Grammar Basics NOUNS

Nouns are the names of people, places or things. A common noun is the name of any usual thing like a table, a chair, a house, an animal or a bird. These words sometimes have a, an, the in front of them. NOUNS

Underline the common nouns in the following piece of writing. Tim lived with his mother and father in a large house at the edge of the bush. He lived in a suburb that belonged to the city of Brisbane. Tim had a very big dog. His name was Ripper. Ripper was a young dog and he liked to rip up anything he could find. Tim had only a single sock left of many pairs of socks because Ripper had found them and ripped them up. He had a basket with a blanket where he could sleep but the basket and the blanket were quickly chewed up and ripped up as well. The day after Ripper was given his new bed, Tim found little pieces of them all over the house when he came home from school.

A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place or thing. These nouns begin with a capital letter. E.g. Fred Australia Capital letters are also used for days of the week, months of the year and special holidays. These are also called proper nouns. PROPER NOUNS

Tim lived with his mother and father in a large house at the edge of the bush. He lived in a suburb that belonged to the city of Brisbane. Tim had a very big dog. His name was Ripper. Ripper was a young dog and he liked to rip up anything he could find. Tim had only a single sock left of many pairs of socks because Ripper had found them and ripped them up. He had a basket with a blanket where he could sleep but the basket and the blanket were quickly chewed up and ripped up as well. The day after Ripper was given his new bed, Tim found little pieces of them all over the house when he came home from school. HIGHLIGHT THE PROPER NOUN

Tim wanted to be able to play tennis so his mother arranged for him to have some lessons with a tennis coach. Every Saturday morning during February, March and April, Tim’s mum drove him to Forest Lake for his lessons. Over Easter there were no lessons at all and Tim continued to practise his strokes at home. He even taught Ripper to collect his balls for him and to bring them back to him without ripping them up. However, sometimes it would be just too much for Ripper. Then he would disappear with a ball, especially in summer when it was quite hot. Ripper would then find a cool spot under the house and hidden away from all eyes, he would quietly set about reducing the tennis ball to as many little strips as he possibly could. It was going to be very difficult to put a stop to this destructive habit. CAN YOU FIND THE PROPER NOUNS IN THE FOLLOWING PIECE OF WRITING?

Seasons of the year - summer, autumn, winter, spring - do not have a capital letter. Place names such as towns, countries, streets, rivers and oceans have capital letters, but the points of a compass – north, south, east, west – do not have a capital letter. DID YOU KNOW?

Which of the following words should begin with a capital letter? boxing day nile wednesday greeceyear timeautumn west Indonesia pluto star mountain april Sydney

Which of the following words are nouns? towelhappenbicycle teddy hairmouldpurple blanket offcloudfuriouswent Match a proper noun with one of the common nouns below it. EuropeIndianIndiaMercury Easter Mary (a) planet(b) girl (c) continent (d) holiday (e) country (f) ocean MORE EXERCISES WITH NOUNS

Every sentence begins with a capital letter. Every sentence ends with a full stop. Write the following sentences correctly by adding capital letters and full stops. aclose the windows a storm is coming bthe tigers won they scored three goals cmy name is stuart this is my brother, Malcolm dsimone is coming you can come too, if you want

Make four sentences by joining the sentence halves. Use capital letters and full stops. In the racemy mum had her hair permed gathers no mosschris was the fastest runner at the hairdresser’sI love eating cake a rolling stonewith chocolate icing