Nothing but Nouns
Nouns
A noun is a person, place, thing or idea.
A noun is often indicated by the words “a” “an” and
“the”
An ape on a bike hit a bird at the end of the long
road.
We will learn about:
concrete nouns and abstract nouns.
common nouns and proper nouns
singular nouns and plural nouns.
collective nouns
possessive nouns
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A noun is a person, place, thing or idea…
Person
Place
Thing
Idea
girl
Nashua
toy
love
Mr. Robbins
city
tree
happiness
nurse
back yard
arm
freedom
Sam
San Francisco
couch
honesty
boy
mountain
monster
commitment
man
Mount Monadnock
Big Foot
kindness
president
Pennichuck School
Apple Computer
democracy
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Concrete and
Abstract Nouns
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Concrete vs. Abstract Nouns
• A concrete noun is a noun that can be experienced with any or all of your five senses. You can touch, smell, see, hear or taste a concrete noun.
• An abstract noun cannot be experienced with your five senses. An abstract noun exists, but you cannot see it, taste it, smell it, touch it or hear it.
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Concrete Nouns
• A concrete noun can be experienced with one or more of your five senses.
• An orange is a concrete noun. You can see an orange, taste one, smell one, touch one.
• A whistle is a concrete noun. You can hear it and see hit and touch it.
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Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns aren’t detected by your five senses.
Honesty is an example of an abstract noun.
What color is honesty? You don't know because you cannot see it.
What texture is honesty? Who knows? You cannot touch it.
What flavor is honesty? No clue! You cannot taste it!
Does it make a sound? Of course not!
Does it smell? Not a bit! Honesty is an abstract noun!
Other abstract nouns: anger, peace, hate, pride, sympathy, bravery, success, courage, beauty, fun, loyalty pain, knowledge, trust, education, friendship, intelligence
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Common and
Proper Nouns
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Common Nouns vs. Proper
Nouns
• A common noun is an ordinary person, place or thing. A common noun is not
capitalized. (boy, city, house)
• A proper noun is a specific person, place or thing. A proper noun is capitalized. (Sam, Nashua, The White House)
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Common Noun and Proper
Noun
• holiday = common noun
• Valentine’s Day = proper noun
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Common and Proper Nouns
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
doctor
lady
building
city
shoe
college
girl
boy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Dr. Paine
Mrs. Jones
The Capital Building
Nashua, NH
Adidas
Rivier College
Mary
James
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Singular and Plural
Nouns
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Singular or Plural
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
cats
baby
church
tables
books
Bus
man
oranges
dog
bananas
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Singular and Plural Nouns
• Singular means ONE
• ONE crazy guy…
• Plural means MORE THAN ONE
• TWO crazy guys…
• There are rules to making
Singular nouns into plural nouns.
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If a noun ends with “s” “x” “ch” or “sh”, add “ES” to make it plural:
•s
– buses
•x
– taxes
• ch
– benches
• sh
– dishes
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Add ies to make nouns plural that end
with a consonant and a y:
• lady
–Ladies
• fry
–fries
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Some nouns that end in f or fe change to ves when made plural:
• calf
–calves
• knife
–knives
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Some nouns that end in o change to es
when made plural. Some change to s:
• kangaroo
–kangaroos
• potato
–potatoes
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Some nouns do not change at all when made plural:
• sheep
–sheep
• deer
–deer
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Some nouns change completely when made plural:
• man
–men
• goose
–geese
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Some nouns don’t fit the rules…
• Monkey changes to monkeys not monkies.
That’s just
the English
Language for
you!
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Noun type Forming the plural
Example Ends with ‐fe
Change f to v
then
Add ‐s knife ‐ knives
life ‐ lives
wife ‐ wives Ends with ‐f Change f to v
then
Add ‐es
half ‐ halves
wolf ‐ wolves
loaf ‐ loaves Add ‐es
potato ‐ potatoes
tomato ‐ tomatoes
volcano ‐ volcanoes Ends with ‐o ends with ‐us Change ‐us to ‐i
cactus ‐ ‐cacti
nucleus ‐ nuclei
ALL KINDS Change the vowel
or
Change the word
or
Add a different ending man ‐ men
foot ‐ feet
child ‐ children
person ‐ people
tooth ‐ teeth
mouse ‐ mice Unchanging Singular and plural
are the same sheep
deer
fish Walsh Publishing Co. 2009
Can you make these nouns plural?
