Nouns
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'l'lre Itrnglish language divides words into eightparts of speech: nouns, pronouns, verbs, a{ectives, adverbs, prepositions, r:or$unctions, and interjections. These parts of speech are the "building blocks" of good English. AII of these building blocks are necessary for you to understand so that you can better speak imd write English. Let's starb out with one of the most impor[ant lrarts of speech-the noun.
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ls A ilouN?
Nouns are important because without them you wouldn't be able to narne anything. You wouldn't have a narne, and neither would your friends! Thankfully, you have nouns. Anoun is a part of speech that names
o Aperson
'
A Place
.
AqualiW
o Athing o An idea o An animal o An activity Below axe some examples of nouns. Notice their variety. Juon is reoding. (o person) Dallos is north ol Houston. (o ploce, o ploce) The rock is very heovy. (o thing) Philosophy is very inleresting. (on ideo) My cof is chosing the mouse. (on onimol, on onimol) Overcoming feor requires greot couroge. (o quoliry o quolity)
Finally, we have: Writing is importont. (on octivity)
This last example is a little confusing. Wri,ting is a noun because it names an activity; ltisn'tperforming the activity, which is what averb does. By contrast, notice how u.sriting is used in the following sentence: Roberto is writing his nome.
H
il,i,,!l is a"verb, rather than a noun because it is the Iiobert is performing. 'l'his variety makes the noun important in the English Irurgu:rge. We can rarn" so many things! Before *" gJ on, try the I'rillrwing exercises. They will give you a chance to iaentigrirre tlilTerent types of nouns and what they name. 11v1'1,,'*t,t
tt
c I i.t t t t,
l-*.q.P }&\
BRAlll ilClGERsl
READING Al{D WRITII{G I1{ EI{GI.ISH
ldentify the
nouns in eoch of the sentences below
ond underline them. EXAMPLE:
My nome is Elisso. 1. Ms. Garcia is my language arts teacher. 2. She has lived in the United States for ten years.
3. Reading is an important skill to learn. 4. We read stories from all over the world. 5. Besides being a good reader, I also want to be abre to write
English well. 6. I think reading stories will help me to learn to write English. 7. Reading and writing English well wilr take time and hard work.
8. I spend time every
day rearning new words and using the new words in sentences. a story in mv
notebook
amd
(Answers ore
then typed
it
on poge 247.1
As you can see, there are a great many nouns. you can rearn about nouns more easily by dividing them into groups and learning about those groups. Let's begin by grouping nouns
proper nouna andcommon nouns.
ti'i$-\N L-
Most nouns are cornrnon nouns. A common noun narnes anA person, place, thing, idea, animal, Qudlff, or action. By contrast, aproper nou,n narnes aspecifin person' place, thing, idea, animal, quallty, or action. It's important to learn the difference because propernouns mustbe CAPITALIZED. Below axe some examples of common nouns and,proper nourts. Proper Noun
CommonNoun girl cW holiday month country building
Rosa
Chicago Christmas January
United States Capitol
As you can see, common nouns narne people (gi,rl), places (countuy), and things (buildi'ng) generally. By comparison, proper nouns narne specffic people (Rosa), places (United States), and things (Capitol). The following exercise will give you a chance to pick oatcommon nouns andproper nouns.
ltt +tl :
BRAI]I IICKIERS! Set
#2
THE BRITISH COI.OI{IES 11{ ISTH.CEilTURY
AI{ltRl(A Single underline the common nouns ond double underline the proper nouns in the sentences below.
9. I write my words and sentences in my notebook.
'o :fl#:hiffi?:"
PROPER AND COlulMON II0UNS
into
EXAMPLE:
:
Bv 1750, Greot Britoin controlled o lorge oreo of Ngrth Ar"rico. The 9rlIsh controlled the lond from whot is now Mojne io the northern border of florido.
