I.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Abstract noun- is something that cannot be perceived by the senses.

Attributive noun- is a noun that modifies another noun that immediately follows it,

such as business in business meeting.

Collective nouns- denotes a group or collection of people or things.

Common noun- common noun is the generic name of an item in a class or group

Concrete noun- is something that is perceived by the senses; something that is

physical or real.

Count/ countable noun- are nouns which can be counted, even if the number might

be extraordinarily high

Gerunds- are nouns that are identical to the present participle (-ing form) of a verb

Mass noun (uncountable noun)- refers to something that cannot be counted

Noun- is a word that names something: either a person, place, or thing.

Possessive nouns- are nouns which possess something; i.e., they have something

Plural Nouns- refers to more than one of a single type of noun

Proper noun- is a specific name of a person, place, or thing, and is always capitalized.

Singular noun- refers to one noun

 II. CONTENT

NOUN

 A noun is a word that refers to a thing (book), a person (Betty Crocker), an

animal (cat), a place (Omaha), a quality (softness), an idea (justice), or an action

(yodeling). It's usually a single word, but not always: cake, shoes, school bus,

and time and a half are all nouns.

 Nouns make up the largest class of words in most languages, including English.

There are a number of different categories of nouns.

SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

 A singular noun groups more than one person, place, or thing together.

 Plural nouns, unlike collective nouns, require plural verbs. Many English plural

nouns can be formed by adding -s or -es to the singular form, although there are

many exceptions.

Example:

For the plural form of most nouns, add s.

 bottle – bottles

 cup – cups

 pencil – pencils

 desk – desks

 sticker – stickers

 window – windows
For nouns that end in ch, x, s, or s sounds, add es.

 box – boxes

 watch – watches

 moss – mosses

 bus – buses

For nouns ending in f or fe, change f to v and add es.

 wolf – wolves

 wife – wives

 leaf – leaves

 life – lives

Some nouns have different plural forms.

 child – children

 woman – women

 man – men

 mouse – mice

 goose – geese

Nouns ending in vowels like y or o do not have definite rules.

 baby – babies

 toy – toys

 kidney – kidneys
  potato – potatoes

 memo – memos

 stereo – stereos

A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms.

 sheep – sheep

 deer – deer

 series – series

 species – species

COMMON NOUN

 The opposite of a proper noun is a common noun, sometimes known as a

generic noun.

 A common noun refers to a person, place, or thing but is not the name of a

particular person, place, or thing.

 A common noun is the generic name of an item in a class or group and is not

capitalized unless appearing at the beginning of a sentence or in a title.

Example:

 The girl crossed the river.

(Girl is a common noun; we do not learn the identity of the girl by reading

this sentence, though we know the action she takes. River is also a

common noun in this sentence).

 3 Types of Common Nouns

Common or generic nouns can be broken down into three subtypes:

1. Concrete nouns

2. Abstract nouns

3. Collective nouns

A concrete noun is something that is perceived by the senses; something that is

physical or real.

Example:

 I heard the doorbell.

 My keyboard is sticky.

(Doorbell and keyboard are real things that can be sensed).

An abstract noun is something that cannot be perceived by the senses.

Example:

 We can’t imagine the courage it took to do that.

 (Courage is an abstract noun. Courage can’t be seen, heard, or sensed in

any other way, but we know it exists).

A collective noun denotes a group or collection of people or things. It is a noun that

names a group of people or things, such as flock or squad. It's sometimes unclear

whether the verb for a collective noun should be singular or plural. In the United States,

such nouns as company, team, herd, public, and class, as well as the names of
companies, teams, etc., are treated as singular, but in the United Kingdom they are

often treated as plural: (US) "The team has been doing well this season." vs. (British)

"The team have been doing well this season."

Example:

 That pack of lies is disgraceful.

(Pack of lies as used here is a collective noun. Collective nouns take a singular

verb as if they are one entity – in this case, the singular verb is).

 A pride of lions roamed the savanna.

(Pride of lions is also a collective noun).

PROPER NOUN

 A proper noun is a specific name of a person, place, or thing, and is always

capitalized.

 It usually begins with a capital letter: Abraham Lincoln, Argentina, and World

War I are all proper nouns.

Example:

 Does Tina have much homework to do this evening?

(Tina is the name of a specific person).

 I would like to visit China.

(China is the specific name of a geological phenomenon).

GERUNDS

 Gerunds are nouns that are identical to the present participle (-ing form) of a

verb

 A gerund is a noun formed with a verb ending in ing. Words like swimming,

tying, dreaming, eating, fishing, and drinking can all be used as gerunds.

Example:

 Blowing bubbles on a windy day is a fun activity for children.

Blowing bubbles on a windy day is the subject of the verb is.

 Piling too much laundry into a washing machine will cause it to

malfunction.

Piling too much laundry into a washing machine is the subject of the verb will

cause.

ATTRIBUTIVE NOUN

 An attributive noun is a noun that modifies another noun that immediately

follows it, such as business in business meeting. These nouns look like adjectives

but they're not.