1. half
2. foot
3. piano
4. spy
5. brush
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Can you make these nouns plural?
1. halves
2. feet
3. pianos
4. spies
5. brushes
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Can you make these nouns plural?
1. mouse
2. memo
3. shelf
4. leaf
5. child
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Can you make these nouns plural?
1. mice
2. memos
3. shelves
4. leaves
5. children
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Can you make these nouns plural?
1. thief
2. woman
3. fish
4. photo
5. die
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Can you make these nouns plural?
1. thieves
2. women
3. fish
4. photos
5. dice
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Collective Nouns…
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Collective Nouns…
When you collect something, you put together a group of more than one. Collective means a group. Collective nouns are “groups of something.”
Here are some collective nouns:
herd
group
fleet
army
colony
mob
tribe
class
pack
family
team
flock
Possessive Nouns…
I believe that
belongs to me…
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Possessive Nouns…
A possessive noun is a noun that shows ownership. To “possess” means to own or to have.
I am Bob and
this is my
towel.
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Possessive Nouns…
To show ownership, an apostrophe is used.
Most people have a hard time putting the apostrophe in the correct place! The rule for the apostrophe depends on whether the noun is singular or plural.
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Possessive Singular Nouns
Use an apostrophe plus ‐s to show the possessive form of a singular noun, even if that singular noun already ends in ‐s: Frank’s crayon my friend’s dad
Robert Frost’s poetry today's weather report the boss's problem Star Jones's talk show That boy’s shirt
I am one boy
and this is my
shirt.
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Possessive Plural Nouns
Use an apostrophe without an ‐s for most possessive plural nouns. PLURAL MEANS MORE THAN ONE.
To form the possessive of a plural noun that already ends in ‐s, add an apostrophe: the girls' swing set (the swing set belonging to the girls) the students' projects (the projects belonging to the students) the Johnsons' house (the house belonging to the Johnsons)
If the plural form of the noun does not end in ‐s, (i.e. a collective noun) add an apostrophe plus ‐s: women's conference (the conference belonging to the women) the children's toys (the toys belonging to the children) the men's training camp (the training camp belonging to the men)
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Singular Possessive vs. Plural Possessive
Basically….
The project belonging to
one student: (singular)
The project belonging to more than
one student: (plural)
The student’s project
The students’ project
The apostrophe comes
before the s.
The apostrophe comes after the s.
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Singular Possessive vs. Plural
Possessive
Finally….
The shoes belonging to many women:
The shoes belonging to one
woman:
WOMAN’S SHOES
WOMEN’S SHOES
The apostrophe comes before the s because the noun is a
collective group and has no s on the end. It would be
“ladies’ shoes if the base word was lady.:
Lady’s shoes (the shoes belonging to one lady)
Ladies’ shoes (the shoes belonging to more than one lady.
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Can you make this sentence
possessive?
•Adam owns that
car.
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Answer:
•That is Adam's
car.
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Which answer best fits in the
blank?
____________ bicycle is
broken.
A. Seths'
B. Sethes
C. Seths
D. Seth's
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Which answer best fits in the
blank?
____________ bicycle is
broken.
A. Seths'
B. Sethes
C. Seths
D. Seth's
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Which answer best fits in the blank?
The trash can will attract a lot of ____________ if you leave the lid off.
A. flys
B.
flies
C. flie's
D. fly's
Which answer best fits in the blank?
The trash can will attract a lot of ____________ if you leave the lid off.
A. flys
B.
flies
C. flie's
D. fly's
Which answer best fits in the blank?
The ____________________ skin is red.
A.
tomatoes
B.
tomato's
C.
tomatos'
D.
tomatos's
Which answer best fits in the blank?
The ____________________ skin is red.
A.
tomatoes
B.
C.
D.
tomato's
tomatos'
tomatos's
Which answer best fits in the blank?
Emily has two hamsters named Barry and Steve. The ____________________ cage looks like a tiny house.
A. hamsters'
B. hamsters
C. hamster's
D. hamsterers
Which answer best fits in the blank?
Emily has two hamsters named Barry and Steve. The ____________________ cage looks like a tiny house.
A. hamsters'
B. hamsters
C. hamster's
D. hamsterers
Which answer best fits in the blank?
Billy will carry his ____________ suitcase.
A. sister's
B. sisters
C. sisteres
D. sister'
Which answer best fits in the blank?
Billy will carry his ____________ suitcase.
A. sister's
B. sisters
C. sisteres
D. sister'