I
l, 'Ihls lurd was home to nearly one t)
collcRETE AND BSTRACT ]louilq
tttillion Europeans. A rluarter million Africans and a quarter million Native Americans also lived there. Historians divide this area into three regions. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire comprised the colonies of New England.
tr
Fishing became an important source of money for small towns along the Atlantic Ocean. 6. A different society developed in the area that is today the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, NewJersey, and New York. 7. These
settlers became farmers of the fertile soil of the region.
southern colonies included Virginia, Maryland, Nofth Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 9. The climate allowed them to grow tobacco and rice. 8. The
10.
Merchants in Engtand, German5r, and Spain purchased these crops. (Answers ore on poge 247.1
Surfrs up... To learn more about corwnon nouns and.proper nouns, check out this site:
they ate concrete Another way to group nouns is by whether noun narnes something nouns or abstractiouns' Aconcrete for a concrete noun narne be touched or seen' Another it ut "* noun'We call this type of noun countable is acountable counted' For example' because it names something that can be because you can the words cat and,pencil are countable nouns count cats and Pencils' two cats fivePen'ci'ls
AconcretenouncanbeeitherapropernounoraCommon
and the proper noun. For instance, the common nowr teo'cher nounMs. Garci,a are concrete nouns' noun' Let's look at a special ffie of concrete
Collective Nouns group of people or things A concrete noun is used to describe a agroup noun or a that is considered a single unit, artd is called collectitte noun. Some examples are family
group
jury
nation m4ioritY
team
band
glass
idea' a thought' or By contras t, an a'bstract noun nafires an something that cannot be a feeling. In other words, it names called toucheJor seen. Abstract nouns are sometimes that noncountable nounsbecause they name something happiness' be counted. For instance, you can't count nouns' common always "ur"t"t Abstract or noncottntable nouns are Conerete Noun Carlos
computer San Francisco
butterflY
Abstract Noun friendshiP
humor fear happiness
Inl'rr ln r'rris chapter, you wil rearn how nouns are used in H('tl.'.t'.s. It,"s imp,rtant to understand and be abre to identify .rll(,r(,1,. iur. abstrac! so that you can properly
Alrst,rat{, nouns are wrrr
log"
use them.
tricky because **Vp"ople don,t think of andhumor asror.rl.
We've learned to distinguish betweenq,bstract nouns and, concrete nouns to identi$rgroup nouns or colrectioe nouns. The following exercise provides Jr, opport*ity to practice grouping
nouns in this way.
l. Ilonesty and responsibility are traits of a good citizen. 2. Honesty means to treat people of all cultures fairly. Your culture greatly determines how you live. 4. It can include language, customs, and religion. 5. An ethnic group is a group of people who share the same customs. Responsibility is addressing problems that occur in our society. 7. Attending school and following school rules are also part of civic responsibility. 8. The United States is ademocracy. 9. Citizens in a democracy vote to elect their representatives. 10. Education helps citizens to be better voters because they can read about and understand the problems facing their society. (Answers ore on poge 248.1
BRAI]I flCI(lERSI
-s
#3 ctTtztt{sHrP ldentify the noun or nouns in eoch sentence. Next determine whether they or" obstroct Sef
or.
concrefe nouns. Single underline the abstract nouns ga doVUte,unaeline the concrere nouns. lhen, decide whether eoch of the concrete nouns is o collective noun Write o "C" obove eoch colleclive noun. EXAMPI-E:
Ms. W is our sociol studies Our
H
t"och*
c
ds$
is leorning obout citizenship.
You've looked at different ways to group nouns and, therefore, understand and identiff them. Now let's see how the English Ianguage forms nouns to name either one or more than one person, place, thing, idea, animal, quahty, or action.
stllcutAR A}ID PtURAt il0u ils With the exception of abstract nouns, nouns can be singular or plural. A singular noun refers to a single person, place, thing, idea, animal, eudrff, or action. On the other hand, aplural noun refers to more than one person, place, thing, idea, animal, or action. Usually, you can make anotnplural just by adding an -s to the end of the word.
Singular
Plural
dog
book
dogs bookg
carnera
cameraE
tlnfortunately, not all English language nouns form thelr plurals so easily, and so you must learn a few rules to help you wlth those more difficult nouns. Rule J{0.
.--.-,,-:F::
BRAI]I TICKIERS!
