I

NOUNS

Nouns name people, places, and things. Every noun can further
be classified as common or proper.

A. Common and Proper Noun

Defining a Common Noun

A common noun is any generic uncapitalized noun. Here are some
examples:
ball, tree, flower, moon, dog

Notice that these were all single. Here are some plural examples of
common nouns:
balls, trees, flowers, moons, dogs

Most of the time, these nouns end in “s” to indicate plurality.

A common noun is only capitalized when it is at the beginning of a
sentence.
A basic definition of a common noun is a person, place thing or idea that
is not specific to a certain, particular, or named person, place, thing, or
idea.

Defining a Proper Noun

In truth, a proper noun functions exactly the same way a common noun
does, in that it is a person, place, thing, or idea. However, this proper
noun is capitalized. You use them the same way in a sentence as a

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common noun, but it retains its capitalization whether or not it is at the
beginning of a sentence.
Proper nouns include the days of the week, the months of the year,
towns, cities, streets, states, countries, and brands.
Names are all proper nouns, too! Notice how your own first, middle, and
last name are all capitalized: they are proper nouns because they
indicate a specific, particular person – you!

Common and Proper Noun

In each of the examples below, sentence “A” uses a common noun, and
sentence “B” replaces this common noun with a proper noun. See if you
can tell the difference:
 A - Mary liked to read a book every night before she went to bed.
 B - Mary liked to read Harry Potter every night before she went to
bed.

 A - My favorite drink is soda.

 B - My favorite drink is Diet Coke.

 A - In the country I live in, it is not legal to marry more than one
person at a time.
 B - In the United States, it is not legal to marry more than one
person at a time.

Tips for Understanding the Proper Noun

Whenever you see a capital, question whether or not it is a proper noun.
Make sure that the capitalized word is in fact a noun: ask yourself, is it a
person, place, thing, or idea? You might not be aware that there are also
proper adjectives.
Below, the first example contains a proper noun, and in the second
example, there is a proper adjective. Can you understand the difference
between the two?
 Asia is one of the seven continents of the world.
 Many people like to eat Asian food.
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In the first example, Asia is the subject of the sentence and is clearly a
proper noun. In the second example, Asian is an adjective and clearly
describes the kind of food.

Common Nouns Proper Nouns

coffee shop Starbucks

waiter Simon

jeans Levi's

sandwich Big Mac

chair Roll-O-Rocker

arena Amway Arena

country Australia

fire fighter Captain Richard Orsini

b. COUNT AND MASS NOUN

Count Nouns

Count nouns are nouns that can be quantified or counted with a number.

A few examples:

 Names of persons, animals, plants, insects, and their

parts: a boy, a kitten, a rose, an ear, three boys, seven
kittens, twelve roses, two ears
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  Objects with a definite shape: a building, a balloon, a
house, an octopus, four buildings, six balloons, four houses,
two octopi
 Units of measurement and words of classification: a
gram, a pound, a piece, a lump, an item, a bit, a family, a
state, a language, a phrase, a word
 Some abstract words: a hindrance, a scheme, an idea, a
plan, a taboo, a rest

Tests for Count Nouns:

 Count nouns can be quantified by a number.
 They have singular and plural forms.
 They can use a, an, or one as a modifier.
 They can use "many" as a modifier.

Mass Nouns

Mass nouns are uncountable by a number. Mass nouns are quantified by

a word that signifies amount.

A few examples:

 Materials, food, metals, and natural qualities: bread,

cotton, wood, lightness, adolescence
 Names of liquids, gases, and substances made of many
small particles: cappuccino, oil, smoke, oxygen, rice,
sugar, salt, cement, gravel
 Names of languages: English, Spanish, French, Latin,
Sanskrit, Chinese
 Most gerunds: looking, listening, swimming, running,
anticipating

Remember that a number can not be used to quantify a mass noun.

Incorrect: four woods, one rice, three courages.

