Nouns

A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Nouns help us talk about the world around us. • People nouns name people, like teacher, mother, boy, or doctor. • Place nouns name where something is, like school, park, city, or home. • Thing nouns name objects you can see or touch, like book, table, phone, or car. • Idea nouns name thoughts or feelings, like love, happiness, and friendship. Some nouns are concrete, which means you can see or touch them. Other nouns are abstract, which means you cannot touch them. For example, apple is a concrete noun, and kindness is an abstract noun. Learning nouns is important because nouns are everywhere in English sentences. They often tell us who or what the sentence is about. If you can find the noun, you can better understand the meaning of the sentence.

Nouns can be different kinds. A common noun names a general person, place, thing, or idea. Examples are girl, city, and dog. A proper noun names a specific person, place, or thing. Examples are Anna, London, and July. Proper nouns begin with a capital letter. Countable nouns are things we can count. We can say one apple, two apples, three apples. Uncountable nouns are things we do not usually count one by one, like water, rice, milk, and sugar. We usually say some water or a little milk. Collective nouns name a group of people or things. Examples are team, family, class, and group. These nouns describe many people or things together as one unit. • Common noun: general name • Proper noun: special name • Countable noun: can be counted • Uncountable noun: cannot usually be counted one by one • Collective noun: group name

Nouns can change form in different ways. Singular nouns talk about one person, place, thing, or idea. Plural nouns talk about more than one. Usually, we add -s or -es to make a noun plural, like cat/cats and bus/buses. Possessive nouns show ownership. We use apostrophe + s for one noun, like the boy’s bag, and apostrophe for many plural nouns ending in s, like the students’ books. Compound nouns are made of two words that work together as one noun. Examples are toothbrush, bedroom, and football. Some compound nouns are written as one word, some with a hyphen, and some as two words. Gender in nouns tells us if a noun names a male, female, or both. For example, man is masculine and woman is feminine. Many nouns are neutral and can be used for any gender, like teacher, doctor, or student.