I
Ser
\ h', ond o lEy Use the rules presented in this section thislist of
If the last sound in the word is -s,4h, -sh, or -.tr, you must add an -es to change the singular noun to a plural noun, and so that it can be easily pronounced. Below are some examples of these nouns and their plurals. Singular
classeg
matnh dish
matchcg dishes
Rule No. 1 will guide you in forming the plural for many nouns, but there are still many nouns remaining. For instance, many nouns end with the letter -y, arrd.these nouns have their own rule. Rule
ilo.
2
When a noun ends in aconlsononl followed by a-U, to form the plural, you must drop the -y and add -ies. For example:
Singular
Plural
baby
babies ladies
lady country Rule
Jiiionoty to irelp you chonge ir"qr"ntly used nouns from cingular nouns
l"h"rit
nouns. Write the plurol of the singulor noun on the line ofter it'
Plural
class
countrlgg
EXAMP[E:
followthis ruIe. Singular
Plural
bnU donkegr
boys donkeyg bays
bay
You've learned how to form plurals when the noun ends in -x, el.rd -U. Let's stop here and see how well you understand these rules for formingplural nouns. -s, -ch, -sh,
toy
Ws
woich
wotches
1.
church
2.
flower
3.
wish
4.
birthdaY
6. word 7. house 8. speech 9. famly
5.
day
10. school (Answers ore on Poge 248')
plurals are Let's look at some nouns whose
abit more
there is a rule to help you' difficult to form. pon t worry, though'
l{0.3
By contrast, if the flnal -y is preceded by auowel, you form the plural by simply adding an.s. Below are examples of nouns that
#4
NUUn) U)tu NOU]IS TREOUENITY USED tREOUENftI
Rule
l{0.4
yoy-:an form the plural by For most nouns ending in-fe or /, a -u and an -es' Below first dropping ttre fe o? ii"dthen adding are some examPles. Singufar wife scarf leaf
Plural wir4eE
scarrc leavgg
ending ln-fe ot -f' This rule covers most of the nouns ending in -Jf that formtheir Nevertheless, there uru u r"* no,ns chi'eJbecomes clui'efs' ;i;;;l"J bv adding an -s' For instance'
s,rrr..
'f
th* .ther ng-uns ending in
/that
form their prurals
by adrllrrg &n -a are: b".li^"f,re.f, cliff,iuf, proof, roof, scrufr rtaff, eurf, and whiff. Nruns ending with an <) area little confusing when it comes
. l,owriting theirplurals.
Unfortunately, you don,t have a rule to hclp you with these words. you wil trave to check the dictionary to learn the plural form. some end in -s, while others end in
Singular
PIural
tomato piano
tomatoCs pianog
nouns, whether they are written in the singular or the - Sgme plural, have the same sperirg.
ttu nouns berow *u""r*pr".
these nouns.
Singular
or
deer
flsh
fish
Finally, some nouns completery change their spelling rather than merely add an -s or -es to form their plurals. As with the previous group of nouns, you,ll need your dictionary to frufp Vorr. Below are some examples of these.rorr,".
Singular man foot child t
'Aih^'
You've learned some ruIes to help you write the plural of a noun, trut you're not quite through. The En$ish language has some unusual nouns when it comes to singular nouns and plural nouns. The following nouns don't have a plural:
furniture hardware money
fu !
water
timber
cattle
SClssOTS
fruit
The last few pages have shown you how some nouns form their plurals. The following exercise chance to review creating noun plurals.
plural
Ser
feet children
tt u*efr
.,::::
#5
MORT TREOUEI{TTY USED l{OUl{S
Use the rules mentioned in this section ond o dictionory to help you chonge this list of frequently used nouns from singular nouns to plurol nouns. Write the plurol of the singulor noun on the line ofter it. EXAMPLE:
"l];.:.""