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To measure or classify mass nouns, use "of" after a measurement: a foot
of wood, a pound of rice, an ounce of courage, a bar of chocolate, a
piece of music, a bag of money

Tests for Mass Nouns:

 Mass nouns are quantified by an amount rather than a number.
 They have only one form (singular).
 They cannot have "a," "an," or "one" before them as modifiers.
 They can use "much" as a modifier.

c. CONCRETE Noun

Defining a Concrete Noun

You experience concrete nouns through your five senses: sight, smell,
hearing, taste, and touch. If you cannot see, hear, taste, touch, or smell
something, it is not a concrete noun.
Concrete nouns can be:
 Common nouns
 Proper nouns
 Countable and uncountable nouns
 Collective nouns
Concrete nouns can appear in singular or plural forms. Examples are:
flower, bear, music, Niagara Falls, pie, incense, tornado, ranch, milk,
team, Declaration of Independence, lotion, stars, Europeans, water, Big
Ben, colony, and car

Consider the examples below:

Would someone please answer the phone ?

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In the sentence above, the noun phone is a concrete noun: you can

touch it, see it, hear it, and maybe even smell it or taste it.

What is that noise ?

Even though noise can’t be touched—and the noise may even be

coming from several places—you can hear the noise, so it’s a concrete
noun.
After his retirement, Mr. Bond pursued his dream of photographing
rainbows.
Rainbows is a concrete noun: they can be seen. Mr. Bond is also a
concrete noun, but dream and retirement are not.

Some concrete nouns are countable nouns. Countable nouns have

both a singular and a plural form.

A brick. Two bricks.

A book. Three books.

A horse. Four horses.

Uncountablee concrete nouns do not have a plural form. We can’t

separate them into individual elements to count. Milk, air, sugar, salt,
wood, rice, electricity and water are also uncountable nouns. Concrete
nouns can be collective nouns, common nouns, and proper nouns as
well.

d. ABSTRACT Noun

Abstract nouns are like the opposite of concrete nouns. These are nouns
that name things you cannot see, smell, taste, hear, or touch. They refer
to emotions, ideas, concepts, tenets, beliefs, or your state of being.

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Examples include:
love, hate, bigotry, acceptance, tyranny, democracy, freedom, power,
happiness, curiosity, peace, maturity, deceit, trust, integrity, culture,
patience, rage, calm, anticipation, education, stupidity, safety, evil, progress,
shopping, and virtue

Abstract Noun Examples

The following lists contain different types of abstract nouns. Certain
abstract nouns, especially the ones describing feelings and emotions,
easily fit into multiple categories, as they can be used in different ways.
Get to know them, and it’ll be easier for you to spot an abstract noun
when you see one.

Common Abstract Nouns

Emotions/Feelings
 Love  Peace
 Hate  Pride
 Anger  Sympathy

States/Attributes
 Bravery  Courage
 Loyalty  Deceit
 Honesty  Skill
 Integrity  Beauty
 Compassion  Brilliance
 Charity  Pain
 Success  Misery

Ideas/Concepts/Ideals
 Belief  Truth
 Dream  Faith
 Justice  Liberty
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 Knowledge  Culture
 Thought  Trust
 Information  Dedication

Movements/Events
 Progress  Trouble
 Education  Friendship
 Hospitality  Relaxation
 Leisure

Abstract forms of nouns are very common and an important part of

communication. In many cases these types of nouns are derived from an
addition of a suffix or alteration in the root word. Child is a concrete noun,
for example, but childhood is an intangible state, so it is abstract.
Nouns with the following suffixes are often abstract:
 -tion  -ance
 -ism  -ence
 -ity  -ship
 -ment  -ability
 -ness  -acy
 -age

E. CoLLECTIVE Noun

Collective nouns are names for a collection or a number of people or

things. Words like group, herd, and array are collective noun examples.

What is a Collective Noun

You might not know it, but you encounter collective nouns in everyday
speech. Collective nouns are words for single things that are made up of
more than one person, animal, place, thing, or idea. You can’t have a

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 team without individual members; even so, we discuss a team as a
single entity.

Collective Noun Examples

Remember that nouns are words naming people, animals, places, and
things. Collective nouns are in a class all their own. Once you’ve read
these examples, you’ll find it much easier to recognize collective nouns
when you see them.

