Parts of Speech
Nouns
Noun
A noun is a person, place, animal, thing or idea.
The mother took her daughter to
the park in her stroller to see
the squirrels.
The nouns are mother, daughter,
park, stroller, and
squirrels.
Concrete noun
A concrete noun is something you can see and touch. In
the above sentence all the nouns are things that can be seen and touched, so they
are concrete nouns.
Abstract noun
An abstract noun is something that you cannot see or touch,
such as idea, truth,
freedom, democracy, and love.
Because these nouns are abstract and, therefore, more difficult to understand, a writer will sometimes compare an abstract noun to a concrete noun to illustrate
his point.
For example, Robert Burns compared love, an abstract noun, to a rose, a concrete noun, in his poem
"My Love Is Like a Red Red Rose."
Proper noun
A proper noun is the name of a specific person, place,
or thing. It begins with a capital letter.
Richard
Toronto
Mile One Stadium.
Common noun
A common noun is the name of a general person, place or
thing. It does not begin with a capital letter.
man
city
stadium
Collective noun
A collective noun is a group of persons, places, animals,
or things.
crew
herd
army
class
team
A collective noun can be either singular or plural.
It is singular
when the group is considered as a group.
The class is writing its final examination in the gym.
It is
plural when the group is considered individually.
The class are meeting with their counselors to discuss their careers.
Note that the pronoun used to refer to the group changes according to the context of the collective noun.
If you are not certain whether the collective noun is singular or plural, you can avoid the use of the collective noun.
The students in the class are writing their final examination in the gym.
The members of the class are meeting with their counselors to discuss their careers.
The subject of each sentence is now plural, so a plural verb is required.
Forming plural nouns
Nouns can be singular or plural.
|
Singular nouns
|
Plural nouns
|
Singular nouns |
Plural nouns |
|
job
|
jobs
|
church
|
churches
|
|
lady
|
ladies
|
mouse
|
mice
|
|
tooth
|
teeth
|
moose
|
moose
|
|
sheep
|
sheep
| datum | data |
Some nouns become plural by adding the letter s to the
word, such as job, or by adding es
to the word, such as church.
Others become plural by changing the y to
i and adding es, such as lady.
Others change their form completely, such as mouse and
tooth.
Some keep the same form for singular and plural, such as moose
and sheep.
-
On Saturday the family decided
to go to the park for a picnic.
- For their lunch they packed sandwiches
and lemonade in a metal cooler.
- For recreation they brought a volleyball
and a net.
- During the day they enjoyed the beauty
and the tranquility of the site.
- Their dog, Fido, particularly
enjoyed chasing the squirrels and other inhabitants
of the park.
