What is a noun?
How do we recognise and use nouns in writing?
I.
Definition of a noun
A noun is traditionally known as ‘a naming word’, although this definition can be too simplistic
when analysing this word group. Naming words are nouns, but there are many different types of
nouns to understand and sentences can contain more than one noun.
Here are a few things to remember:
-Nouns are often accompanied by articles (the, a, an) and are usually placed reasonably close to
the article. An adjective may come before the noun, e.g. the smelly sock, so it is important to
recognise the noun as the name of the object rather than the adjective, which is describing the
noun. A simple way to do this is to ask yourself if the word is something you can ‘see, smell, taste,
touch or hear?’ If it is a word that describes one of these senses, it is an adjective; if it names
something you can see, smell, taste, touch or hear, you have found a noun! Nouns are very
commonly seen with adjectives as these help to modify the noun and make it more interesting
for the reader.
II.
Types of Nouns
There are many different types of nouns, each with their own definitions and set of rules. Even
though all of these words ‘name something’, it is important to familiarise yourself with the
subtle differences between them.
1. Common Nouns
Common nouns are used to name general things and do not have capital letters (unless they
begin a sentence or are used as part of a proper name).
“Would you like a biscuit?” contains a common noun which is not capitalised.
2. Proper Nouns
Proper nouns are often said to be the most recognisable of all nouns as they begin with a capital
letter and name specific items. When comparing common and proper nouns, it is easy to see the
difference.
‘My favourite holiday destination is Florida,’ contains a specific place, which is seen with the
proper noun ‘Florida’.
‘My favourite holiday destination is many miles away,’ does not contain a specific place, so does
not contain a proper noun.
3. Concrete Nouns
Concrete nouns are used for things you can see, smell, taste, touch or hear and can be common,
proper, countable, uncountable or collective.
‘Would you like a biscuit?’ contains a concrete noun, as a biscuit can be enjoyed by all of your
senses!
4. Collective Nouns
A collective noun refers to a group and, although it can be singular or plural, is usually singular.
‘I can see a pack of wolves on the hill,’ contains a collective noun, which shows a group of
animals.
5. Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns can be perceived as the opposite of concrete, as these nouns refer to things you
cannot physically interact with. You cannot see, small, taste, touch or hear an abstract noun,
rather it is an idea, emotion, concept, or anything else that isn’t physical.
‘The most important emotion is love,’ contains an abstract noun, which you cannot physically
interact with.
III.
Other Important Information
1. Singulars and Plurals
It is easy to spot a singular or plural noun if you remember that ‘a singular indicates one’ and ‘a
plural indicates more than one’.
‘The dog was running around,’ uses a singular noun, as it is talking about one dog.
A noun will often change completely if it is made into a plural, so it is important to remember a
few important spelling rules.
-Most nouns simply need an s adding to the end when they become plural, e.g. book/books
-Add es to words ending in -ch, -s, -sh, -x or -z when making a word plural, e.g. box/boxes
-Change words ending -f or -fe to vesin most cases, e.g. scarf/scarves; words ending -ff are
simply given an extra s to make them plural.
-If a word ends in a vowel and then a –y, just add an s, e.g. boy/boys. If the word ends in a
consonant and then a -y, change the y to ies, e.g.baby/babies.
-Words ending in -o are ended with s or es when they become plural, e.g. radio/radios. These can
be difficult, so use a dictionary to check if you are unsure.
2. Gerunds
Gerunds are words that are formed as verbs but instead act as nouns. How these words are
placed in a sentence defines whether they are verbs or gerunds, so take come time to get used
to spotting them.
‘Dancing has always been my passion,’ uses a gerund, as dancing is the name of an activity.
‘Lewis is dancing on the table,’ sees dancing used as a verb to imply an action.
3. Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Most nouns are countable and relate to things that can be counted, e.g. I have three cats.
Uncountable nouns are not counted as they are usually perceived as things that are a single
concept or difficult to divide. Many of these words are countable in other languages and plural
forms are rarely used, e.g. Lucy drinks a lot of water.
4. Compound Nouns
Compound nouns are people, places, animals, things or ideas made up of two or more words, e.g.
firefly. Often the first word describes or modifies the second word and can give us clues about
the word’s meaning – a firefly glows! Sometimes compound nouns are connected with a hypen,
e.g. dry-cleaning and sometimes they can be seen as two separate words, e.g. Christmas tree.
Personal Assessment
1) Which of these is an abstract noun?
a) wolf
b) pride
c) Alice
d) table
2) Which of these statements describes a collective noun?
a) A noun which is capitalised and names a specific item
b) A noun that shows an abstract concept
c) A noun that shows a group
d) A noun that looks like a verb and ends ‘ing’
3) Which of these is a gerund?
a) dreaming
b) chair
c) honesty
d) Paul
4) Which of these is a compound noun?
a) Christmas
b) brilliance
c) bedroom
d) field
5) What is the noun in the sentence ‘I ran along the dry, dusty road’?
a) dry
b) ran
c) dusty
d) road
6) Which of these is the correct plural noun?
a) mouse
b) mouses
c) mice
d) mousies
7)
Which noun would be most suitable in the sentence ‘You see yellow sand, roaring waves
and towering cliffs at the _____________?
a) fairground
b) seaside
c) shopping centre
d) carpark
8) Which of these is a collective noun?
a) team
b) book
c) sympathy
d) Andrew
9) What does an adjective do to a noun?
a) change the spelling
b) make it a plural
c) provide more information about it
d) change it into a proper noun
10) Which of these should be capitalised because they are a definite proper noun?
a) london
b) city
c) joy
d) desk
Answers
1) B
2) C
3) A
4) C
5) D
6) C
7) B
8) A
9) C
10) A