NOUNS

OBJECTIVE FOR TODAY

 Identify different categories
or kinds of nouns, learn the
rules and exceptions, and
begin to use them accurately.
WHAT ARE NOUNS?
Questions for you…

 What are nouns?

 Do you know different types of

nouns?
 Example: abstract / concrete
NOUNS: WORDS THAT NAME
A/AN…
UNSCRAMBLE THESE WORDS… don’t change the
first letter!
 penrso - person
 peacl
 thgin
 amialn
 cptoecn - concept
 qtulayi
 onirgaonizat
 cmiymnuot
 entev
NOUNS: WORDS THAT NAME
A/AN…

 penrso - person
 peacl - place
 thgin - thing
 amialn - animal
 cptoecn - concept
 qtulayi - quality
 onirgaonizat - organization
 cmiymnuot - community
 entev - event
TYPES OF NOUNS

 1. abstract and concrete

 2. proper and common
 3. compound
 4. collective
 5. count and non count
IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF NOUNS

 6. regular and irregular plurals

 7. possessive nouns
 8. nouns as adjectives
ABSTRACT AND CONCRETE

FUNCTION CONCRETE ABSTRACT

PROPER AND COMMON

Capitalized. Not capitalized.

COMPOUND
 Nouns that are made up of more than one word.

Together
 supermarket
 haircut

Hyphenated
 dry-cleaning
 mother-in-law

Separate
 swimming pool
 full moon When in doubt, USE A DICTIONARY!
USE A DICTIONARY!
 Sometimes there is more than one way to
write a word correctly.

 Here are some examples:

 good will or goodwill

 lifestyle or life-style
 fundraiser or fund-raiser
 webpage or web page
 vice president or vice-president
COLLECTIVE
 Names a group of people, animals, or things.

 Collective nouns in American English generally

take a singular verb:
The orchestra rehearses on Thursdays.
 Collective nouns generally have both a singular
and a plural form. (They are count nouns.)
The youth orchestra performs every week.
The other orchestras perform every month.
COLLECTIVE
 Word that refers to a group.

 Can you identify the collective nouns in these sentences?

 There is a pack of hyenas outside. Yikes!

 Our team is enjoying an unbroken winning streak.
 Watch out for the swarm of bees.
 Our class graduates two years from now.
 There used to be herds of wild buffalo on the prairie.

 Can you mention others?

COLLECTIVE

 Word that refers to a group.

 There is a pack of hyenas outside. Yikes!

 Our team is enjoying an unbroken winning streak.
 Watch out for the swarm of bees.
 Our class graduates two years from now.
 There used to be herds of wild buffalo on the prairie.

 Others: audience, orchestra, jury , flock (of birds), etc.

COUNT NON COUNT
Count nouns are nouns Non count nouns are
that you can generally nouns that you
count. generally cannot count.

student - students homework

sofa - sofas furniture
idea - ideas advice
bracelet – bracelets jewelry
cloud - clouds lightning

Have singular and plural forms. Generally don’t have a plural.

NON COUNT NOUNS
 You can’t count homework, but you can count
homework assignments.
 You can’t count furniture, but you can count
pieces of furniture; you can also count sofas,
chairs, tables, etc.
 You can’t count advice, but you can say, she
gave me a good piece of advice, and she has
always given me a lot of good advice.
 You can’t count jewelry, but you can count
pieces of jewelry: earrings, bracelets, etc.
 And you can’t count lightning, but you can
count how many bolts of lightning you saw.
COUNT NON COUNT
You can use a/an before You can’t use a/an before
the singular: the noun:
 An apple a day keeps  There was an apple

the doctor away. juice all over the

kitchen floor.

Take certain quantifiers:

Take other quantifiers:
 How many apples do we
 How much apple juice
have?
do you want?
 There are a few apples.
 There is a little juice.

Have singular and plural forms. Generally don’t have a plural.

NON COUNT NOUNS EXAMPLES
 Abstractions: energy, honesty, love
 Activities: basketball, dancing, tennis
 Diseases: AIDS, cancer, influenza
 Foods: beef, bread, fruit, meat, salt
 Gases: air, carbon dioxide, smoke
 Liquids: coffee, milk, water
 Natural phenomena: thunder, rain, heat
 Occupations: teaching, nursing, medicine
 Solid elements: gold, silver, iron
 Subjects: Chinese, chemistry, math
 Others: advice, homework, furniture, news
CAREFUL!

