Nouns

Introduction

You have probably been taught that nouns are the names of people, places and things. This broad definition remains a good summary of this type of word. For example:

• Person: teacher, pupil, mother, king, teenager, doctor, and neighbour.
• Place: house, street, city, park, forest, sea, and asteroid.
• Thing: pen, happiness, table, laptop, apple, beauty, and car.

Of course, nouns can be divided and organised into different categorised. This guide will take you through proper nouns, singular and plurals, and examples of concrete and abstract nouns. There are suggested answers available at the bottom of the page.

Exercise One

Underline the nouns in this text:

Every morning is the same routine. I arrive at the station, give my ticket to the conductor and clamber onto the crowded train. There is never a seat available and I have to stand in the aisle. It is a long and painful journey to town. Inevitably, at every stop, people stomp and tread on my feet when they get on and off. I have been elbowed in the ribs without any apology, squashed into the metal doors and, on one occasion, knocked down to the floor. I really need to learn how to drive and pass the test!

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns refer to a specific person, place or thing and they are usually identified by a capital letter at the start of the word. For example, “teacher” is a common noun, but “Mrs Pratchett” is a proper noun because it refers to actual person, or the name of a character in a novel. The word “city” is also common and could refer to any number of places, but “Edinburgh” is the proper name of the capital of Scotland. Finally, you might be reading this on a “smart phone”, which is another common noun, or an “Apple” device which is a brand name.

Exercise Two

Write a description of your own journey to school, to the shops or any other destination you visit regularly. Make sure you include lots of proper nouns, such as the name of the streets and landmarks you pass. Identify the proper nouns by underlining them in your books.

Plural and Singular

When there is only one person, place or thing, that noun is said to be singular. For example, boy, book, home, dog, school, cupboard, and traffic light. However, when the noun refers to more than one, it will be written in its plural form, such as boys, books, homes, dogs, schools, cupboards, and traffic lights. This should make plurals easy to spot.

You will notice that an “s” has been added to each of these nouns to make them plural.

However, this is not always the case. Sometimes, we add “es” to the end of the word or have to drop the “y” and add “ies”. For example, “tomato” becomes “tomatoes” and “fairy” becomes “fairies”. It really just depends on the final sounds of the word we are transforming into a plural and the rules are incredibly complex with many exceptions.

Exercise Three

Change the following words into their plural form:

Exercise Four

Change the nouns in the following sentences into their plural form:

1. The teacher lost his notebook.
2. The farmer feed the calf in spring.
3. The window was open.
4. This computer is broken.
5. Who ate the slice of cake?

It is important to note that your will have to change most of the verbs in these sentences to match the plural forms. This grammar rule is called the subject verb agreement. You might have to change some other words to make the sentences work.

Concrete and Abstract Nouns

Some nouns refer a physical object that exists in the real world. For example, a grown up, your school, the local bus station, the stars in the sky, or the colour blue. These are known as concrete nouns.

However, some nouns refer to concepts that cannot be touched or do not physically exist. For example, happiness, bravery, freedom, and sorrow. These nouns are defined as abstract.

Draw two columns in your notebooks and write down a list of abstract and concrete nouns in each one. How many can you name in two minutes?

Suggested Answers