" examples for forming plural noungi http /Arww. quia. c om/m et 67 Z I 6 .htmt
will give
BRAI]I IICKIERS!
men
.^Qpe ,)t
arr
below are always plural:
-J-.\
"
sugax
flour dust
On the other hand, the nouns listed
trousers clothes
Plural
deer
Some Unusuql Nouns
1. tomato
2. lcrife 3. half 4. mouse 5. rodeo
window
windows
life
lives
6. leaf 7. thief 8. man 9. radio 10. self (Answers ore on poge 248.)q#rffi.i+,
H
Yrru'vtr luarned aboutcdngurar nouns and,prurar nouns. ll,',s l,inre to learn how norn" show they oumorpr""#
N.w,
sonxrl,hing.
PossEss I uE
9 ,Y-
il0uits
EXAMPLE:
deer
house
11tle flrst example, phamb is apossessive noun. It shows that pham.
the boat belongs to similarry, in the second teacher's is apossessive noun. It tells you that "";;i"; the teachirowns ahouse. Finalry, the third exampre shows howyou can write that Edru,ardo possesses a quality. That quality is ciurage. As you've seen, apossessiue nounshows o*o"irhip, that is, something belongs to that noun. To make a singular noun possessive, add an aXtostroTthe and then add an _s. For example:
Ugo's
teacher
teacher's
deer's-
cofeterio cofeterio's-
Eduordo possesses couroge = Eduordo,scouroge
Singular Noun girl ugo
set#6
rREoUENIIY usED PossEsslvE NouNs Write the possessive form of eoch of the nouns below. Write your onswer on the line on the right.
Possessdue nouna are important because you need to be able to express that a noun ou),tls something, that is, possesses it something. Phom owns o boot = pAom,s boot The teocher owns o house = the feocher,s
BRAIII TICIOERS!
cofeteriqs cofeterios'
1. tigers 2. tree
3. Ms. Jones 4. thief 5. thieves
6. Ieaf 7. leaves 8. teachers 9. baker 10. Maria (Answers ore on poge 249.1
Possessive Noun girl's
To make a plural noun possessive, check the last letter_if the noun ends in -s, add an apostroqthe afterit to show possession. If it doesn't, add anwostrophe and,then add an.s. The examples below illustrate this.
Plural Noun dogs
children wives Jones
Possessive Plural Noun dogs'
children's wives' Jones'
following exercise will help you make sure you understand possessiae noutur. _The
Using Multiple Possessive Nouns Now that you understand how to write apossessiue noun,let's look at how you speak and write when you have more thart one noun possessing something.
FC,''I''IYI
Porcssive Noun Series [lrsl', n.ti<:c the situation that is caled apossessf ue noun serles' Apossessiae noun seriesis the term useowrren you lrave more ( than
situation,d;nlli##,i,1iii'j#3,1Tff#:f,1T3,,fi
,llf, writing the rast noun in the serils as apossessive. In other words, a single possessor requires only a single
p."""*i*
'lhe other situation that you have with multiple possessive nouns is where each of the nouns possesses something different. In this r:ase, each noun must show possession. lncorrect Juon ond Chorlie's shoes ore very dirty.
lncorrect
Ms. Nguyen
Multiple Nouns Possessinov Somithing Different
is
Juonito,sond Soro,s teocher.
This sentence is incorrectly written because both Juanita and 'soro possess Ms' NguEen L *rui, t*cher. sinilthi" i. rrru onlythe lnstnounin the sentence r,u"a, to rfro*por;;ior,."*u, Correct
Ms. Nguyen is Juonitoond Soro,s teocher.
This sentence is correctly written because the noun being possessed (M* Nguym) only requires the single po;;;;i"" (Sarab). lncorrect Rochel,s ond Shirley,s trip wos fun.
This sentence is incorrectry written because Rachet andshirrey had fun on the sarne trip.Instead orwriting the sentence with two possessive nouns, you shourd show possession only with the last noun (Shirteg). ThL posses"i*;;r" ehp)requires only a single possessive (Shirteg b).
This sentence is incorrectly written because bothJuan and. Charlie own dirty shoes. Consequently, bothJuan andCharti,e each must show possession. Correct Juan's ond Chorlie's shoes ore very dirty. lncorrect The Jones ond
the Smiths'houses ore in Son Froncisco.
