Parts of speech
Nouns
Focus
However, when referring to the individual members
of the team acting, the plural verb can be used.
Example:
The team are putting on their uniforms.
Common, collective and proper nouns
Definitions
• Nouns are words used to name people, places,
things, feelings or ideas.
• Common nouns name general, rather than
particular, people, places and things.
Example:
‘The man reading a book in the park had
sunglasses on to protect his eyes from the glare
of the sun.’
• Proper nouns are used to name specific people,
places or things. They begin with capital letters.
Example:
‘Dave Simpson sat in Kings Park, wearing his
new sunglasses and reading the latest book by
Michelle Smith.’
• Collective nouns are used to name groups of
objects, people, animals, inanimate things or
concepts.
Example:
family, herd, flock, group, team, class
Worksheet information
• Give each student a copy of the worksheet. Review/
Discuss common, proper and collective nouns.
• Read the introductory text and discuss the purpose
of nouns in detail; they help us to clarify, gain more
information and understand better. Read the email
and discuss how the omission of capitals to show
proper nouns could lead to some confusion: ‘sandy’
could be an adjective, ‘dawn’ could be a common
noun. Discuss how omission of other nouns—such
as the type and name of the team, restaurant, game
and town in which Sandy lives and the type of food
Sandy will be eating lots of—means the text doesn’t
provide as much information as it could and isn’t as
descriptive or interesting.
• Students then rewrite the email, adding capitals to
all proper nouns and putting other nouns or proper
nouns into the text to clarify and add detail.
• Students then find common, proper and collective
nouns in the nine-letter word puzzle. The nouns
must be at least four letters long and use letters
once only.
Explanation
• The word ‘noun’ comes from the Latin ‘nomen’,
which means ‘name’.
• Proper nouns are capitalised. Common and
collective nouns are not capitalised unless they
begin a sentence or start a title. Some nouns that
would appear to need capitalisation, such as the
names of seasons (winter, spring, autumn, summer)
are no longer capitalised because, through long
usage, they have come to be considered common
nouns. Cardinal directions, (north, south, east and
west) words for relatives (mum, uncle—unless used
as part of the name, such as Uncle Fred), and names
of subject areas (maths, science) are also no longer
considered proper nouns.
• A collective noun is a single thing made up of more
than one person or thing. A committee, team, or
family cannot consist of one member; at least
two people must compose the unit. There can be
plurals of collective nouns, such as teams, classes
and foods. When referring to the collective group, a
singular verb is used.
Example:
‘The team is flying to Melbourne for the finals.’
Primary grammar and word study Ideas for further practice
• Students can play a hangman game guessing the
collective names for animal groups at <http://
www.syvum.com/cgi/online/hangman.cgi/squizzes/
preschool/animal_noun_1.tdf?0>.
Answers
2
1. (a) Teacher check
(b) Teacher check. The proper nouns in need of
capitalisation are Dawn, Sandy, Riverville, Dad,
Mum, Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday, Dakota’s.
2. Possible answers include: bush, shot, bosun,
hound, bond, stub, bout, bonus, doubt, dust, bust,
knot (a collective term for a number of frogs or
toads), hunt, host (a collective term for a number
of sparrows), sound, snot, snob, snout, tusk, knob,
husk (a collective term for a number of hares),
bunk, hunk, dusk, stud (collective term for a
number of horses), bunt.
www.ricpublications.com.au R.I.C. Publications®
Nouns
Common nouns are names for general people, places and things, proper nouns
tell us exactly who or what are the specific things in a sentence and collective
nouns are the names for groups of people, places and things.
Example: The team (collective noun) played a good game (common noun) on
Saturday (proper noun).
Without nouns, sentences give little information and can be hard to understand,
but by using nouns, sentences are more informative.
Example: He went to there, got her, and put her up there out of reach of them.
King Kong went to the hotel window, reached in, got Ann, and put his
friend up on top of the building out of reach of the soldiers.
1. (a) Read the email containing few nouns and uncapitalised proper nouns.
SuperMail
Hi dawn, it’s sandy! I hope things are well in riverville, it’s all good over here. I’m
happy ‘coz dad finally bought me that game I wanted ... but mum only lets me
play with it on saturday and sunday. It’s so unfair! Anyway, we’re going out this
wednesday to some restaurant with dakota’s team. I’m looking forward to eating
lots! Bye ... sandy.
