noun, part of speech, name of person, place, or things.
A noun can be a name of person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns are usually the first words which small children learn.
A noun can be used sentence as a subject, a direct object, anindirect object, a subject complement, an object complement, an appositive, an adjective or an adverb.
Noun Gender
Common nouns, like "engineer" or "teacher," can refer to men or women. Once, many English nouns would change form depending on their gender -- for example, a man was called an "author" while a woman was called an "authoress" -- but this use of gender-specific nouns is very rare today. Those that are still used occasionally tend to refer to occupational categories, as in the following sentences.
- Michael Jackson was a very prominent twenty first-century actor.
- Sarah Siddons was at the height of her career as an actress in the 1780s.
- The manager was trying to write a want ad, but he couldn't decide whether he was advertising for a "waiter" or a "waitress"
Noun Plurals
Most nouns change their form to indicate number by adding "-s" or "-es", as illustrated in the following pairs of sentences:
- When Matthew was small he rarely told the truth if he thought he was going to be punished.
- Many people do not believe that truths are self-evident.
- As they walked through the silent house, they were startled by an unexpected echo.
There are other nouns which form the plural by changing the last letter before adding "s". Some words ending in "f" form the plural by deleting "f" and adding "ves," and words ending in "y" form the plural by deleting the "y" and adding "ies," as in the following pairs of sentences:
- The harbour at Marble Mountain has one wharf.
- There are several wharves in Halifax Harbour.
Possessive Nouns
Noun or pronoun changes its form to show that it owns or is closely related to something else. Usually, nouns become possessive by adding a combination of an apostrophe and the letter "s."
You can form the possessive case of a singular noun that does not end in "s" by adding an apostrophe and "s," as in the following sentences:
- The red suitcase is Cassandra's.
- The only luggage that was lost was the prime minister's.
- The exhausted recruits were woken before dawn by the drill sergeant's screams.
When you read the following sentences, you will notice that a noun in the possessive case frequently functions as an adjective modifying another noun:
- The miner's face was covered in coal dust.
There are many different types of nouns. As you know, you capitalise some nouns, such as "Canada" or "Louise," and do not capitalise others, such as "badger" or "tree" (unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence). In fact, grammarians have developed a whole series of noun types, including the proper noun, the common noun, the concrete noun, the abstract noun, the countable noun (also called the count noun), the non-countable noun (also called the mass noun), and the collective noun. You should note that a noun will belong to more than one type: it will be proper or common, abstract or concrete, and countable or non-countable or collective.
Proper Nouns
You always write a proper noun with a capital letter, since the noun represents the name of a specific person, place, or thing. The names of days of the week, months, historical documents, institutions, organisations, religions, their holy texts and their adherents are proper nouns. A proper noun is the opposite of a common noun
In each of the following sentences, the proper nouns are highlighted:
A common noun is a noun referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense -- usually, you should write it with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. A common noun is the opposite of a proper noun.
In each of the following sentences, the common nouns arehighlighted:
A concrete noun is a noun which names anything (or anyone) that you can perceive through your physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell. A concrete noun is the opposite of a abstract noun.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are all concrete nouns:
An abstract noun is a noun which names anything which you can notperceive through your five physical senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun. The highlighted words in the following sentences are all abstract nouns:
A countable noun (or count noun) is a noun with both a singular and a plural form, and it names anything (or anyone) that you can count. You can make a countable noun plural and attach it to a plural verb in a sentence. Countable nouns are the opposite of non-countable nouns and collective nouns.
In each of the following sentences, the highlighted words are countable nouns:
The non-countable noun (or mass noun) is a noun which does not have a plural form, and which refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count. A non-countable noun always takes a singular verb in a sentence. Non-countable nouns are similar to collective nouns, and are the opposite of countable nouns.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are non-countable nouns:
A collective noun is a noun naming a group of things, animals, or persons. You could count the individual members of the group, but you usually think of the group as a whole is generally as one unit. You need to be able to recognise collective nouns in order to maintain subject-verb agreement. A collective noun is similar to a non-countable noun, and is roughly the opposite of a countable noun.
In each of the following sentences, the highlighted word is a collective noun:
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm
http://www.uottawa.ca/
Proper Nouns
You always write a proper noun with a capital letter, since the noun represents the name of a specific person, place, or thing. The names of days of the week, months, historical documents, institutions, organisations, religions, their holy texts and their adherents are proper nouns. A proper noun is the opposite of a common noun
In each of the following sentences, the proper nouns are highlighted:
- The Marroons were transported from Jamaica and forced to build the fortifications in Halifax.
- Many people dread Monday mornings.
A common noun is a noun referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense -- usually, you should write it with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. A common noun is the opposite of a proper noun.
In each of the following sentences, the common nouns arehighlighted:
- According to the sign, the nearest town is 60 miles away.
- All the gardens in the neighbourhood were invaded by beetlesthis summer.
A concrete noun is a noun which names anything (or anyone) that you can perceive through your physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell. A concrete noun is the opposite of a abstract noun.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are all concrete nouns:
- The judge handed the files to the clerk.
- Whenever they take the dog to the beach, it spends hours chasing waves.
An abstract noun is a noun which names anything which you can notperceive through your five physical senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun. The highlighted words in the following sentences are all abstract nouns:
- Buying the fire extinguisher was an afterthought.
- Tillie is amused by people who are nostalgic about childhood.
- Justice often seems to slip out of our grasp.
A countable noun (or count noun) is a noun with both a singular and a plural form, and it names anything (or anyone) that you can count. You can make a countable noun plural and attach it to a plural verb in a sentence. Countable nouns are the opposite of non-countable nouns and collective nouns.
In each of the following sentences, the highlighted words are countable nouns:
- We painted the table red and the chairs blue.
- Since he inherited his aunt's library, Jerome spends everyweekend indexing his books.
The non-countable noun (or mass noun) is a noun which does not have a plural form, and which refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count. A non-countable noun always takes a singular verb in a sentence. Non-countable nouns are similar to collective nouns, and are the opposite of countable nouns.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are non-countable nouns:
- Joseph Priestly discovered oxygen.
- Oxygen is essential to human life.
A collective noun is a noun naming a group of things, animals, or persons. You could count the individual members of the group, but you usually think of the group as a whole is generally as one unit. You need to be able to recognise collective nouns in order to maintain subject-verb agreement. A collective noun is similar to a non-countable noun, and is roughly the opposite of a countable noun.
In each of the following sentences, the highlighted word is a collective noun:
- The flock of geese spends most of its time in the pasture.
- The jury is dining on take-out chicken tonight.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm
http://www.uottawa.ca/
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