Nouns

What is a Noun?

The simplest definition of a noun is a thing and nouns are the basic building blocks of
sentences. These things can represent a person, animal, place, idea, emotion – almost any thing
that you can think of. Dog, Sam, love, phone, Chicago, courage and spaceship are all nouns. The
more nouns you know in a language, the better you will be able to communicate your ideas.
Here, we’ll take a closer look at what makes a noun a noun, and we’ll provide some examples of
how nouns are used.
Noun examples: respect, faith, apple, seashore, peanut, motorcycle
Noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

1. The boy and girl were holding hands as they crossed the bridge on the way to town.
2. I love watching my cat play with the pink yarn.
3. It is raining! Everyone, grab your umbrella and rain hat and watch out for the puddles!

Simply to say that Noun is a naming word. It can be the name of a thing, place, person, animal or
feeling.

Naming People
It could be a name of any person, for example: John, Fatima, Singh, Michael, Tom and so on.

Naming Places
It could be a name of any place, for example: America, China, Church, Taj Mahal, Paris and so
on.

Naming Things
Naming things are like Car, Hat, Bottle, Table, Chair, Ball and so on.

Naming Animals
Dog, Rabbit, Elephant, Chicken, Horse.

Naming Feeling/Qualities/Ideas
Joy, Fear, Beauty, Strength, Anger.

Categories of Nouns

There are several categories of nouns, and there can be an overlap across the categories. For
example, there are common and proper nouns, and concrete and abstract nouns, yet some nouns
are both concrete and common, or concrete and proper. It will become clear as you read on.

1. Common nouns are the words that refer to most general things. Common nouns are naming
words that are common to people, places, things and animals etc. Common nouns do not define
any particular person, place or thing. They are general names. So, they are not capitalized unless
they begin a sentence. For example boy, girl, doctor, town, city, dog, car and so on.

Example Sentences of Common Noun

1. Teachers teach in school.

2. Birds live on trees.

3. I love to read storybooks.

4. Sally's mother is a doctor.

5. These chocolates and cakes are so delicious.

2. Proper nouns are the name that identifies someone or something, a person or a place. Proper
Nouns are naming people or places such as your name, your friend's name, your parents' name or
the name of your town and country are special naming words. These words are called proper
nouns. Special naming words or proper nouns always  begin with a capital letter.

Proper noun examples: Mary, Jimmy, Aunt Audrey, Honda, Philadelphia

Proper noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 Emily loved spending time with her Aunt Nancy in Paris.

 Buick and Jeep are two important carmakers.
 We visited Lake Erie, which separates the United States and Canada.

The days of the week and the months of the year are proper nouns.

Example Sentences

1. Every Sunday Mike visits the church.

2. Christmas comes in the month of December.

3. My sister was born in March month.

4. Sam goes for swimming classes every Friday.

The names of festivals and some special days are proper nouns.

Example Sentences

1. Christmas is my favourite festival.

2. My mother likes Mother's Day.

3. We will celebrate New Year's Eve.

The names of buildings, mountains, rivers and seas are also proper nouns.

Example Sentences

1. I have seen the Great Wall of China.

2. Last year we visited the Niagara Falls.

3. Many people  have climber the Mount Everest.

4. River Nile is very long.

Noted :

Identify and learn about proper nouns and common nouns in the list of sentences below.

1. Sony produces cameras too.

2. Alicia and Cathy were playing with a doll.

3. Sandy is joining school today.

4. Hens have laid eggs at Todd's farm.

5. The postman Mr. Robert was carrying postcards.

In above examples the words in purple colour are proper noun whereas words in green colour are
common nouns.

3. Collective nouns refer to a group of people or things: audience, team, bunch, family, class.
When speaking of collective nouns, Americans consider them as singular, using singular verbs
with them, such as the group dances happily. When speaking British English, both singular verbs
and plural verbs might be used, as in the group dance crazily before the Queen.
Collective noun examples: government, jury, team, bunch, school, class, and room (the people in
the room or building)
Collective noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
 The team threw confetti when it was over.
 Steve buys the band some sandwiches.
 Meredith told the class she was getting married.

Some collective nouns are used to name a group of animals and birds.

1. A flock of sheep.

2. A herd of cattle.

3. A stud of horses.

4. A gaggle of geese.

5. A litter of cubs.

6. A flock of birds.

7. A shoal of fish.

8. A pack of wolves.

9. A swarm of bees.

Some collective nouns define a group of people.

1. A crew of sailors.

2. An army of soldiers.

3. A band of musicians.

4. A class of pupils.

5. A troupe of actors.

6. A panel of judges.

7. A gang of robbers.

There are some collective nouns that stand for a group of things.

