What are nouns?

Nouns are naming words.

They name people, places and objects.
They can also name ideas, emotions,
qualities and activities.
Here are some examples of nouns:
Peter, Elizabeth, driver, sister, friend.
Bristol, Severn, Brazil, pen, dog, money.
Love, beauty, industry, nature, greed,
pain.

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Types of noun
All nouns can be divided into common
and proper nouns.
Common nouns can then be divided into
countable and uncountable nouns.
Well look at each type in turn.
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Nouns
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Proper nouns
Proper nouns start with capital
letters.
They are the names of people, places,
times, organisations etc.
They refer to unique individuals.
Most are not found in the dictionary.
They often occur in pairs or groups.
Here are some examples.
Rakesh, Paris, Mt.Everest
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Common nouns
All nouns which are not proper nouns
are common nouns.
They are not capitalized.
A few examples: cup, art, paper, work,
frog, bicycle.
Common nouns are either countable or
uncountable.

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Countable nouns
COUNTABLE NOUNS:
THOSE THAT CAN BE COUNTED.

EXAMPLES:
CHAIR-CHAIRS
ORANGE-ORANGES
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Countable nouns
Use these tests for countable nouns:
Countable (or just count) nouns can be
made plural: a tree two trees; a man men;
a pony ponies.
In the singular, they may have the article a
or an: a sausage; an apple.
We ask: How many words/pages/chairs?
We say: A few minutes/friends/chips?




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Uncountable nouns
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS:
THOSE THAT CANNOT BE
COUNTED.

EXAMPLES:
SUGAR, FRUIT, FLOUR, MONEY,
COFFEE, RICE, MILK, WATER,
SALT

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Uncountable nouns
Use these tests for uncountable nouns:
Uncountable (or non-count) nouns cannot be
made plural. We cannot say: two funs, three
advices or five furnitures.
We never use a or an with them.
We ask: How much money/time/milk?
(Not How many?)
We say: A little help/effort. (Not A few.)


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SUMMARY
Countable Uncountable
A / An
(singular)
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Summary
Countable
Uncountable
Both
many much a lot of
several a little some
a few any
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Singular & Plural form
Most nouns have both singular and plural
forms
A singular noun names one person, place,
thing, or idea.
One cat, one store, one item
A plural noun names two or more persons,
places, things, or ideas.
Two cats, four stores, fifteen items

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Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
1. For most singular nouns, add s.
Singular Plural
teacher teachers
street streets
pencil pencils
book books
elephant elephants
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Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
2. For nouns ending with s, x, z, sh,
or ch, add es.
Singular Plural
gas gases
wax waxes
dish dishes
church churches
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Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
3. For nouns ending with a consonant and y,
change the y to i and add es. For nouns ending
with a vowel and y, add s.
Singular Plural
sky skies
army armies
penny pennies
boy boys
alley alleys
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Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
4. For some nouns ending with f or fe, add s. For
others, change the f to v and add s or es. (You
will need to memorize the spellings for such
words or look them up in a dictionary to check.
Singular Plural
belief beliefs
roof roofs
loaf loaves
life lives
knife knives
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Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
These are a little more tricky . . .
5. For nouns that end with o, add s or es. (Again, you would need
to memorize the spellings of such words or look them up in a
dictionary to double-check.)
One trick to remember: if it has to do with sound (music), just add
s.Ex: cello. piano, radio
Singular Plural
piano pianos
radio radios
zoo zoos
potato / tomato potatoes / tomatoes
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Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
Singular Plural
child children
foot feet
tooth teeth
mouse mice
man / woman men / women
6. Some nouns have irregular plural forms. You
will have to memorize the spelling for irregular
plurals.
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Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
Singular Plural
sheep sheep
Chinese Chinese
moose moose
grapefruit grapefruit
deer deer
salmon salmon
7. A few nouns have the same singular and
plural forms.
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Generalizations for forming plural
nouns:
9. A few nouns that end with s look plural
but are considered singular.
Singular
measles
news
economics
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Collective Nouns
Collective Nouns: Refers to single noun that
indicates or refers to more than one groups of people,
animal or things
Eg: Family, team, club, audience, herd,
crowd

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Collective Vs Plural Noun
A plural noun represents more than one of
something. For example, 'flowers' is plural for
'flower'. Common, proper, abstract and
collective nouns can all have plural forms. A
collective noun is a singular (not plural) noun
that represents a 'group' of things. For
example, 'herd' is a collective noun for
animals such as sheep and cows. Collective
nouns can have plural forms; for example,
'herds is the plural form of 'herd'.




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Collective Nouns
Here are more collective nouns you can
use for groups of people.
a crowd of shoppers
a gang of thieves
a company of actors
a panel of judges
a class of schoolchildren
a platoon of soldiers
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Collective Nouns
Many groups of animals have their own special
collective nouns as follows:-
a herd of cattle a pack of wolves
a litter of puppies a flock of birds
a pride of lions a troop of monkeys
a drove of sheep a pod of dolphins
a brood of chickens a gaggle of geese
a school of fish
a swarm of bees
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Collective Nouns
Some groups of things also have their own special
collective nouns.
a bunch of bananas a deck of cards
a cluster of grapes a flight of steps
a bunch of flowers a suite of rooms
a bouquet of flowers a suite of furniture
a range of mountains a set of tools
a fleet of ships
a fleet of vehicles
a grove of trees
a string of beads
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Collective Nouns
Some nouns name the amount or
form of something.
a loaf of bread
a bar of soap
a ball of string
a bar of chocolate
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Gender
Nouns can be grouped under any of
the FOUR GENDERS
Masculine gender:
A noun is said to be in the Masculine
gender if it refers to a male character or
member of a species.
Man, lion, hero, boy, king, horse and
actor are nouns of masculine gender.

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Gender
Feminine gender:
A noun is said to be in the feminine gender if it refers to a
female member of a species.
Eg: Woman, lioness, heroine, girl, mare, niece, empress, cow
and actress are few of the feminine-gender nouns that we
use.
Common gender:
A noun is said to be in Common gender if it refers to a
member of species which can be a male or a female.
Child, student, friend, applicant, candidate, servant, member,

parliamentarian and leader are few of the common-gender
nouns.


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Gender
Neuter gender:
A noun is said to be in the neuter gender if it refers to
a member of a species which is neither a male nor a
female.

Normally nouns referring to lifeless objects are in
neuter nouns.

Chair, table, tree, star, mountain, street, book,
car, school,
paper, pencil and computer are few of the neuter
nouns which we use regularly.
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