 Meat

 I ate meat for dinner. (non count)

 I have to buy a meat for tomorrow’s lunch.
(count)
 Different meats are available at the
supermarket. (count)

 Some words can be count in one context and

non count in another.
CAREFUL!

 Coffee

 Coffee is considered a non count noun:

 There is a little coffee left.
 But conversationally, informally, we can say to
a waiter, “Please bring us two coffees.”
 Here, coffee is being used as a count noun.

 Some words can be count in one context and

non count in another.
PLURALS – REGULAR &
IRREGULAR
 1. wolf  Some words only have
 2. person a plural form:
 clothes / police /
 3. tooth
cattle
 4. thesis
 5. child  Some plurals are
 6. thief changing:
 7. series  focus – foci – focuses
 syllabus – syllabi -
syllabuses
Quiz: What is the plural of
“exceptions”
these words?
PLURALS – REGULAR &
IRREGULAR
 1. wolves  Some words only have
 2. people a plural form:
 clothes / police /
 3. teeth
cattle
 4. theses
 5. children  Some plurals are
 6. thieves changing:
 7. series  focus – foci – focuses
 syllabus – syllabi -
syllabuses
Quiz: What is the plural of
“exceptions”
these words?
POSSESSIVE NOUNS
There are many rules. On the
next slide, you will see
examples of all of these possessives: See if you can
identify the rule.

a. Singular nouns
b. Singular nouns ending in ‘s’
c. Regular plural nouns
d. Irregular plural nouns
e. Joint/shared possession (2)
f. Individual possession (2)
POSSESSIVE NOUNS
a. The student’s schedule
b. Thomas’ or Thomas’s car
c. The students’ books
d. The children’s room
e. Jane and Jim’s
anniversary (They are married.)
f. Jane’s and Jim’s cars (Each
person has a car.)
a. Singular nouns
b. Singular nouns ending
in ‘s’
c. Regular plural nouns
d. Irregular plural nouns
e. Joint/shared possession
(2)
f. Individual possession (2)
NOUNS AS ADJECTIVES
 I live in an apartment. (apartment – noun)
 I live in an apartment building. (apartment –
adjective)

 I’m taking a course that lasts two weeks.

(week – noun)
 I’m taking a two-week course. (week –
adjective)

 Some words are usually nouns but can also function as

adjectives. Remember, the part of speech of a word is
determined by its function in the sentence.
EXERCISE
 I. Are these nouns abstract or concrete?
 1. freedom
 2. sadness
 3. ice cream
 4. school

 II. Are these nouns are proper or common:

 1. Spanish
 2. language
 3. month
 4. August

 III. Are these compound words written correctly?

 1. daughter in law
 2. stationwagon
 3. bubble bath
 4. shipwreck
EXERCISE
 IV. Fill in the blanks with an appropriate collective noun:
 1. The _______ was happy with the stage performance and clapped
wildly.
 2. She is the youngest of six kids; she comes from a big _________.
 3. The ______ deliberated for five hours and came back with a
guilty verdict.
 4. The rock _______ from Guatemala will go on tour next month.

 V. Are the underlined nouns count or non count?

 1. An hour seems like days in physics class.
 2. Can you stop at the store and get some sugar?
 3. A university offers more classes than a community college.
 4. The information regarding her file was kept private.
EXERCISE
 VI. What is the plural of these words?
 1. nucleus
 2. hypothesis
 3. phenomenon
 4. fungus

 VII. Are the possessives well written?

 1. My lawyer’s fee is outrageously expensive.
 2. Victors’ homework was submitted on time.
 3. All the members’ votes will be counted.
 4. We took all the peoples’ ideas into consideration.

 VIII. Are the underlined words nouns or adjectives?

 1. Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story.
 2. It is a tragedy about love.
 3. Did you watch the news?
 4. She is a news reporter.
SUMMARY

 Write down three things you learned

today about nouns.

 Questions? Comments?
 Bring them to next class and we will
discuss them.