This sentence is incorrectly written because both the Jones and. the Smiths each own a house in San FYancisco; therefore, both nouns must show possession. Correct The Jones'ond the Smifhs' houses ore in Son Froncisco.
Correct
Rochelond Shirley,strip wos fun.
How do you know that Rachet and Shi,rleywent on the same trip? The answer is in how fire sentence is written. Had they gone on separate fleld trips, the sentence would have read: Rochel's ond Shirley,s trips were fun.
The noun
trip would.have been written in the plural.
Again, to review; how would the sentence have been written if both the Jones and the Smiths owned the same house? The answer is the noun house would have been written in the singular. The Jones ond the Smiths' Aouse is in Son Froncisco.
You have learned quite a lot aboutpossessiae nouns. Before you continue,let's make sure you understand them.
NOUf,I
rvl!!llvllt
7. Ricky
BRAI]I IICK1ERSI Ser
vr
l!vvr!-
is Henry and Bobby's brother.
8. Roberta is Selena Pena's and Juan
Pena's daughter.
#7
USING POSSTSSIVE NOUilS
9.
Rex is Tito and Ftank's dog.
Eoch of the sentences below contoins
possessive noatns.lf the sentence is correct os it is written, write o "C,, on the line provided. lf the sentence is incorrect os it is written, wrile on ,rl, on the Iine provided ond lhen rewrite the sentence so thot it is correct.
10. Roman's and Jill's bus rides were exciting.
(Answers qre on poge 249.1
EXAMPIE:
Momo Liso is Poblo ond Morio,s grondmother. C
FUilCTlo]ls 0F
lloulls Ill
Hong ond Von's cors ore porked in their drivewoys. Hong's ond Von's cors ore porked in their drivewoys.
1. Mr. Parsons is Alfredo and Jesse,s soccer coach.
2.
Let's go over to John,s and Saily,s house.
3. Bill 4.
and Obi's pants are blue.
The Tigers and the Lions,uniforms look similar. Ms. Jones, Mr. Clark,s, and Ms. Kelly's classes were
cancelled.
6.
Sandy's and Kelly,s fathers are police officers.
sEilTENcEs
You have learned what nouns are and how to form their plurals. In addition, you have studied how to change nouns so that they show possession. These skills will help you understand English and be understood when you speak and write in English. Another skill you should learn is: How to use nouns. Nouns are used many ways in the English language. To discuss these ways, you have to lcrow a bit about verbs, another one of the eight parts of speech listed at the beginning of this chapter. You will learn aII about them in Chapter Three. Nevertheless, for right now; let's just say that verbs are words that show action.If you're still not too sure about verbs, you might want to jump ahead and skim Chapter Three on verbs and then come back here. You can use nouns many ways in sentences. Let's Iook at four of the most common ways they are used.
I.
As subiects of sentences
First, nouns canbe thesubiecfs ofsentences. A sentsnceisa group of words that tells a complete thought. The subject is the noun or pronoun (See Chapter Tko) and all the words that describe whom or what the sentence is about.
Thc lion ron through the toll gross. 'f'htt
ll,ttz
isthe subject of the sentence because the rest of l'lrtr s.rrtence is tering you auoui ti"-i'o".Now you know the rion riur through the tall grass. l,'i,on
Our teacher is very nice. The noun teacheristhe subject ofthe sentence because the teacher is about whom the iest of the sentence is telling you
'UNGTIC,NI
C,T
NOUNS IN SENTINEI'
'l'hc noun Josd is an indirect object because it tells you lo u;hom Ms. Sanchez handed the chalk. In this sentence, it appears a.fter llre verb handed and before the direct object cllalk. The students poid the coshier the money.
'['he noun cashi,er is an indirect object because it tells youto uthom the students paid the money. Can you identiff the verb and the direct object in the above sentence?
something. She is uery nice.
Juon ond Vicente love to ploy soccer. The nouns Juan andVicmte are the subjects of the sentence orthe abour tr,u*. ir,uriro.,,u
ffi?#:j::;:",
"",tenc"
;u';;,
2. As direcf obiects of sentences Nouns can be direct objects ofsentences. The direct object fo,ows the verb and compretu" itr *J*ing. A direct object answers the questionul,ho or what? Alberto,s fother cough t o fish.
