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Noun

From Wikigogy

Noun: Word that refers to people, animals, objects, substances, states, events and feelings.

noun
countable
uncountable
mass
proper
collective
concrete
abstract
animate
inanimate
grammar
middle_school high_school college adult

[edit] How to find the noun

Nouns are words that go together with adjectives and articles, so that's the best way to find the nouns. Ask yourself if you can put an adjective and/or article in front of the word.

Examples:

the horse

Not: the forget (verb)

beautiful horses

Not: beautiful pull (verb)

a plate

Not: a happy (adjective)

large plate

Not: large pretty (adjective)

Be careful: there are verbs that can be made into nouns without changing them. The meaning does change!

Examples:

to play vs. the play (a play is a theatre performance)
to swing vs. a swing (a swing is the item you use to swing)

[edit] Noun types

[edit] Countable nouns

The biggest group of nouns are the nouns you can count. The noun has a singular (one) and plural (more) from. A singular noun is made plural by adding an -(e)s.

One/a pen - Two pens
One/a dress - Five dresses
One/a pillow - Several pillows

[edit] Uncountable or mass nouns

These are nouns with no plural, so they can't have an article in front of them. You need to learn by heart if a noun is a mass noun, but most are substances. Examples are: money, corn, sand, music, travel, water, sheep, and blood.

Some nouns have both countable and uncountable meanings.

John sees fire (mass)
John sees a fire (count)
The wolf catches sheep (mass)
The wolf catches a sheep (count)

Mass nouns can be made countable. You need to use a classifier, or measure word, a word that is used to talk about one item of the mass noun.

a grain of sand
a piece of cake
a bottle of water
a drop of blood

[edit] Proper nouns

Proper nouns are names of people, places, titles, times, and the calendar. They are always written with a capital letter. Examples are: the President, John, Wednesday, the Middle Ages, Shanghai. Nouns that are not proper nouns are called common nouns.

[edit] Collective nouns

These nouns talk about groups of people, animals or objects: family, company, police. If the verb that follows the collective noun is singular, it means one. If the verb is plural, the noun is a group of individuals.

The company has decided otherwise.
The company have decided otherwise.

The police has no singular form, it's always plural.

[edit] Concrete versus abstract nouns

A concrete noun talks about objects and substances that exists in the physical world. You can see, hear, touch, smell, or taste it. Examples are: clock, foot, pony, gas, clown, gold, etc. An abstract noun talks about states, events, concepts, feelings, qualities, etc. that don't exist in the physical world. Examples are: time, money, meeting, freedom, happiness, etc.

[edit] Animate versus inanimate nouns

Animate nouns talk about people, animals, and other living beings. In short, things that are alive. Inanimate nouns talk about everything else that isn't alive.