Noun

Types of Nouns
Common nouns and proper nouns, concrete nouns and abstract nouns, countable and uncountable,
collective nouns, compound nouns
1) Common Nouns
Common nouns refer to people, places and things in general like chair or dog. Any noun that is not
a name is a common noun. Words like car, dog, teacher, house, water, music, plane, sea—they are all
"general" nouns and NOT the name of some person or place.
2) Proper Nouns
Examples: Jane, Thailand, Sunday, James Bond, Einstein, Superman, Game of Thrones, Shakespeare
Shirley, Mr Jeckyll, Thailand, April, Sony
 Let me introduce you to Mary.
 The capital of Italy is Rome.
 He is the chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
 I was born in November.
3) Countable Nouns and Uncountable Nouns
Why do some nouns have no plural?
dog/dogs, rice, hair(s)
 Have you got some money?
 Air-conditioners use a lot of electricity.
 Do you have any work for me to do?
 Many Asians eat rice.
 dog, cat, animal, man, person, bottle, box, coin, note, dollar, cup, plate, fork, table, chair,
suitcase, bag.
 Uncountable Nouns
We can use some and any with uncountable nouns: music, art, love, happiness, advice,
information, news, furniture, luggage, rice, sugar, butter, water, electricity, gas, power, money,
currency.
 I've got some money.
 Have you got any rice?
We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:
 I've got a little money.
 I haven't got much rice.
 Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable
 Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of
meaning.
 Countable Uncountable
The US dollar and pound sterling are currency The expression gained wider currency
important currencies. after 2001.

There are two hairs in my coffee! hair I don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our bedroom. light Close the curtain. There's too much
light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. noise It's difficult to work when there is so
There are so many different noises in the much noise.
city.
Have you got a paper to read? (newspaper) paper I want to draw a picture. Have you got
Hand me those student papers. some paper?
Our house has seven rooms. room Is there room for me to sit here?

We had a great time at the party. time Have you got time for a cup of coffee?
How many times have I told you no?
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest work I have no money. I need work!
works.
4) Plural Nouns
This is a small group of nouns that are always plural, such as trousers, boxers, headphones,
belongings. With Plural-Only Nouns Mini Quiz
5) Compound Nouns
A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. Most compound nouns are
[noun + noun] or [adjective + noun].
tennis shoe, six-pack, bedroom. Compound nouns have three different forms:
 open or spaced - space between words (bus stop)
 hyphenated - hyphen between words (mother-in-law)
 closed or solid - no space or hyphen between words (football)
Examples: cat food, blackboard, breakfast, full moon, washing machine, software
 Can we use the swimming pool?
 They stop work at sunset.
 Don't forget that check-out is at 12 noon.

noun + noun bus stop Is this the bus stop for the number 12
bus?

fire-fly In the tropics you can see fire-flies at

night.

football Shall we play football today?

adjective + noun full moon I always feel crazy at full moon.

blackboard Clean the blackboard please.

software I can't install this software on my PC.

verb(-ing) + noun breakfast We always eat breakfast at 8am.

washing Put the clothes in the red washing

machine machine.

swimming What a beautiful swimming pool!

pool

noun + verb(-ing) sunrise I like to get up at sunrise.

haircut You need a haircut.

train-spotting His hobby is train-spotting.

verb + preposition check-out Please remember that check-out is at

12 noon.
 noun + prepositional mother-in- My mother-in-law lives with us.
phrase law

preposition + noun underworld Do you think the police accept money

from the underworld?

noun + adjective trunkful We need 10 trunkful of bricks.