1. A bunch of keys.

2. A pile of clothes.

3. A collection of books.

4. A string of pearls.

5. A set of stamps.
 6. A galaxy of stars.

7. A pack of cards.

8. An atlas of maps.

9. A bouquet of flowers.

10. A bunch of grapes.

Example Sentences of Collective Noun

1. My maternal aunt bought me a pair of tennis shoes.

2. At the playground, you get to observe a colony of ants.

3. A pile of clothes was kept on the bed.

4. I need to finish an agenda of tasks before I leave.

5. There is a network of computers in Joseph's office.

4. Possessive Noun. A possessive noun is a word that names who or what has or owns
something. We add an apostrophe and s ('s) to form the possessive of most singular nouns.

Example Sentences of Possessive Noun

1. This is Bob's skateboard. (Means - The skateboard belongs to Bob)

2. This is Ian's Coat. (Means - The coat belongs to Ian)

3. Papa bought a new frame for grandpa's spectacles.

4. Ted's dream for a bicycle came true on his birthday.

5. Julia's homework was not checked.

Sometimes we need to show possession for plural nouns or where the owners are more than one.
In such cases we add an apostrophe at the end.

1. A girls' school is located near my house.

2. We should not harm the birds' nests.

5. Compound Noun. Compound nouns are formed by joining two nouns together. There are
three different ways to form compound nouns:

1. The closed form, like notebook, firefly and keyboard.

2. The hyphenated form, like x-ray, co-pilot and mother-in-law.

3. The open form, like post office, history book, mineral water.

Example Sentences of Compound Noun

1. Ian looked at his timetable.

2. It was going to be lunchtime.

 3. The basketball match was scheduled in the afternoon.

4. Just after the breakfast, Matt rushed to his tracksuit.

5. X-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen.

6. Countable Noun. Nouns that can be counted are called countable nouns. Most of the nouns
come in the category of countable nouns rather than uncountable nouns because they refer to
things, people or animals that can be counted. A countable noun is a thing can be numbered or
counted: airplane, sock, bowl, noodle, teacher, as in two airplanes, three socks, 1000 noodles.

Example Sentences of Countable Noun

1. I saw two owls sitting on the tree.

2. There are four milk bottles in the fridge.

3. My father has two cars.

4. I need an umbrella to get out in the rain.

5. To make this cake we need an egg.

Note: We use 'the' for some singular nouns which are unique (one of their kind). For example:
The Earth, The Sun, The Moon etc.

7. Uncountable nouns can have a quantity or amount but cannot be actually counted: water,
music, clothes, understanding. In the second example above, tons is a countable noun, but coal is
not. Coal is referred to as an uncountable noun.

Uncountable Noun cannot be counted are called uncountable nouns. Uncountable nouns also
known as 'mass noun.' We cannot count certain things in numbers such as milk, rain, sugar,
water, jam. We have to use words like - a glass of milk, a jar of sugar, a jug of water or a bottle
of jam. We can use terms like - a little, plenty or a bowl of with uncountable nouns. Though
these nouns can be measured, they cannot be counted. Such nouns do not have a singular or
plural form.

Uncountable noun examples: hate, confidence, attractiveness, wisdom

Uncountable noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 Love is in the air.

 The four elements are air, earth, fire and water.
 Her humor knows no bounds.

8. Concrete nouns represent a thing that is real and tangible: pig, person, rock, smell, air, soup,
Larry are all concrete nouns.

Concrete noun examples: cup, computer, diamond, rollercoaster, shampoo, Debby

Concrete noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.

 The person threw the rock across the yard.

 My dog, Oreo, jumped in the air and caught the ball!
 Can you smell the soup, John?

9. An abstract noun represents a thing that is more like a concept or idea: love, integrity,
democracy, friendship, beauty, knowledge are examples of abstract nouns.

Abstract noun examples in the following sentences are in bold for easy identification.
  Love and friendship are equally important.
 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
 Your mind can know a million things.

10. Number Noun. Number nouns denote one or many. There are two kinds of number nouns:

1. Singular number noun - It stands for one person, animal, thing or place.

2. Plural number noun - It stands for more than one person, animal, thing or place.

For example: One toy, three balls, two dogs, five cars, nine planets and so on.

Generally, by adding a 's' at the end, we can change a singular noun to a plural noun.

There are different rules we follow to change a singular noun to a plural noun.

Rule 1
When a singular noun ends with a 'y' after a consonant, we remove the 'y' and add 'ies'.
For example:

 City - Cities
 Lady - Ladies
 Story - Stories

Consonants are all other letters except vowels (a, e, i, o, u).

