NOUNS


What is a noun?

Of all the parts of speech, nouns are perhaps the most important. A noun is a word that identifies a person, animal, place, thing, or idea.

 

Person as a noun

·        John started to run.

·        Plato was an influential Greek philosopher.

·        Sharon admires her grandfather.

·        My mother looks a lot like my grandmother, and I look very much like them.

Animal as a noun

·        The dog barked at the cat.

·        Elephants never forget.

·        Sophie is my favorite horse.

Place as a noun

·        The restaurant is open.

·        Let’s go to the beach.

·        Look over there.

·        Harvard and Yale are two famous universities.

·        Look! There’s the Eiffel Tower.

Thing as a noun

·        Throw the ball.

·        Please close the door and lock it.

·        Use words properly to be understood.

·        The lamp sits on a table next to the sofa.

·        Money doesn’t grow on trees.

 

Idea as a noun

·        Follow the rules.

·        The theory of relativity is an important concept.

·        Love is a wonderful emotion.

Functions of nouns

·        Nouns are subjects. Every sentence has a subject, which means a noun tells us what that sentence is all about.

Ex: John swung the baseball bat.

 

·        Nouns are direct objects. These nouns receive action from verbs.

EX: John swung the baseball bat.

 

·        Nouns are indirect objects. These nouns receive the direct object.

EX: Brad threw John the ball.

 

·        Nouns are objects of prepositions. These nouns follow the prepositions in prepositional phrases.

Ex: John swung the baseball bat at Greg.

 

·        Nouns are predicate nominatives. These nouns follow linking verbs and rename the subject.

EX: John is a baseball player.

 

·        Nouns are object complements. These nouns complete the direct object.

EX: They named their dog Max.

 

Common Noun vs Proper Noun

COMMON NOUN

PROPER NOUN

Common nouns are words used to name general items rather than specific ones.

Proper nouns have two distinct features: They name specific one-of-a-kind items, and they begin with capital letters, no matter where they occur within a sentence.

 

EXAMPLES

·        Common noun: I want to be a writer.

·        Proper noun: Agatha Christie wrote many books.

 

·        Common noun: I’d like to adopt a cat.

·        Proper noun: Cleopatra is the cutest kitten ever.

 

·        Common noun: Would you like a cookie?

·        Proper noun: I’m craving Oreos.

 

·        Common noun: Let’s go to the city.

·        Proper noun: Let’s go to San Francisco.

 

·        Common noun: My teacher starts work before sunup.

·        Proper noun: Mr. Bell seems to understand what students need.

 

TYPES OF NOUNS

·        Countable and Noncountable Nouns

·        Gerund Phrases

·        Plural Nouns

·        Compound Nouns

·        Collective Nouns

·        Abstract Nouns

·        Gerund and Infinitives

 

COUNTABLE

UNCOUNTABLE

Countable nouns are individual people, animals, places, things, or ideas which can be counted.

Uncountable nouns are not individual objects, so they cannot be counted.

 

Countable Nouns

·        Anything that can be counted, whether singular – a dog, a house, a friend, etc. or plural – a few books, lots of oranges, etc. is a countable noun.

 

Examples

·        There are at least twenty Italian restaurants in Little Italy.

·        Megan took a lot of photographs when she went to the Grand Canyon.

·        Your book is on the kitchen table.

·        How many candles are on that birthday cake?

·        You have several paintings to study in art appreciation class.

·        There’s a big brown dog running around the neighborhood.

 

UNCOUNTABLE

·        Anything that cannot be counted is an uncountable noun. Even though uncountable nouns are not individual objects, they are always singular and one must always use singular verbs in conjunction with uncountable nouns.

Examples

·        here is no more water in the pond.

·        Please help yourself to get some cheese.

·        I need to find information about Pulitzer Prize winners.

·        You seem to have a high level of intelligence.

·        Please take good care of your equipment.

·        Let’s get rid of the garbage.

·        Uncountable nouns can be paired with words expressing plural concept. Using these words can make your writing more specific. Here are some examples of how to format interesting sentences with uncountable nouns.

·        Garbage – There are nine bags of garbage on the curb.

·        Water – Try to drink at least eight glasses of water each day.

·        Advice – She gave me a useful piece of advice.

·        Bread – Please buy a loaf of bread.

·        Furniture – A couch is a piece of furniture.

·        Equipment – A backhoe is an expensive piece of equipment.

·        Cheese – Please bag ten slices of cheese for me.

Is the underlined word countable or uncountable?

·        The children fell asleep quickly after a busy day of fun.

·        Be careful! The water is deep.

·        The parade included fire trucks and police cars.