 Our class took a field trip to the natural history museum.

 The herd of bison ran across the prairie, leaving a massive dust cloud in its
wake.
 We waited anxiously for the jury to come to a verdict.
 This year’s basketball team includes three players who are over six feet tall.
 Napoleon’s army was finally defeated at Waterloo.
 The town council has approved plans to create a new park.
 He comes from a huge family: he’s the oldest of eleven kids.
 The rock group has been on tour for months.
 Everyone in the audience applauded loudly when Elvis appeared on stage.

List of Common Collective Nouns

This list of common collective nouns contains words that describe groups
of animals, people, or things. These words are sometimes
interchangeable, and English writers and speakers often use them to
describe different things. For example, the word swarm is usually used to
discuss a group of insects such as ants, flies or bees, but many writers
use it to talk about a very busy crowd of people. Once you are familiar
with these words, you’ll notice that they are used in a variety of
situations.

 Herd– A group of herbivore animals

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 Pack– A group of canine animals such as wolves or dogs; also used to
describe playing cards and packages containing multiple objects
 Flock– A group of birds; also used to discuss small hooved animals such
as sheep or goats
 Swarm– A group of insects
 Shoal– A group of fish
 Group – A very general term used to describe people, places, things,
and animals
 Crowd – Usually used to describe a group of people
 Gang – Usually used to describe a group of criminals; also used to
describe a group of workers, particularly sailors or dock workers
 Mob – Normally used to describe an angry or unruly group of people;
also used to describe a group of kangaroos
 Staff – A group of people who work in the same place
 Crew – Usually used to denote a group of workers; also used to describe
aircraft and ships personnel
 Choir – A large, organized group of singers
 Orchestra – A large, organized group of instrumentalists, led by a
conductor
 Panel – A group of experts
 Board – A group of people, usually professionals, who take on an
advisory role
 Troupe – A group of actors or acrobats; also used to describe a group of
monkeys
 Bunch – Usually a group of smallish objects such as grapes, flowers,
keys, or bananas
 Pile – An untidy collection of items such as rubbish
 Heap – A mounded collection of items; used interchangeably with “pile”
 Set – A tidy group of matched objects such as dishes; also used to
describe rules or a social group of people
 Stack – A group of items neatly laid one on top of another; i.e., a stack of
books
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 Series – Used to discuss movies, books, or events that follow one after
another, i.e. Star Trek or Harry Potter
 Shower – Usually used to describe rain, although it can be used to
describe gifts or compliments
 Fall – Often used to discuss weather, such as rain, snow or hail

F. gender Noun

There are four types of gender nouns in English.

Masculine gender nouns are words for men, boys, and male animals.
Feminine gender nouns are words for women, girls and female
animals.
Common gender nouns are nouns that are used for both males and
females.
Neuter gender nouns are words for things that are not alive.

Gender Nouns for People

Here are some examples of masculine and feminine nouns for
people.

Male Female
actor actress
boy girl
bridegroom bride
brother sister
count countess
dad Mom
duke Duchess
emperor Empress

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 father Mother
gentleman Lady
grandfather Grandmother
heir Heiress
host Hostess
husband Wife
king queen
landlord landlady
man woman
nephew niece
policeman policewoman
prince princess
sir madam
son daughter
steward stewardess
uncle aunt
waiter waitress
widower Widow
wizard Witch

Gender Nouns for Animals

Here are some examples of masculine and feminine nouns for
animals.

Animal Masculine Feminine

bear boar Sow
cat tom Queen

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 cattle bull cow
chicken rooster hen
deer buck or stag doe or hind
donkey jack jenny
duck drake duck
elephant bull cow
fox dog vixen
goose gander goose
horse stallion mare
leopard leopard leopardess
lion lion lioness
peacock peacock peahen
pig boar sow
rabbit buck doe
sheep ram ewe
swan cob pen
tiger tiger tigress
whale bull cow

Common Gender Nouns

Here are some examples of common gender nouns that used for
both males and females.
babies dancers
students parents
reporters teachers
singers engineers
lawyers artists
spouse partner
doctor student
astronaut chef
nurse dentist
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Neuter Gender Nouns
Here are some examples of neuter gender nouns that are used for
objects and places.

hospital school
knife chair
cave floor
phone fire
pen stick
book bag
pencil crayons
flower shoes

G. possessive Noun
A possessive noun shows ownership by adding an apostrophe, an "s" or
both. To make a single noun possessive, simply add an apostrophe and
an "s."

