ˆ  crises
                       analysis ˆ analyses
                       parenthesis ˆ parentheses

         6.   Most words that end in -f or -fe spell their plural form by replacing the –f or –fe
with -ves.

               calf ˆ calves
                       knife ˆ knives
                       dwarf ˆ dwarves
                       scarf ˆ scarves
                       wife ˆ wives

         7.   For singular nouns that end in –o, form the plural by adding –s or –es. 
Some plural forms can be spelled either way.

      armadillo ˆ armadillos

         bronco ˆ broncos

         casino ˆ casinos

         gazebo ˆ gazebos

         taco ˆ tacos

cello ˆ cellos
rodeo ˆ rodeos
shoe ˆ shoes
studio ˆ studios
zoo ˆ zoos
echo ˆ echoes

         embargo ˆ embargoes

         hero ˆ heroes

         potato ˆ potatoes

         tomato ˆ tomatoes

buffalo ˆ buffalos/buffaloes
cargo ˆ cargos/cargoes
desperado ˆ desperados/desperadoes
domino ˆ dominos/dominoes
ghetto ˆ ghettos/ghettoes
tornado ˆ tornados/tornadoes
zero ˆ zeros/zeroes


8.   For most singular nouns that end in –us, change the –us to –i to form the plural.

               cactus ˆ cacti
                       fungus ˆ fungi
                       hippopotamus ˆ hippopotami
                       radius ˆ radii

            9.  For some singular nouns that end in –um or –on, change the ending to  –a
to form the plural.

phenomenon ˆ phenomena
medium ˆ media

                  10.  For some singular nouns that end in –a, just add an –e to form the plural. 

antenna ˆ antennae
vertebra ˆ vertebrae

11.  Certain words that are hyphenated, or that go together, add an –s in
the middle of the word or phrase.  You sort of just have to memorize these.

sister-in-law ˆ sisters-in-law
son-in-law ˆ sons-in-law
bride-to-be ˆ brides-to-be
maid of honor ˆ maids of honor
attorney at law ˆ attorneys at law
Secretary of State ˆ Secretaries of State


12.  Some nouns spell their singular and plural forms in the exact same way. 

               fish ˆ fish
                       cattle ˆ cattle
                       sheep ˆ sheep

         13.  And last but not least, some nouns just donÕt follow the rules at all!!

               goose ˆ geese
                       child ˆ children
                       man ˆ men
                       woman ˆ women
                       mouse ˆ mice
                       die ˆ dice
             

 

n   Compound Nouns

 

A compound noun is two or more nouns that together function as a single unit.  A compound noun can appear in the form of two separate words (e.g. swimming pool), two words separated by a hyphen (e.g. drive-thru), or two words joined together to form a single word (e.g. sunglasses).  Some more examples of compound nouns are as follows:

    reality TV                                   great-grandfather                                                basketball

    drug addict                                 dry-cleaning                                           toothpaste

    full moon                                    check-out                                              breakfast
   

 

 

n   Collective Nouns

 

A collective noun is a noun that is singular but refers to a group or collection of things.  Some examples are as follows:

 

army                             audience                        band                             choir

class                             committee                      crew                              family

gang                             jury                               orchestra                       police

staff                              team                             trio                                colony

flock                             herd                              pack                             school

gaggle                           bundle                           pair                               quintet

furniture                         crockery                                    swarm                           set

 

 

 

n   Uncountable Nouns

 

An uncountable noun is a noun that you canÕt count in terms of one, two, three, and so on.  You can only refer to them as singular or plural in terms of phrases such as the following:

 

 

grain of rice                    glass of water                 piece of music                a lot of coffee

pair of scissors               drop of rain                    some wine                      five barrels of oil

 

 

 

n   Possessive Nouns

 

In grammar, possessive nouns show ownership. Follow these rules to create possessive nouns.

1.  With singular nouns, add an apostrophe and -s.

                                the girl's essay

the teacherÕs brilliant ideas

 

            2.  With plural nouns ending in -s, add an apostrophe after the -s.

 
the girlsÕ essay

  the teachers' brilliant ideas

   

3.  For plural nouns that do not end in -s, add an apostrophe and -s.


the women's books

the childrenÕs game

 

 

 

 

Additional Resources:

ð  Nouns: Prime-Time Players  @ FactMonster.com
ð  Plural Girls, Grammar Gorillas, and other games @ FunBrain.com
ð  Singular/Plural Noun Worksheet
ð  A Printable Version of this Page