·        We like the large bottles of mineral water.

·        My mother uses real butter in the cakes she bakes.

·        How many politicians does it take to pass a simple law?

·        Most kids like milk, but Joey hates it.

·        Most pottery is made of clay.

·        Michael can play several different musical instruments.

·        I was feeling so stressed that I ate an entire box of cookies.

GERUNDS

·        Gerunds are words that are formed with verbs but act as nouns. They’re very easy to spot, since every gerund is a verb with ing tacked to its tail. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Examples

·        Swimming in the ocean has been Sharon’s passion since she was five years old.

·        Let’s go dancing at the club tonight.

·        Holly decided that flying above the clouds was the most incredible experience she’d ever had.

IFINITIVES

Infinitive phrases – normally referred to as infinitives – are formed with the word to in front of a verb.

Examples of infinitives

Infinitives are prefaced with the word “to”. For example:

         To think

         To act

         To walk

Gerund Phrase vs Infinitive Phrases

Examples

Gerund: Blowing bubbles on a windy day is a fun activity for children.

Infinitive: To blow bubbles on a windy day is a fun activity for children.

 

Gerund: Piling too much laundry into a washing machine will cause it to malfunction.

Infinitive: To pile too much laundry into a washing machine will cause it to malfunction.

Plural Nouns

         Plural nouns are words used to indicate that there is more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea.

Examples

         The boys were throwing baseballs back and forth between bases.

         Our horses are much happier wearing lightweight English saddles.

         Those cats never seem to tire of chasing one another in and out of those boxes.

         You stole my ideas and didn’t give me any credit.

         Our moms are going to be upset that we stayed out all night going to parties.

Compound Nouns

Compound nouns are words for people, animals, places, things, or ideas, made up of two or more words.

Compound nouns are sometimes one word, like toothpaste, haircut, or bedroom. These are often referred to as closed or solid compound nouns.

Sometimes compound nouns are connected with a hyphen: dry-cleaning, daughter-in-law, and well-being are some examples of hyphenated compound nouns.

Sometimes compound nouns appear as two separate words: full moon, Christmas tree, and swimming pool are some examples of compound nouns that are formed with two separate words. These are often referred to as open or spaced compound nouns.

Examples

Compound nouns can be made with two nouns:

         Let’s just wait at this bus stop.

         I love watching fireflies on warm summer nights.

Compound nouns can be made with an adjective and a noun:

         Let’s watch the full moon come up over the mountain.

         Please erase the blackboard for me.

Compound nouns can be made with a verb and a noun:

 

         Be sure to add bleach to the washing machine.

         Let’s be sure to stay somewhere with a swimming pool.

Compound nouns can be made with a noun and a verb:

         He always gets up before sunrise.

         I really could use an updated hairstyle.

Collective Nouns

         Collective nouns are words for single things that are made up of more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea. You can’t have a team without individual members; even so, we discuss a team as a single entity.

Collective Noun Examples

         Our class took a field trip to the natural history museum.

         The herd of bison ran across the prairie, leaving a massive dust cloud in its wake.

         We waited anxiously for the jury to come to a verdict.

         This year’s basketball team includes three players who are over six feet tall.

         Napoleon’s army was finally defeated at Waterloo.

         The town council has approved plans to create a new park.

         He comes from a huge family: he’s the oldest of eleven kids.

         The rock group has been on tour for months.

         Everyone in the audience applauded loudly when Elvis appeared on stage.

Abstract Nouns

Abstract nouns are words that name things that are not concrete. Your five physical senses cannot detect an abstract noun – you can’t see it, smell it, taste it, hear it, or touch it. In essence, an abstract noun is a quality, a concept, an idea, or maybe even an event.

Examples

         Love, fear, anger, joy, excitement, and other emotions are abstract nouns.

         Courage, bravery, cowardice, and other such states are abstract nouns.

         Desire, creativity, uncertainty, and other innate feelings are abstract nouns.

More examples

         I want to see justice served.

         I’d like the freedom to travel all over the world.

         Joe felt a nagging sense of doom.

         Love is a kind of irresistible desire; it’s hard to define.

         When Sarah jumped into the lake to rescue a drowning cat, her bravery astonished onlookers.

Exercises

Instructions: Identify the nouns in the following sentences and state their kind.

1.     The book was lying on the table.

2.     Love begets love.

3.     We cannot live without water.

4.     The jury has given its verdict.

5.     The Hindus regard Krishna as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

6.     Alcohol is injurious to health.

7.     Smoking is a bad habit.

8.     Wild animals live in forests.

9.     The childhood of Peter was full of misery.

10. All the girls were singing.

 


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