(b) Rewrite the email, adding capital letters and some further nouns for extra meaning.
2. Make as many nouns (four or more letters long) as you can from these letters. Use the letters in any
order, but each letter can only be used once.
R.I.C. Publications® www.ricpublications.com.au 3
t
s
d
n
o
h
u
k
b
Primary grammar and word study
Parts of speech
Nouns
Focus
Worksheet information
Abstract nouns
Gender, neuter and common nouns
• A suggestion for the introduction of this worksheet
would be for the students to play charades with
abstract nouns such as feelings, then gender nouns.
Give one student a card with an abstract noun
written on it, such as ‘fear’, ‘bravery’, ‘sadness’, or
‘love’. Other students try to guess what abstract
noun is being portrayed. Do the same with some
gender nouns.
• Read the explanation with the students. Clarify
for understanding. Allow students to complete the
worksheet.
Definitions
• Nouns are words used to name people, places,
things, feelings or ideas.
• Abstract nouns are the names of things that we
cannot see, hear, touch or smell; things that can be
thought about or experienced, such as events, ideas,
characteristics, or qualities. The opposite of abstract
nouns are concrete nouns, which name things that
exist physically.
• Masculine nouns are nouns used to describe
something male, as opposed to feminine or neuter.
• Feminine nouns are nouns used to describe
something female, as opposed to masculine or
neuter.
• Common nouns can be used for both males and
females, such as cousin, teenager, teacher, doctor,
cook, student, parent, friend, relation and leader.
• Neuter nouns name things without animal life,
which are neither male nor female, such as box,
book, chair, broom and table.
Ideas for further practice
• Students write poems describing what some
abstract nouns might look, hear or smell like; e.g.
‘Happiness looks like a bright sunny day. It smells
like a cake baking. It feels like a warm blanket on a
cold night’.
Answers
Explanation
• In language, gender is the classification of nouns
according to sex. There are four genders in English;
feminine (representing females), masculine
(representing males), common (for use with either
males or females) and neuter (for inanimate objects).
Unlike most European languages, where the majority
of nouns are either masculine or feminine, in English
most nouns are either neuter or common. Many
gender nouns for people that were traditionally
masculine or feminine are now being replaced by
common nouns, such as ‘flight attendant’ instead of
‘air hostess’, ‘firefighter’ instead of ‘fireman’. Many
abstract nouns are neuter.
• With animals, there is usually one common term
(such as sheep, horse or pig) for the type of animal
and separate names for the male (e.g. ram, stallion,
hog) and the female (e.g. ewe, mare, sow).
Primary grammar and word study 4
1. Answers will vary. Princess: feminine, beauty;
sportsman: masculine, energy; judge: common,
justice; grandmother: feminine, experience; priest:
masculine, faith; baby: common, sleep; knight:
masculine, bravery; teacher: common, education
2.
www.ricpublications.com.au R.I.C. Publications®
Abstract and gender nouns
Abstract nouns are the names of things that we can’t see, hear, touch or smell.
They name events, qualities, feelings and ideas; e.g. bravery, strength.
Gender nouns are the names of male or female people and animals. The nouns
for males are called masculine nouns (e.g. fireman) and those for females are
called feminine nouns (e.g. actress).
Common gender nouns can name both males and females; e.g. firefighters.
Neuter nouns name things that aren’t male or female; e.g. fire station, class.
Example: Luke had wanted to be a fireman (masculine) ever since he visited the fire station (neuter)
with his class (neuter).
He was very impressed with the bravery (abstract) and strength (abstract) of the
firefighters (common).
1. For each noun on the left, write the type of noun: masculine, feminine or common. Then write a suitable
abstract noun from the list on the right in the other column of the table.
Type of noun
Suitable abstract noun
princess
energy
sportsman
beauty
judge
experience
grandmother
sleep
priest
bravery
baby
justice
knight
faith
teacher
education
2. Find the six-letter gender nouns that are the opposite to the nouns listed below.
Write them clockwise in the triangles
so where they touch other words, the
letters in the triangles are the same.
Two letters have been provided to
help you start.
1. goddaughter
2. niece
3. mistress
4. princess
5. father
6. foxes
R.I.C. Publications® www.ricpublications.com.au 5
Primary grammar and word study