1. What is a Noun in English Grammar? What do they do?
A noun is usually the name of:
i) a person:
e.g. - teacher, mother, neighbour
ii) a place:
e.g. - school, home, yard
iii) a thing :
e.g. - feelings, sensation, ideas etc.
2. What does a Noun look like? - Word Example
Sometimes you can tell it's a noun from the ending of a word:
Some Examples:
- ist - florist, guitarist, dentist
- ness - cleanliness, goodness, kindness
- ship - leadership, friendship, membership
- ion - creation, information, conversation
- er/or - actor , writer, singer
Note! Be careful, not all words with similar endings are nouns. When in doubt always check with a good dictionary.
3. How to use Noun in a sentence?
i. Noun can be a subject:
e.g. Houses are so expensive.
ii. Noun can be an object of a verb:
e.g. People drink water.
3. What are the different types of nouns? - Explanation & Example Sentence
Nouns can be divided into the following:
i. Common Noun
ii. Proper Noun
iii. Abstract Noun
iv. Collective Noun
v. Compound Noun
vi. Pronoun
vii. Gerunds (as Nouns)
1. Common Noun
- singular & plural nouns
- countable & uncountable nouns
Common Noun (can be used with an article: a, an, the)
e.g. a table, an address, the teacher
a. SINGULAR & PLURAL NOUNS
- For most nouns we add "s" to make plurals:
e.g.
table > tables
teacher > teachers
supermarket > supermarkets
building > buildings
bottle > bottles
- For IRREGULAR PLURALS
Note changes in spelling and pronunciation.
(i) nouns ending in: -ch, -x, -s, -sh , -z ( double "z" + es)
e.g.
watch > watches
box > boxes
quiz > quizzes
bush > bushes
boss > bosses
(ii) nouns ending in: -y (drop -y & add -ies)
e.g.
pastry > pastries
factory > factories
story > stories
butterfly > butterflies
french fry > french fries
(iii) Other Irregular Plurals
e.g.
man > men
woman > women
child > children
Note! Always use a good dictionary to check out these irregular plurals.
b. COUNTABLE and UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
i) Countable Nouns - we can count the objects.
We use 'a', (numbers), some
- a car
- 5 cars (numbers)
- some cars
Example Sentence:
a. We have 2 cars.
b. There are about 50 cars in the carpark.
c. I can see some cars parked behind the building.
d. A boy is helping his mum with the shopping bags.
e. Two women are chatting outside the school gate.
ii) Uncountable Nouns - (we can't count the objects).
Use:
- 'some' for Uncountable Noun
e.g. some water
Example Sentence:
a. There is some water in the glass.
b. Jen had some porridge for breakfast.
c. Spread some butter on the toast.
d. Here, have some wine.
e. Add some salt to the soup.
2. PROPER NOUN (usually used without articles & in capital letters.)
A proper noun is a specific name for person, place or thing, etc.
Example:
- Personal names: Alex Smith, Sarah Jones , Zoe Ball
Names of Places
e.g.
- cities : Bangkok, Singapore, London
- countries : Malaysia, Thailand, France
- buildings : Maxwell House, Tokyo Station, Windsor Castle
- places : Hyde Park, Disneyland, Kew Gardens
- days, months : Mon, Tue, Wed / Jan, Feb, Mar
Titles of:
e.g.
- books:
The Hobbit, The Firm, Little Red Riding Hood
- films:
Mission Impossible, Demon Slayer, Speed
- songs :
Yellow, Anti-Hero, Let's Get Physical
and other media, etc.
3. ABSTRACT NOUN
('abstract' meaning: something like an idea, feeling or quality not an object)
e.g. happiness, depression, excitement, etc.
Example Sentence:
a. There was a lot of excitement in the classroom.
b. The old lady is suffering from depression.
c. My aunt's beautiful garden brought her much happiness.
4. COLLECTIVE NOUN - (used to describe a group of people, animals or things)
e.g. family, team, a flock of sheep, collection, band
a. Brad has a small family.
b. This football team has many local fans.
c. Ruth's farm has a large flock of sheep.
d. My dad used to have a huge collection of old stamps.
e. Coldplay is a popular UK band.
5. COMPOUND NOUN (made up of 2 or more nouns)
e.g.
birthday party = birthday + party
coffee cup = coffee + cup
computer desk = computer + desk
Note the spelling!
Compound nouns are sometimes spelt:
i. as one word:
e.g. toothpaste
ii. as two separate words:
e.g. food truck
ii. with a hyphen
e.g. T-shirt
Plural Compound Nouns
- How to form plural compound noun? The final noun will be in plural form.
e.g.
