Grammar Rules- Nouns

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Grammar

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Noun Identification

What is a noun? A noun is a person, place, thing, quality, animal, idea or activity.

For example:
Person — Maria
Place — Detroit
Thing — Desk
Quality — Width
Animal — Dog
Idea — Independence
Activity — Navigation

Spot the nouns in a sentence: Maria went into the city to purchase detergent.

Nouns: Person — Maria
Place — City
Thing — Detergent

The functions of nouns

Nouns sometimes function differently in sentences. For example:
Subject: Maria likes ice cream
Object of Preposition: He gave the ice cream to Maria
Subject complement: The best customer is Maria

Grammar vocabulary: Nominal means any word, or group of words, used as a noun. The nominal word used in the original noun example is Maria.

Types of Nouns

The names of specific things, places, and people, like Maria or Detroit, are Proper nouns.

General, colloquial names, like table or house are Common nouns. Common nouns can either be concrete or abstract.

When an object is concrete i.e. you can see it and touch it, like a phone or a chair, it is a Concrete noun.

When it is a quality or idea, like freedom or justice, it is an Abstract noun.

Count Nouns

Count nouns are anything that can be counted. They are singular or plural. Plurals usually end with “s.”

Singular — Car
Plural — Cars

Singular — Chair
Plural — Chairs

Singular — Dog
Plural — Dogs

Irregular Examples

Singular — Mouse
Plural — Mice

Singular — Child
Plural — Children

Most nouns ending in s, sh, o, or ch need an -es suffix to be plural

Singular — Bus
Plural — Buses

Singular — Dish
Plural — Dishes

Singular — Potato
Plural — Potatoes

Singular — Church
Plural — Churches

Nouns ending in a consonant followed by y become plural by changing the y to i and adding -es

Singular — Mystery
Plural — Mysteries

Mass Nouns are nouns that cannot be counted and they usually do not have a plural form

Examples: Freedom, sand, money

Collective nouns refer to groups of people and/or things. Unlike mass nouns, they can usually be counted, so they usually have plural forms.

Examples:

Singular — Staff
Plural — Staffs

Singular — Herd
Plural — Herds

Plural Nouns

Plural nouns are the nouns that have been changed into their plural states by adding -s or -es. Remember your irregular nouns, such as mice and children! They too are plural nouns.

Possessive Nouns

Nouns can be possessive and express ownership, usually following the use of “of.”

Example: The life of Maria

Most singular possessives are formed by adding an apostrophe and “s.” If the noun is plural, the possessive form becomes “s” and apostrophe.

Singular Common: Dog
Singular Possessive: Dog’s
Plural Common: Dogs
Plural Possessive: Dogs’

Exception: if the plural noun does not end with an “s,” the possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe and “s.”

Example:

Singular Common: Woman
Singular Possessive: Woman’s
Plural Common: Women
Plural Possessive: Women’s