Nouns Recognize a noun when you see one. George! Jupiter! Ice cream! Courage! Books! Bottles! Godzilla! All of these words are nouns, words that identify the whos, wheres, and whats in language.

Nouns Nouns name people, places, and things. George and Godzilla walked to Antonio's to order a large pepperoni pizza. George is a person. Antonio's is a place. Pizza is a thing. Godzilla likes to think he's a person, is as big as a place, but qualifies as another thing.

Nouns have different classes: proper and common, concrete and abstract, count and noncount, and collective. Proper vs. Common Nouns Proper nouns name specific, one-of-a-kind items while common nouns identify the general varieties Different types of nouns

Proper nouns always begin with capital letters; common nouns, on the other hand, only require capitalization if they start the sentence or are part of a title. Read these two versions: George and Godzilla dined at Antonio's. George, Godzilla, Antonio's = proper nouns. A boy and his monster dined at a pizza restaurant. Boy, monster, restaurant = common nouns.

Concrete Nouns The Concrete Noun Recognize a concrete noun when you see one. Nouns name people, places, and things. One class of nouns is concrete. You can experience this group of nouns with your five senses: you see them, hear them,smell them, taste them, and feel them.

SeeHearSmellTasteTouch

Check out the following example: Reliable, Diane's beagle, licked strawberry ice cream off her chin. Ice cream, for example, is a concrete noun. You can see the pink. You can taste the berry flavour. You can feel your tongue growing numb from the cold. Any noun that you can experience with at least one of your five senses is a concrete noun.

Not all nouns are concrete. A second class of nouns is abstract. You cannot experience abstract nouns with your senses. Read this example: Diane pushed Reliable off her lap to register her disapproval.

Disapproval is an example of an abstract noun. What colour is disapproval? You don't know because you cannot see it. What texture is disapproval? Who knows? You cannot touch it. What flavor is disapproval? No clue! You cannot taste it! Does it make a sound? Of course not! Does it smell? Not a bit !

Croncrete & Abstract Concrete NounsAbstract Nouns student fire fighter dog pencil computer intelligence bravery loyalty eloquence convenience

Collective Nouns Collective nouns are names for a collection or a number of people or things. Words like group, herd, and array are collective noun examples. Collective nouns, a special class, name groups [things] composed of members [usually people].

Examples

Count and Noncount Nouns A count noun is one that can be expressed in plural form, usually with an "s." For example, "cat— cats," "season—seasons," "student—students." A noncount noun is one that usually cannot be expressed in a plural form.

Examples Many nouns have both a singular and plural form: a surfer/surfers. a restaurant/restaurants. a pickle/pickles. Some nouns, however, have only a singular form; you cannot add a number to the front or an “s” to the end of these words. This group of nouns is called noncount.

More examples… After two months of rainstorms, Fred carries his umbrella everywhere in anticipation of more bad weather. Rainstorms = count noun; weather = noncount noun. Because Big Toe Joe has ripped all four chairs with his claws, Diane wants to buy new furniture and find the cat another home. Chairs = count noun; furniture = noncount noun.

The big picture