What is a Noun?
A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns are usually the first words which small children learn. The highlighted words in the following sentences are all nouns:
- Late last year our neighbours bought a goat.
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.
- I like to shout into the quarry and listen to the echoes that return.
- He tripped over a box left carelessly in the hallway.
- Since we are moving, we will need many boxes.
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.
- Warsaw is their favourite city because it reminds them of their courtship.
- The vacation my grandparents won includes trips to twelve European cities.
- The children circled around the headmaster and shouted, "Are you a mouse or a man?"
- The audience was shocked when all five men admitted that they were afraid of mice.
Other nouns form the plural irregularly. If English is your first language, you probably know most of these already: when in doubt, consult a good dictionary.
Types Of Nouns
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.
If you are interested in the details of these different types, you can read about them in the following sections.
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.
Common Nouns
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.
Sometimes you will make proper nouns out of common nouns, as in the following examples:
- The tenants in the Garnet Apartments are appealing the large and sudden increase in their rent.
Concrete Nouns
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.
Abstract 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:
- Buying the fire extinguisher was an afterthought.
Countable 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:
- We painted the table red and the chairs blue.
Non-Countable Nouns
A 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.
Collective 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:
- The flock of geese spends most of its time in the pasture.