Rule 2
If there is vowel before 'y' just add s to form its plural.
For example:

 Boy - Boys
 Day - Days
 Trolley - Trolleys
 Toy - Toys

Rule 3
When a singular noun ends with 'o' after a vowel, add 's' to make it a plural noun.
For example:

 Bamboo - Bamboos
 Radio - Radios
 Video - Videos

Rule 4
When a singular noun ends with 'o' after a consonant, we add 'es' to make it a plural noun.
For example:

 Tomato - Tomatoes
 Volcano - Volcanoes
 Hero - Heroes

It is also possible that for few nouns ending with 'o' preceded by a consonant, we add the letter 's'
to form their plurals.
For example:

 Piano - Pianos
 Photo - Photos
Rule 5
If a singular noun ends with a sound like 's' such as 'ss', 'sh', 'ch', 'x', 'z', 'tch', we add 'es' to make
it plural.
For example:

 Box - Boxes
 Watch - Watches
 Dress - Dresses
 Quiz - Quizzes

Rule 6
If a singular noun ends with 'f' or 'fe', change the 'f' into 'v' and add 'es' to make it plural.
For example:

 Life - Lives
 Calf - Calves
 Loaf - Loaves
 Knife - Knives

Irregular Plural

Plurals of some nouns remains the same.

For example:

 Fish - Fish
 Deer - Deer
 Cattle - Cattle
 Sheep - Sheep
 Bison - Bison

Plural of some nouns are totally different from their singular form.
For example:

 Mouse - Mice
 Ox - Oxen
 Cactus - Cacti
 Child - Children
 Man - Men

Some nouns are always plural like pants, jeans, shorts, tongs, scissors, hair and sunglasses.

The Noun: Gender

Noun words can be divided into masculine and feminine.

Masculine Nouns

Masculine nouns represent males: Boys, men and male animals. For example: Prince, man, king,
boy, cock, lion etc.

Feminine Nouns

Feminine nouns represent females: Girls, women and female animals. For example: Princess,
woman, queen, girl, hen, lioness, etc.

But there are some nouns that represent both males and females. For example: Children, artists,
principals, teachers, singers, lawyers, etc.
Forms of Nouns

The same noun can appear in different forms, depending on how it is used.

A countable noun can be singular or plural. Most nouns in English form the plural by adding -s
or -es to the noun, although there are some exceptions:

 One dog, two dogs, red dog, blue dog.

 I missed not just one bus today, but two buses.
 New York City is one of the grandest cities in the world.

Uncountable nouns and proper nouns are always considered to be singular:

 The air in the countryside and in the city is clean and fresh (not the airs).
 All knowledge is a good thing (not knowledges).
 Florida has mostly warm weather in the winter.

Nouns can also indicate ownership. This form of a noun is called a possessive noun, and is
indicated by an apostrophe and the letter –s. It is equivalent to using the word of and the noun.

 The light’s color is red. (or: The color of the light is red.)
 The country’s flag has blue stripes. (or: The flag of the country has blue stripes.)
 The hunters’ guns were loaded. (or: The guns of the hunters were loaded.)

Note that when the noun already ends with -s, possession is indicated by adding only an
apostrophe – hunters’ guns, not hunters’s guns.

A noun can be used as the subject of a sentence, or in another capacity as an object:

 John is nice. – John is the subject of the sentence

 I saw John – John is the simple (direct) object of the sentence.
 I gave John the phone. – John is the indirect object of the sentence.
 I gave the phone to John. – John is the object of the preposition to.

Additional Info About Nouns

Sometimes nouns are used as adjectives, which is referred to as a noun adjunct. In fact, English
is amazingly flexible in that almost any noun can also be used as an adjective, though sometimes
the use is considered comical or slangy:

 Ocean view – Ocean describes the type of view you would see outside your window.
 Jazz concert – Jazz is specifying what kind of concert is being played.
 Cheese omelet – It’s a certain type of omelet, eggs with cheese. Using a true adjective as
in a cheesy omelet means any type of omelet (onion and peppers, mushroom) that has a
lot of cheese.
 Dog tired – Really really tired – even though dogs aren’t known to be especially tired.
 Fear Factor – An example of using just any old word as a noun adjunct.
Noun Practice Quiz

Select the answer choice that identifies the noun in the sentence.

1. It will take all of your energy and will to be able to walk again.

1. Take
2. All
3. Your
4. Energy

2. The works of many great poets have been placed on reserve.

1. Many
2. Great
3. Placed
4. Reserve

3. The Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883.

1. Bridge
2. Was
3. Opened
4. In

4. Sparta and Athens were enemies during the Peloponnesian War.

1. And
2. Were
3. During
4. War

5. Sharks and lampreys are not true fish because their skeletons are made of cartilage rather than
bone.

1. True
2. Because
3. Their
4. Bone

6. Joe, have you met your new boss?

1. Have
2. Met
3. Your
4. Boss

7. Sue’s parents tried living in the north, but they could not adapt to the cold.

1. North
2. But
3. Not
4. Adapt
8. Mastering basic mathematics is an important goal for younger students.

1. Mastering
2. Important
3. Younger
4. Students

9. To seize a foreign embassy and its inhabitants is flagrant disregard for diplomatic neutrality.

1. Seize
2. Its
3. Flagrant
4. Neutrality

10. The Trojans’ rash decision to accept the wooden horse led to their destruction.

1. Their
2. Led
3. Accept
4. Destruction