POS
(PARTS OF SPEECH)
Nouns and Pronouns
NOUNS
A noun is a word that names a person, place,
thing, or idea
 Things- cameras, vehicle, cheetah
 Persons- tourists, photographers, Chris
 Ideas- surprise, suddenness, happiness
 Places- BVNW, Kenya, city, lake

COMMON VS PROPER NOUNS
A common noun is a general name for a person,
place, thing, or idea. Common nouns are usually
not capitalized.
 A proper noun is the name of a particular
person, place, thing idea. A proper noun is
ALWAYS capitalized.

Proper: Nike, Amy Murphy, Overland Park
 Common: shoe, principal, city

CONCRETE VS ABSTRACT
A concrete noun names an object that can be
seen, heard, smelled, touched, or tasted.
 Ex: shoe, car, perfume, thorn
 An abstract noun names an idea, quality, or
characteristic.
 Ex: simplicity, beauty, truth, intention

SINGULAR VS PLURAL
A noun may be either singular or plural in
form, depending whether it names a single
person, place, thing, or idea or more than one.
 Singular: map, berry, deer, mouse
 Plural: maps, berries, deer, mice

**Every noun is either common or proper,
concrete or abstract, and singular or plural.
 For example, desert is common, concrete, and
singular. Great Lakes is proper, concrete, and
plural.

COLLECTIVE
A collective noun refers to a group of people or
things. Examples include herd, family, crew,
team, and staff. Even when a collective noun is
singular in form, it can be used to refer to a group
either as a single unit or as a number of
individuals.
 The herd (unit) runs away as we get close.
 The herd (individuals) find hiding places in the
brush.

COMPOUND NOUNS
A compound noun is formed from two or more
words. Some compound nouns are written as
single words, some as hyphenated words, and
some as separate words.
 One word- toothbrush, backpack, watermelon
 Hyphenated- self-knowledge, sister-in-law
 Separate words- South Carolina, Taj Mahal

POSSESSIVE NOUN

A possessive noun shows ownership or
relationship. Possessive nouns are spelled with
apostrophes.
Ownership: the tourist’s passport
 Relationship: the tourist’s companion

NOUN TRICKS – HOW TO IDENTIFY NOUNS
A noun is a person, place, or thing. Nationalism is
a thing, but not the kind of thing you can see or
touch.
 Nouns can be made plural. One nationalism, two
nationalisms.
 Nouns can be owned. My nationalism.
 Nouns follow noun markers. The nationalism.

PRONOUNS
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun or
another pronoun.
 The word that a pronoun stands for is called its
antecedent.
 Ben waved as he boarded the bus to the airport.
 Antecedent = Ben; Pronoun = He
 An antecedent can consist of two or more words,
and it may be in a sentence other than the one in
which the pronoun occurs.
 Ben and David share a sandwich. They both
enjoyed it.

PERSONAL PRONOUNS
POSSESSIVE
Like possessive nouns, possessive pronouns
show ownership or relationship. In the previous
slides chart, possessive pronouns are italicized.
 Hal almost left his backpack on the bench.

REFLEXIVE AND INTENSIVE
A reflexive pronoun reflects or represents the
subject of the sentence or clause in which it
appears.
 Ex: Jaime treats herself to a stroll through the
park.
 An intensive pronoun is used to emphasize a
noun or pronoun that appears in the same
sentence.
 The kids themselves enjoy playing baseball.

REFLEXIVE AND INTENSIVE
Reflexive pronouns should never be used alone. They must always
have antecedents.
For example: She buys souvenirs for herself and myself.
DEMONSTRATIVE
Demonstrative pronouns point out specific
persons, places, things, or ideas. They allow you
to indicate whether the things you are referring
to are relatively nearby (in time or space) or
farther away. The demonstrative pronouns are
this, these, that, and those.
 My project is better than those over there.

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS
Indefinite pronouns refer to persons, places,
things or ideas that are NOT specifically
identified. Unlike other pronouns, they DON’T
have antecedents.
 Everyone in the market was shopping.

INTERROGATIVE

An interrogative pronoun introduces a
question


AND RELATIVE
Who, whom, whose, which, what
A relative pronoun introduces a noun clause or
an adjective clause; it connects an adjective
clause to the word or words it modifies.

Who, whom, whose, which, that
Who would believe the crowds and excitement?
 The merchants, who are eager for sales, shout to
customers.
