Nouns

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).

COMPOUND NOUNS

• Examples:

– The highway into the mountains was very crooked.

– They served ice cream at his birthday party.

– My mother had just put on her make-up.