Nouns
Nothing but Nouns
Nouns
• A noun is a person, place, thing or idea.
• A noun is often “clued” by the words an, a, and
the which are articles.
• We will learn about:
 concrete nouns and abstract nouns
 common nouns and proper nouns
 singular nouns and plural nouns
 collective nouns
 possessive nouns
A noun is a person, place, thing or idea
Person
Place
Thing
Idea/Feeling
girl
mall
toy
love
Mrs. Kelly
city
tree
happiness
nurse
back yard
arm
freedom
Mr. Bailey
Knoxville
couch
honesty
boy
park
television
commitment
principal
Neyland Stadium
iPad
kindness
woman
Clark-Moores
Middle School
phone
democracy
Concrete vs. Abstract Nouns
• A concrete noun is a noun that can be
experienced with your five senses. You can
touch, smell, see, hear or taste a concrete noun.
• An abstract noun can not be experienced with
your five senses. An abstract noun exists, but
you cannot see it, taste it, smell it, touch it or hear
it.
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.
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!
Common 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.
(James, Danville, The White House)
Common and Proper Nouns
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
holiday = common noun
Valentine’s Day = proper noun
college = common noun
Centre College = proper noun
doctor = common noun
Dr. Dianna Porter = proper noun
shoe = common noun
Nike = proper noun
Singular and Plural Nouns
• Singular means ONE
• ONE crazy guy…
• Plural means MORE THAN ONE
• TWO crazy guys…
Rules for making singular nouns
into plural nouns
• If a noun ends with s, x, ch or sh, add ES to
make it plural:
 s
• buses
 x
• taxes
 ch
• benches
 sh
• dishes
Rules for making singular nouns
into plural nouns
• Add ies to make nouns plural that end with a
consonant and a y:
 hobby
• hobbies
 baby
• babies
 lady
• ladies
 fry
• fries
Rules for making singular nouns
into plural nouns
• Some nouns that end in f or fe change to ves
when made plural:
 life
• lives
 elf
• elves
 wolf
• wolves
 knife
• knives
 calf
• calves
Rules for making singular nouns
into plural nouns
• Nouns ending in the letter o preceded by a vowel
form the plural by adding the letter s.
 kangaroo
• kangaroos
 radio
• radios
• Most nouns ending with the letter o preceded by
a consonant add the letter s to form the plural.
 piano
• pianos
Rules for making singular nouns
into plural nouns
• Some nouns ending in the letter o preceded by a
consonant add es to form the plural.
 echo
• echoes
 hero
• heroes
 tomato
• tomatoes
 potato
• potatoes
Rules for making singular nouns
into plural nouns
• Some nouns do not change at all when made
plural.
 moose
• moose
 fish
• fish
 deer
• deer
 sheep
• sheep
Rules for making singular nouns
into plural nouns
• Some nouns change completely when made
plural.
 foot
• feet
 tooth
• teeth
 goose
• geese
 woman
• women
 man
• men
Practice – Make these nouns plural?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
half
foot
piano
spy
brush
Practice – Make these nouns plural?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
half - halves
foot - feet
piano - pianos
spy - spies
brush - brushes
Practice – Make these nouns plural?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
mouse
memo
shelf
leaf
child
Practice – Make these nouns plural?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
mouse - mice
memo - memos
shelf - shelves
leaf - leaves
child - children
Practice – Make these nouns plural?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
thief
woman
fish
photo
goose
Practice – Make these nouns plural?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
thief - thieves
woman - women
fish - fish
photo - photos
goose - geese
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
Fleet
Colony
Tribe
Pack
Family
Team
Flock
Group
Army
Mob
class
Possessive Nouns
• A possessive noun is a noun that shows
ownership. To possess means to own or to have.
• 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.
Possessive Singular Nouns
• Use an apostrophe with -s for possessives of singular
nouns. SINGULAR MEANS ONE.
• 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
today's weather report
that boy’s shirt
the boss's problem
Star Jones's talk show
Possessive Plural Nouns
• Use an apostrophe without an -s for most
possessives 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)
Possessive Plural Nouns
• If the plural noun does not end in -s, 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)
Singular Possessive vs. Plural Possessive
Singular
• The project belonging
to one student:
(singular)
 The student’s
project
• The apostrophe comes
before the s.
Plural
• The project belonging to
more than one student:
(plural)
 The students’ project
• The apostrophe comes
after the s.
Which answer best fits in the
blank?
____________ bicycle is broken.
A. Seths'
B. Sethes
C. Seths
D. Seth's
Which answer best fits in the
blank?
____________ bicycle is broken.
A. Seths'
B. Sethes
C. Seths
D. Seth'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 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 ____________________ are red.
A. tomatoes
B. tomato's
C. tomatos'
D. tomatos's
Which answer best fits in the
blank?
The ____________________ are red.
A. tomatoes
B. tomato's
C. tomatos'
D. 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. sisters'
Which answer best fits in the
blank?
Billy will carry his ____________ suitcase.
A. sister's
B. sisters
C. sisteres
D. sisters'
Which answer best fits in the
blank?
I borrowed ___________ sweater.
A. Jane's
B. Janes
C. Jane
D. Janes'
Which answer best fits in the
blank?
I borrowed ___________ sweater.
A. Jane's
B. Janes
C. Jane
D. Janes'