The nounfs/a is the direct object. It answers the question: what did the subject of the sentence (Atbertobfather) catch? Poblo is my brother.
4. As obiects of prepositions in sentences I.)nally, nouns can be objects of prepositions in sentences. A 'trtreposition is a word that shows arelationshipbetween a noun or pronoun and another noun or pronoun. The food is
on
the toble.
In this sentence, on is a preposition. It shows the relationshiTt tretween the two nouns,food and. table. We refer to the noun or pronoun connected to the prepositional phrase as the object of the preposition. Here, on the table is a prepositional phrase, and the noun table is the object of the preposition, oza. If you want to learn a bit more about prepositions and prepositional phrases, you can skim over Chapter Five. You'll see in Chapter Five that every prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with a noun orpronoun.
The noun brotheristhe direct object. It answers the question: Wo
is Pabl.o?
3. As indirect obiects of sentences Nouns can be ind,irect objects ofsentences. An indirect Jbject is the person for whom or to whom something is done or given. You will usually write it between the verb and the direct object. Ms. Sonchez honded -/os6
the cholk.
H
Aphrase is any group of related words that,
unlik" "$
a sentence, has no subjeet-predicate eombination. The words in a phrase aet together so that the phrase itself functions as a single part of speech. A phrase can't stand alone as a sentenee.
Prepositional phrases act as either adiectives or adverbs, which means they modify or tell about a noun in the sentence or a verb. Check out Chapter Four if you are unfamiliar with adjectives and adverbs.
/ Thc mon in the block ponts is my fother.
'f'[rr trrrtrpositionar phrase in the brack pantsis acting as an sttiective because it tells you something about t}re sinleci of the sentence, the man. The students in the c/oss cheered for their feocher.
BRAIlI IICKIERS!
4tt. +tl .:
Set
#8
HURRI(ANES
This sentence contains two prepositional phrases. The flrst prepositional phrase in the crass contuns the noun crass. The phrase acts as an adiective because it describes the subject of the sentence, the stud,snts.The second prepositional phrase/or their teacher contains the noun teachei.Ttris prepositionJ phrase acts as an adverb because it tells you the teacher is being
Underline oll of the nouns in the sentences below. Notice thot one of the nouns is olreody double underlined. Write the type ol noun I;uEffiiT-rect obiect, indirect obiecl, or on obiect of the preposition) on the line provided ot the end of the sentence thot hos been double underlined. \--
cheered.
.....-))\,-
EXAMPLE:
Hglriconeg ore severe troPicol
Suffts up...
storms.
subiect
ln the foll, hurricones sirike the
eyberspace, you c&n learn more about how nouns are used at this
southeostern Unitea Stotes.
direcl
obiect
site:
http ://www.io. com/- hcexre s/tem I 608/aechtmVtwsent.html
You have learned four of the ways nouns are used in the English language. The exercise below will give you an opportunity to make sure you understand these important functions that nouns perform.
slLaIn[S form in the southern Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico.
I. The
J.
the
In the northern hemisphere, hurricanes rotate in a counterclockwise direction around an "cre." When they come onto land, the heavy rain, strong winds, and heavy waves can damage buildtngs, hQIII€S, and ears'
4. The heavy waves are called astorm surge. 5. Storm surges are very dangerous and are the main reason why you must stay away from the ocean during a hurieans' 6. Ameteorologist studies the Weather. 7. Mcleorglogistg have been studying hurricanes for about
one
hundred yeaxs.
8. Evidence indicates that hurricanes several centuries.
have been occurring
for
SeEd
"&Ehr'
became our word,,hurt{cane.,,
Iltelr godffiuratwn blew his breath
across the waLer.
(Answers ore
on poge 249.1
This completes our discussion of one of the most important parts of speech, the ,:*. chapter will talk about a part Jhe lext of speech that is closely related to the
noun_thep ronoun.
