What is a Noun?

A noun is a word used to name a person, animal,

place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns are usually the
first words which small children learn.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are
all nouns:
Late last year our neighbours bought
a goat.
Portia White was an opera singer.
The bus inspector looked at all
the passengers' passes.
According to Plutarch,
the library at Alexandria was destroyed in
48 .!.
Philosophy is of little comfort to
the starving.
A noun can function in a sentence as a sub"ect,
a direct ob"ect, anindirect ob"ect, a sub"ect
complement, an ob"ect complement, anappositi#e,
an ad"ecti#e or an ad#erb.
Noun Gender
$any common nouns, like %engineer% or %teacher,% can
refer to men or women. &nce, many 'nglish nouns
would change form depending on their gender (( for
e)ample, a man was called an %author% while a woman
was called an %authoress% (( but this use of gender-
specific nouns is #ery rare today. Those that are still
used occasionally tend to refer to occupational
categories, as in the following sentences.
Noun Plurals
$ost nouns change their form to indicate number by
adding %(s% or %(es%, as illustrated in the following
pairs of sentences:
*hen $atthew was small he rarely told
the truth if he thought he was going to be
punished.
$any people do not belie#e that truths are
self(e#ident.
As they walked through the silent house,
they were startled by an une)pected echo.
+ like to shout into the ,uarry and listen to
the echoes that return.
-e tripped o#er a box left carelessly in the
hallway.
.ince we are mo#ing, we will need
many boxes.
There are other nouns which form the plural by
changing the last letter before adding %s%. .ome words
ending in %f% form the plural by deleting %f% and adding
%#es,% and words ending in %y% form the plural by
deleting the %y% and adding %ies,% as in the following
pairs of sentences:
The harbour at $arble $ountain has
one wharf.
There are se#eral wharves in -alifa)
-arbour.
*arsaw is their fa#ourite city because it
reminds them of their courtship.
The #acation my grandparents won includes
trips to twel#e 'uropean cities.
The children circled around the headmaster
and shouted, %Are you a mouse or a man/%
The audience was shocked when all fi#e men
admitted that they were afraid of mice.
&ther nouns form the plural irregularly. +f 'nglish is
your first language, you probably know most of these
already: when in doubt, consult a good dictionary.
ypes !f Nouns
There are many different types of nouns. As you
know, you capitalise some nouns, such as %!anada% or
%Louise,% and do not capitalise others, such as
%badger% or %tree% 0unless they appear at the
beginning of a sentence1. +n fact, grammarians ha#e
de#eloped a whole series of noun types, including the
proper noun, the common noun, the concrete noun,
the abstract noun, the countable noun 0also called the
count noun1, the non(countable noun 0also called the
mass noun1, and the collecti#e noun. 2ou should note
that a noun will belong to more than one type: it will
be proper or common, abstract or
concrete, and countable or non(countable or
collecti#e.
+f you are interested in the details of these different
types, you can read about them in the following
sections.
Proper Nouns
2ou always write a proper noun with a capital letter,
since the noun represents the name of a specific
person, place, or thing. The names of days of the
week, months, historical documents, institutions,
organisations, religions, their holy te)ts and their
adherents are proper nouns. A proper noun is the
opposite of a common noun
+n each of the following sentences, the proper nouns
are highlighted:
The "arroons were transported
from #amaica and forced to build the
fortifications in $alifax.
$any people dread "onday mornings.
%eltane is celebrated on the first of "ay.
Abraham appears in the almud and in
the &oran.
Last year, + had a %aptist, a %uddhist, and
a Gardnerian Witch as roommates.
'ommon Nouns
A common noun is a noun referring to a person,
place, or thing in a general sense (( usually, you
should write it with a capital letter only when it begins
a sentence. A common noun is the opposite of a
proper noun.
+n each of the following sentences, the common nouns
arehighlighted:
According to the sign, the nearest town is
34 miles away.
All the gardens in
the neighbourhood were in#aded
by beetlesthis summer.
+ don5t understand why some people insist
on ha#ing si) different (inds of mustard in
their cupboards.
The road crew was startled by the sight of
three large moosecrossing the road.
$any child(care wor(ers are underpaid.
'oncrete Nouns
A concrete noun is a noun which names anything 0or
anyone1 that you can percei#e through your physical
senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell. A
concrete noun is the opposite of a abstract noun.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are
all concrete nouns:
The )udge handed the files to the cler(.
*hene#er they take the dog to the beach,
it spends hours chasing waves.
The real estate agent urged the couple to
buy the secondhouse because it had
new shingles.
As the car dro#e past the par(,
the thump of a disco tuneo#erwhelmed the
string *uartet's rendition of a minuet.
The boo( binder replaced the flimsy
paper cover with a sturdy, cloth(
co#ered board.
Abstract Nouns
An abstract noun is a noun which names anything
which you can notpercei#e through your fi#e physical
senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are
all abstract nouns:
uying the fire e)tinguisher was
an afterthought.
Tillie is amused by people who are nostalgic
about childhood.
#ustice often seems to slip out of our grasp.
.ome scientists belie#e
that schi+ophrenia is transmitted
genetically.
'ountable Nouns
A countable noun 0or count noun1 is a noun with
both a singular and a plural form, and it names
anything 0or anyone1 that you can count. 2ou can
make a countable noun plural and attach it to a plural
#erb in a sentence. !ountable nouns are the opposite
of non(countable nouns and collecti#e nouns.
+n each of the following sentences,
the highlighted words are countable nouns:
*e painted the table red and
the chairs blue.
.ince he inherited his aunt's library,
6erome spends e#erywee(end inde)ing
his boo(s.
$iriam found si) sil#er dollars in the toe of
a soc(.
The oak tree lost three branches in
the hurricane.
&#er the course of twenty(se#en years,
$artha allad deli#ered "ust o#er eight
hundred babies.
Non-'ountable Nouns
A non-countable noun 0or mass noun1 is a noun
which does not ha#e a plural form, and which refers to
something that you could 0or would1 not usually
count. A non(countable noun always takes a singular
#erb in a sentence. Non(countable nouns are similar to
collecti#e nouns, and are the opposite of countable
nouns.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are
non(countable nouns:
6oseph 7riestly disco#ered oxygen.
The word %o)ygen% cannot normally be made plural.
!xygen is essential to human life.
.ince %o)ygen% is a non(countable noun, it takes the
singular #erb %is% rather than the plural #erb %are.%
*e decided to sell the furniture rather than
take it with us when we mo#ed.
2ou cannot make the noun %furniture% plural.
The furniture is heaped in the middle of the
room.
.ince %furniture% is a non(countable noun, it takes a
singular #erb, %is heaped.%
The crew spread the gravel o#er the
roadbed.
2ou cannot make the non(countable noun %gra#el%
plural.
Gravel is more e)pensi#e than + thought.
.ince %gra#el% is a non(countable noun, it takes the
singular #erb form %is.%
'ollective Nouns
A collective noun is a noun naming a group of
things, animals, or persons. 2ou could count the
indi#idual members of the group, but you usually think
of the group as a whole is generally as one unit. 2ou
need to be able to recognise collecti#e nouns in order
to maintain sub"ect(#erb agreement. A collecti#e noun
is similar to a non(countable noun, and is roughly the
opposite of a countable noun.