Nouns for Dummies

A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.

Example: Hamster, chainsaw, New York, and more!

Concrete or Abstract?

A concrete noun is a noun that you can touch or see. An Abstract noun is a noun that you can't see.

Concrete: Pizza

Abstract: Liberty

You can touch pizza, but not liberty.

Sometimes the same word will be a noun in one sentence and an adjective in another!

Example: The candle blows in the wind.

(noun)

The candle holder was broken.

(advective)

Classification of Determiners

Articles: A, an, the, will come before a noun and sometimes a pronoun

Demonstratives: This, that, those, these, may be signals for a noun to follow.

Numbers: May signal a noun, stop and check if a person, place, or thing closely follows it.

Possessive Nouns: My, his, hers, our, their, its, you, often signal a noun.

Indefinites: Some, any, no, many, few, several, are determiners when a noun follows.

Common and Proper Nouns

Common nouns do not  name specific persons, places, or things. Most nouns are common nouns.

Proper nouns name specific person, places, or things. Proper nouns are capitalized.

Common: cat

Proper: Miss Fluffy

Singular and Plural Nouns

Singular means one and plural means more than one.

The plural of most words is made by adding s to the singular form.

Example: Map = Maps

When a singular word ends in s, sh, ch, x, or z, es will be added to form the plural.

Example: Church = Churches

When a singular word ends in ay, ey, oy, uy, s will be added to the form the plural.

Example: Guy  = Guys

Plural Nouns Continued...

When a word ends in consonant + y, the y is changed to i, and es will be added to form the plural.

Example: Baby = Babies

Some words totally change in the plural form

Example: Woman = Women

Some words are the same in the singular and plural forms

Example: Moose = Moose

Some words ending in f, change the f to v and add es.

Example: Thief = Thieves

Plural Nouns Continued...

Some words ending in f do not change f to v. These words simply add s.

Example: Grief = Greifs

Some words ending in o, add s or es to form the plural.

Example: Photo = Photos, Hero = Heroes

Some hyphenated words add s to the first part when forming a plural.

Example:  Sister-in-law = Sisters-in-law

Plural Nouns, what not to do...

Wrong:

Hamster's are the cutest little things.

Correct:

Hamsters are the cutest little things.

Possessive Nouns

To form the possessive of a singular noun, add 's to the word.

Example: Waitress + apron = Waitress's apron

To form the possessive of a plural noun that ends in s, simply add ' after the s.

Example: Ladies club = Ladies' club

Possessive Nouns, what not to do...

Wrong:

Melodys cake is delicious!

Correct:

Melody's cake is delicious!

Appositives

An appositive is a word or group of words (phrase or clause) that stands next to a noun.

An appositive is set off by a comma or commas.

Example: Mr. Whiskers, my cat, is very fluffy.

More than one appositive may appear in a sentence.

Sometimes appositives are join by a conjunction.

Wrong ways to use appositives...

Wrong:

Earl my cousin likes to eat beef jerky.

Correct:

Earl, my cousin, likes to eat beef jerky.