The Parts of Speech: Nouns, I Defining Nouns Types of Nouns Tips for Identifying Nouns Griffin Technical College Learning Support Center Written by Cynthia Baynham

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, concept (idea), or quality. Student Teacher Uncle Mother Gardener Poet Musician Writer Sculptor Child Place: College Home Garden Library Mall Beach City Park Zoo Thing: Apple Game Movie Book Test Homework Dinner Bracelet Desk Poem Painting Song Thumb These are Concrete Nouns because you can experience them with at least one of your senses.

Both ideas (or concepts) and qualities are ABSTRACT nouns. Abstract nouns are nouns that you can’t see, touch, smell, hear or taste. Both ideas (or concepts) and qualities are ABSTRACT nouns. Ideas or Concepts Freedom Love Honor Feelings Wish Idea Patriotism Qualities Honesty Stubbornness Friendliness Happiness Can you see freedom? Can you see an idea? While you can see the effects of both freedom and love, you cannot actually experience either one with any of your five senses. This is why they are called abstract nouns. To test to see if they are nouns, place a possessive pronoun in front of each one. “Our freedom,” “His love,” “Your Honesty” Yes, they are nouns.

Common Versus Proper Nouns Concrete nouns can be divided into two other categories: Common vs. Proper. Common nouns name a general person, place, or thing such as book or friend. Proper nouns name a specific person, place, or thing such as the title of a book, Of Mice and Men or the name of a friend, Alison. Notice that because proper nouns are the names of specific people, places, or things, they are CAPITALIZED.

Here are some more examples of common and proper nouns: Common Proper country Italy president Thomas Jefferson teacher Ms. Jones game Monopoly museum High Museum song Amazing Grace lawyer Johnnie Cochran newspaper The New York Times uncle Uncle Ray doctor Doctor Hall Notice that because proper nouns name specific people, places, or things, they are all CAPITALIZED.

Note that as common nouns neither president, doctor nor uncle is capitalized. For example, if I say: I am going to my uncle’s house, I am not naming a specific uncle, so “uncle” is not capitalized. But if I say: I am going to my Uncle Ray’s house, I am naming a specific person, and uncle is his title, so uncle is capitalized. The same thing happens to any other common noun that is used as a title in front of a person’s name: Doctor Hall, Father Tim, Mister Connery, President Washington, and Aunt Joan. So the rule to remember is that when a common noun is used in front of a person’s name as a title, you MUST capitalize it.

A common noun that is used as someone’s name is also capitalized. For example, If I say: I am going to my mother’s house. The word “mother” is not capitalized because I am not using it as her name. I am using the word to express a relationship not a name. But if I say: I am going to Mother’s house. The word “Mother” is capitalized because I am using it as her name. It is what I am calling her.

We have looked at concrete and abstract nouns, as well as proper and common nouns. Now it is time to look at another type of noun: The Collective Noun The collective noun is one collection of many parts. We have one forest, but it is made of many trees. We have one class, but it is made of many students. We have one audience, but it is made of many patrons. We have one team, but it is made of many players. We have one troop, but it is made of many soldiers. A collective noun names a group, a collection. While it is made of many parts, it is ONE collection.

The big question is, “Are collective nouns singular or plural?” Yes. “But how is that possible?” you ask. Well, while collective nouns are usually singular, they can sometimes be plural. What? Collective nouns are singular when the group (or unit or collection) is acting as one: After each performance, the audience rises to its feet in thunderous applause. The team has won all of its games this season. The family is going on vacation in August. Even at midday, the forest is as dark as night.

The collection is acting as one so the noun is singular: Collective nouns are singular when the unit is acting as one. Well then, how could they possibly ever be plural? Collective nouns are plural when the individual members of the collection are acting on their own – as individuals. The collection is acting as one so the noun is singular: The faculty meets each Tuesday at 3:30. The members of the group are acting individually, so the noun is plural: At the first Tuesday’s meeting, the faculty give their reports. In other words, the members of the faculty are giving individual reports, acting individually.

Forming Possessive Nouns With the exception of a plural noun with an “s” on its end, all possessive nouns are formed by adding an ’s. There are two types of plural nouns, regular and irregular. A regular noun is one which is made plural by adding an –s or an –es. An irregular noun is made plural with either an internal change (foot/feet) or the addition of another suffix (child/children). Still other irregular nouns have the same form whether they are singular or plural (fish/fish).

Chart of Possessive Nouns Regular Nouns Irregular Nouns S P box’s boxes’ hat’s hats’ toy’s toys’ boat’s boats’ S P foot’s feet’s tooth’s teeth’s ox’s oxen’s fish’s fish’s child’s children’s Note: The apostrophe is not used if the noun is simply plural, but shows no ownership.

Tips for Identifying Nouns The articles a, an, and the are noun indicators. That is, they indicate a noun is coming, so to test if a word is a noun, place a “the” in front of the word in question: “the air” – Yes! “Air” is a noun. “the empty” No! “Empty” is not a noun. 2. Place a possessive pronoun in front of the noun( such as our, his, my) Yes! “idea is a noun. No! “follow” is not a noun. “my idea” - “our follow”- Caution: Many English words can be more than one part of speech, so make sure you leave the word in its sentence context when using this test.

Noun Functions Baseball is America’s favorite pastime. A noun can be the subject of a sentence: Baseball is America’s favorite pastime. A noun can be the subject complement (predicate noun): Kent’s favorite sport is baseball. A noun can be the direct object (the receiver of the action of an action verb): Kent hit the baseball over the fence. A noun can be the indirect object of an action verb. (There must be a direct object.) The indirect object is to whom or for whom the action was done: Kent hit Coleman the baseball.

More Noun Functions That pitcher leads with his left foot. A noun can be the object of a preposition: That pitcher leads with his left foot. A noun can be used as an adjective: Gloria needs a new baseball glove. A noun can be used as a possessive modifier: The laces on Gloria’s glove have broken. A noun can be used as a noun of direct address: Will you pitch today, Kent? A noun can be used as an appositive, which renames or further identifies the noun in front of it. America’s favorite sport, baseball, was invented by Abner Doubleday.

You are now ready to identify nouns You are now ready to identify nouns. Practice identifying them and identifying their functions in the sentence by going to this link. Noun Practice