- tea tray > tea trays
- car park > car parks
a. I'm going to Ian's wedding party tomorrow.
b. I love wedding parties!
c. There's a lovely cake shop in my village.
d. Sam's teammates celebrated his birthday at the pub.
e. Lizzie wants to buy a new dressing table for her new bedroom.
Vocabulary Check!
dressing table = table with mirrors /drawers usually in a bedroom
6. PRONOUN - (used to replace nouns)
Example:
Tom & Jill walk their dogs every morning.
> They walk their dogs every morning.
i) Personal Pronoun
These are pronouns you can use as subject and object in a sentence:
Subject (comes before a verb)
>> I, you, we, they, he, she, it
e.g.
I / you / we / they go
he / she / it goes
Object
>> me, you, us, them, him, her, it
a. Susan gave me this address.
b. Dad has already spoken to you about it.
c. You told us to clean the room.
d. It was delivered to them yesterday.
e. All the guests congratulated both him and her.
ii) Possessive Pronoun - (used to show something belongs to someone)
Possessive Pronoun (1)
>> Possessive ('s)
We add 's to nouns or noun phrases to show what belongs to them:
e.g. Tom's car, Riko's party, the children's bags
We also use 's to talk about:
- relationships : Bill's wife
- places : Europe's oldest city
- creation : Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet
- physical features : the cat's ear
Possessive Pronoun (2)
>> my, your, his, her, its, our, their
Example Sentence:
a. Bob, your neighbour was just here a while ago.
b. His cats are called Kiki and Lili.
c. Did you know that her dad owns a small bookshop in town?
d. What a cute cat! Its eyes are hazel green.
e. Have you seen our new car?
f. Quiet, please. Now it's their turn to speak.
Possessive Pronoun (3)
>> mine, yours, ours, theirs, his, hers, its
e.g.
This is my book. > It belongs to me. > It is mine.
a. Are these (books) yours?
b. Is that car his or hers?
c. A: Wow, look at that gorgeous house.
B: Is it really Tom and Kate's house?
A: Yep, it's really theirs.
B: Oh, how I wish ours was just as gorgeous!
iii) Reflexive Pronoun - (use to refer back to person/thing):
I > myself
you > yourself
he > himself
she > herself
it > itself
we > ourselves
you > yourselves
they > themselves
Example Sentence:
a. We can do it ourselves.
b. She can take care of herself.
c. He was sitting there by himself.
d. I heard them talking among themselves.
e. Take good care of yourself.
f. Oh no, I'm talking to myself again.
g. Don't worry. The machine will turn off by itself.
iv) Relative Pronoun
- (connects 2 parts of a sentence to show how they're related):
- that
- which
- who
- whom
- whose
and also,
- when
- where
- why
Example Sentence:
a. Jessie is friends with the guy who works at the plant nursery.
b. Do you remember the cafe where we first met?
c. The book that you gave me for my birthday is lost.
d. The man whom you spoke to earlier is my boss.
e. The little boy whose dad works as a pilot is absent today.
f. Summer is the season when the beaches are crowded.
v) Indefinite Pronoun
- refer to a person or object (but we do not know who or what)
- someone / somebody
- anyone / anybody
- everyone / everybody
Note!
We can say 'someone' or 'somebody'. (Both have the same meaning but 'somebody' is less formal.)
Example Sentence
a. I can hear someone / somebody talking at the hallway.
b. Someone / somebody is asking for you at the door.
c. Everyone / everybody is at the party.
7. Gerunds (-ing form of verbs)
- The -ing form of verbs can also act as Nouns:
e.g. walking, learning, hanging
Example Sentence
a. Walking is a good form of exercise.
b. Learning English is so much fun.
c. I love hanging out with friends.
8. Quick Review!
a. In English Grammar, Nouns are used for naming a person, place or thing.
b. Let's recap the types of nouns with explanations and examples we saw earlier:
i. Common Noun
- singular & plural nouns
- countable & uncountable nouns
ii. Proper Noun
- a specific name for a person, place or thing
- written in capital letters
iii. Abstract Noun
- used for an idea, feeling (not an object)
iv. Collective Noun
- used for a group of people, animals, things
v. Compound Noun
- noun + noun e.g. tablecloth
vi. Pronoun
- Personal Pronoun - (used to replace noun)
- Possessive Pronoun - (to show something belong to someone)
- Reflexive Pronoun - (to refer back to someone / something)
- Relative Pronoun - (to connect 2 parts of sentence to show how they're related)
- Indefinite Pronoun - to refer to a person / object (but don't know who or what)
vii. Gerunds - (verb + -ing form) can also act as Nouns.
Check out below:How to use Present Participle & Gerunds + Example Sentence
Thanks so much for reading and Happy Learning!
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