Plural Forms of Compound Nouns

In general, we make the plural of a compound noun by adding -s to the "base word" (the most
"significant" word). Look at these examples:

singular plural

a tennis shoe three tennis shoes

one assistant headmaster five assistant headmasters

the sergeant major some sergeants major

a mother-in-law two mothers-in-law

an assistant secretary of state three assistant secretaries of state

my toothbrush our toothbrushes

a woman-doctor four women-doctors

a doctor of philosophy two doctors of philosophy

a passerby, a passer-by two passersby, two passers-by

Some compound nouns have no obvious base word and you may need to consult a dictionary to find
the plural: higher-ups, also-rans, go-betweens, has-beens, good-for-nothings, grown-ups
6) Concrete Nouns
Concrete nouns are physical things that you can touch.
Examples: man, rice, head, car, furniture, mobile phone
 How many stars are there in the universe?
 Have you met James Bond?
 Pour the water down the drain.
7) Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns are the opposite of concrete nouns. They are things that you cannot touch. Abstract
nouns are ideas, concepts and feelings.
Examples: happiness, courage, danger, truth
 He has great strength.
 Who killed President Kennedy is a real mystery.
 Sometimes it takes courage to tell the truth.
 Their lives were full of sadness.
8) Noun as Adjective
Sometimes we use a noun to describe another noun. In that case, the first noun is "acting as" an
adjective.
love story, tooth-brush, bathroom
The "noun as adjective" always comes first
 a race horse is a horse that runs in races
 a horse race is a race for horses
 a boat race is a race for boats
 a love story is a story about love
 a war story is a story about war
  a tennis ball is a ball for playing tennis
 tennis shoes are shoes for playing tennis
 a computer exhibition is an exhibition of computers
 a bicycle shop is a shop that sells bicycles

noun as noun
adjective

history teacher

ticket office

race horse

The "noun as adjective" is singular

Right Wrong

boat race boat races NOT boats race, boats races

toothbrush toothbrushes NOT teethbrush, teethbrushes

shoe-lace shoe-laces NOT shoes-lace, shoes-laces

cigarette packet cigarette packets NOT cigarettes packet, cigarettes packets

In other words, if there is a plural, it is on the real noun only.

A few nouns look plural but we usually treat them as singular (for example news, billiards, athletics).
When we use these nouns "as adjectives" they are unchanged:
 a news reporter, three news reporters
 one billiards table, four billiards tables
 an athletics trainer, fifty athletics trainers
Exceptions: When we use certain nouns "as adjectives" (clothes, sports, customs, accounts, arms), we
use them in the plural form:
 clothes shop, clothes shops
 sports club, sports clubs
 customs duty, customs duties
 accounts department, accounts departments
 arms production
For pronunciation, we usually stress the first word:
 shoe shop
 boat-race
 bathroom
9) Collective Nouns
A collective noun is a noun that represents a collection of individuals, usually people, such as
a team, a family or a crew. Examples: class (group of students), pride (group of lions), crew (group
of sailors)
Rule: Collective nouns can be treated as singular or plural. More about this at rules of subject-verb
agreement with collective nouns. Some examples
are army, audience, board, cabinet, class, committee, company, corporation, council, departme
nt, faculty, family, firm, group, jury, majority, minority, navy, public, school, society, team,
and troupe.
 His family live in different countries.
 An average family consists of four people.
 The new company is the result of a merger.
 The board of directors will meet tomorrow.
Subject-Verb Agreement: collective nouns
The committee was formed in 2012.
The committee are having sandwiches for lunch.
We often use singular nouns that refer to groups of people (for example: team, government,
committee) as if they were plural. This is because we often think of the group as people, doing things
that people do (eating, wanting, feeling etc.). In such cases, we use a plural verb. (We also then need to
make sure that other words agree - they instead of it, who instead of which.)
Here are some examples:
 The committee have asked for sandwiches for lunch. They have to leave early.
 My family, who do not see me often, have asked me home for Christmas.
 The team hope to win next time.
Here are some examples of words and expressions that can be considered singular or plural:
 choir, class, club, committee, company, family, government, jury, school, staff, team, union, the
BBC, board of directors, the Conservative Party, Manchester United, the Ministry of Health
But when we consider the group as an impersonal unit, we use singular verbs (and singular
pronouns):
 The new company is the result of a merger.
 An average family consists of four people.
 The committee, which was formed in 2012, is made up of four men and four women.