Nouns
Dec 18, 2015
Nouns
• Definition: A noun is the name of a person, place,
or thing:
•Tom drove the car into the garage.
•An owl sat in the tree.
Classifications of Nouns
– A Common Noun• names a group of persons, places,
things, or ideas--- people, mountain, novelist, museum, ship, movie:
•The boy watches cartoons on television.
•One inventor created the light bulb.
•Some pioneers traveled in covered wagons.
Classifications of Nouns
– A Proper Noun• names a particular person, place,
thing or idea---Mount McKinley, William Faulkner, The Pink Palace, Queen Elizabeth 2, Casablanca:
•Mark lived in Ohio last year.
•Sally sailed to Europe on board the Queen Elizabeth 2.
Singular Nouns
A singular noun is one person, one thing or one idea:
Example:The man drove his car into the garage.
The pilot flew the plane to Nassau.
Singular Nouns
– Compound Noun• consists of two or more words that
together name a person, place, a thing, or an idea---basketball, newspaper, civil rights, no-hitter, brother-in-law:
•Our field trip to the Pink Palace was fun.
•His favorite desert was ice cream.
Plural Nouns
• Plural nouns name more than one person, one thing, or one idea.– Example:
•The cowboys drove the cattle to market yesterday.
•The houses in this neighborhood are new.
Rules for the Plural
• Most singular nouns form their plural by adding the letter –s.
• Dog Dogs• Cat Cats• House Houses• Car Cars
Rules for the Plural
• Nouns that end in s, x, ch, or sh form their plural by adding es.
• Examples:• Singular Plural
– address addresses– fox foxes– patch patches– wish wishes
Rules for the Plural
• Singular nouns that end with a vowel or a y add the letter –s to form the plural.– Example:
•Singular Plural•alley alleys•zoo zoos•zebra zebras
Rules for the Plural
• To form the plural of singular nouns that end with a consonant and a y, drop the y and add –ies.– Example:
•Singular Plural•puppy puppies•library libraries•berry berries
More Rules for the Plural
• Singular nouns that end with the letter f or fe form their plural by changing the f to the letter v and adding –es:– wolf wolves– life lives– leaf leaves
• Note: Some nouns ending with f will form their plural simply by adding –s (cliffs).
More Rules for the Plural
• Singular nouns ending with a vowel and o add the letter –s to form the plural:– Example:
•Singular Plural•rodeo rodeos•stereo stereos•radio radios
More Rules for the Plural
Singular nouns that end with a consonant and the letter O form their plural by s or es:– Examples:– Singular Plural
•piano pianos•hero heroes•potato potatoes•tomato tomatoes
More Rules for the Plural
• There are some singular nouns that have special plural forms.– Example:
•Singular Plural•foot feet•man men•woman women•goose geese•tooth teeth
More Rules for the Plural
• Some singular nouns remain the same for the plural.– Example:
•Singular Plural•deer deer•moose moose•sheep sheep
Possessive Nouns
• A singular possessive noun is one person, one thing, one place, or one thing that owns something.
• To show ownership the apostrophe –s (‘s) is used.
Possessive Nouns
• Examples:
– The tail of the dog---the dog’s tail– The meow of the cat---cat’s meow– The name of the city---city’s name– The house that Tom owns---Tom’s
house
Possessive Nouns
• A plural Possessive Noun form is used when the owner is more than one.
• When the plural ends with the letter –s, add only the apostrophe.
Possessive Nouns
• Examples of possessive plural nouns that end in –s:– The books of the girls (the girls’
books)
– The howls of the wolves (the wolves’ howls)
– The food of the boys (the boys’ food)
– The books of the stores (the stores’ books)
Possessive Nouns
• When the plural possessive noun does not end with the letter –s, add the apostrophe and then the letter –s (‘s):– The books of the children (the
children’s books).– The tools of the men (the men’s
tools).– The choice of the people (the people’s
choice).
ABSTRACT NOUNS
• Examples:
– His ideas changed his life.
– Faith in God requires a belief in someone you can’t see.
– His patriotism is an inspiration to all of us.
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
– Collective Noun •names a group of people, animals,
or things---audience, crowd, flock, orchestra, pride, bouquet, swarm, cluster:
•The band practiced every afternoon.
•The team played the best game of the season.
COMPOUND NOUNS
• A compound noun use two or more words as a single noun.
• Note: compound nouns may be written as one word (grandfather), separate words (ice cream) or as hyphenated words (make-up).