COUNT/ COUNTABLE NOUN

  A count noun is a noun that can be used after a or an or after a number (or

another word that means "more than one").

 Count nouns are nouns which can be counted, even if the number might be

extraordinarily high (like counting all the people in the world). Countable nouns

can be used with a/an, the, some, any, a few, and many.

 Count nouns have both singular and plural forms and can be used with both

singular and plural verb forms, as with the word letter in "A letter for you is on

the table. Letters for you arrive regularly." Sometimes the plural form of a count

noun is the same as its singular form, as in "I saw a deer in my yard yesterday.

There are a lot of deer in the woods near my house."

Example:

 Here is a cat.

(Cat is singular and—obviously—countable).

MASS NOUN (UNCOUNTABLE NOUN)

 A mass noun (or noncount noun) refers to something that cannot be counted.

 Mass nouns are normally not used after the words a or an or after a number.

They have only one form and are used with singular verb forms, as in

"Portuguese is one of the languages they speak," and "The information was

unclear."

 Uncountable nouns are nouns that come in a state or quantity which is

impossible to count; liquids are uncountable, as are things that act like liquids
 (sand, air). They are always considered to be singular, and can be used with

some, any, a little, and much.

Example:

 An I.Q. test measures intelligence.

(Intelligence is an uncountable noun).

 Students don’t seem to have much homework these days.

(This example refers to an unspecified, unquantifiable amount of homework, so

homework is an uncountable noun).

POSSESSIVE NOUNS

 Possessive nouns are nouns which possess something; i.e., they have something.

You can identify a possessive noun by the apostrophe; most nouns show the

possessive with an apostrophe and an s.

Example:

 The cat’s toy was missing.

(The cat possesses the toy, and we denote this by use of -’s at the end of cat).

 When a singular noun ends in the letter s or z, the same format often applies.

This is a matter of style, however, and some style guides suggest leaving off the

extra s.

Example:

 I have been invited to the boss’s house for dinner.

  Mrs. Sanchez’s coat is still hanging on the back of her chair.

 Plural nouns ending in s take only an apostrophe to form a possessive.

Example:

 My nieces’ prom dresses were exquisite.

NOUNS AS SUBJECTS

Every sentence must have a subject, and that subject will always be a noun. The

subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is doing or being the

verb in that sentence.

Example:

 Maria is happy.

Maria is the subject of this sentence and the corresponding verb is a form of to

be (is).

NOUNS AS OBJECTS

 Nouns can also be objects of a verb in a sentence. An object can be either

a direct object (a noun that receives the action performed by the subject)

or an indirect object (a noun that is the recipient of a direct object).

Example:

 Give the books to her.

 Books is a direct object (what is being given) and her is the indirect object

(who the books are being given to).

NOUNS AS SUBJECT AND OBJECT COMPLEMENTS

 Another type of noun use is called a subject complement. In this example,

the noun teacher is used as a subject complement.

Example:

 Mary is a teacher.

Subject complements normally follow linking verbs like to be, become, or seem.

A teacher is what Mary is.

 A related usage of nouns is called an object complement.

Example:

 I now pronounce you husband and wife.

Husband and wife are nouns used as object complements in this sentence.

Verbs that denote making, naming, or creating are often followed by object

complements.

APPOSITIVE NOUNS AND NOUNS AS MODIFIERS

 An appositive noun is a noun which immediately follows another noun in

order to further define or identify it.

Example:
  My brother, Michael, is six years old.

Michael is an appositive here, further identifying the subject of the sentence,

my brother.

 Sometimes, nouns can be used adjectivally as well.

Example:

 He is a speed demon.

Speed is a normally a noun, but here it is acting as an adjective to modify

demon.

III. TEST MATERIALS

A. Underline the correct form of the noun in each sentence.

1)I have three (child, children).

2)There are five (man, men) and one (woman, women).

3)(Baby, Babies) play with bottles as toys.

4)I put two big (potato, potatoes) in the lunch box.

5)A few men wear (watch, watches).

B. Identify the gerund phrase in each of the following sentences:

1) Eating strawberries without washing them might make you sick.

A. might make you sick

 B. eating strawberries

C. Eating strawberries without washing them

2) They were painting their house when it started to rain.

A. painting their house

B. they were painting

C. when it started to rain

3) I’ve been thinking about going shopping on Saturday.

A. I’ve been thinking

B. about going shopping

C. going shopping on Saturday

4) Jennifer is always baking something in the kitchen.

A. baking something

B. Baking something in the kitchen

C. Jennifer is always baking something

5) Thanks for taking off your shoes before coming in the house.

A. taking off your shoes

B. coming in the house

C- Both A and B
 IV. ANSWER KEY

A.

1. children

2. men, woman

3. Babies

4. potatoes

5. watches

B.

1. C

2. A

3. C

4. B

5. C

SOURCES:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/noun
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/nouns/