Singular Possessive Nouns

 Apple’s taste  Jam’s ingredient
 Book’s cover  Laundry’s smell
 Boss’s car  Lawyer’s fee
 Cat’s tuna  Marble’s shape
 Computer’s keyboard  Month’s work
 Deer’s antlers  Moss’s color
 Diane’s book  Progress’s reward
 Diabetes’s symptoms  Senator’s vote
 Fish’s eggs  Sun’s rays
 Fez’s size  Today’s newspaper
 Florida’s climate  Tray’s usefulness
 Goddess’s beauty  Tree’s bark
 Gym’s rules  Victor’s spoils
 House’s roof  Watermelon’s rind

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Plural Possessive Nouns
When a plural noun ends with an "s," simply add an apostrophe to
make it possessive. Here are examples of plural possessive nouns:
 Americans’ ideals  Nuts’ saltiness
 Babies’ shoes  Owls’ eyes
 Cabbages’ nutrition  Planets’ orbits
 Donors’ cards  Quizzes’ difficulty
 Eggs’ color  Recesses’ measurements
 Frogs’ croaking  Students’ grades
 Garages’ fees  Suspects’ fingerprints
 Hampers’ conditions  Teachers’ qualifications
 Igloos’ construction  The Smiths’ house
 Inventions’ popularity  Unicorns’ power
 Juices’ flavors  Violins’ melody
 Kites’ altitudes  Wagons’ circle
 Lemons’ acidity  Yokes’ material
 Members’ votes

When a plural noun does not end with an "s," add an apostrophe and
an "s" to make it possessive. Here are examples of plural possessive
nouns:
 Cattle’s pasture
 Geese’s eggs
 Women’s clothes
 Children’s toys
 Mice’s traps
 People’s ideas
 Feet’s toenails
 Nuclei’s form
 Cacti’s thorns
 Octopi’s legs
 Oxen’s diet
 Die’s roll
 Lice’s size
 Hippopotami’s strength
 Fungi’s location
 Formulae’s indication

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Hyphenated or Compound Words

With hyphenated or compound words, only the last word shows

possession.

Examples of singular possessive nouns:

 My sister-in-law’s advice
 Notre Dame’s tower
 Yellowstone National Park’s hours
 Middle class’s income
 T-shirt’s logo
 Attorney General’s job
 Real estate’s decline
 Full moon’s brightness
 Mid-June’s heat
 Front-runner’s confidence

Examples of plural possessive nouns:

 Water-bottles’ shape
 Changing-rooms’ door
 Five-year-olds’ excitement
 Six packs’ appeal
 Half sisters’ bedrooms
 Post Offices’ hours
 Ex-wives’ alimony
 Bus stops’ repair
 Oil spills’ costs
 U-boats’ stealth

Possessive Nouns Joined Together

 Hansel and Gretel’s adventure
 Sonny and Cher’s fame
 Salt and pepper’s flavors
 Man and wife’s vows
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 Jupiter and Saturn’s atmospheres
 Birds and bees’ habits
 Additives and spices’ costs

Possessive Nouns Referring to Places, Churches and

Universities
 Saint Anthony’s
 The grocer’s
 The dentist’s
 Saint Mary’s
 The vet’s
 The chiropractor’s
 Domino’s
 McDonald’s
 Frankie’s
 Dillard’s
 Macy

H. singular and plural noun

The difference between singular and plural nouns is easy to spot.
When a noun indicates one only, it is a singular noun. When a
noun indicates more than one, it is plural.

Singular Noun Examples

The following sentences contain singular nouns examples.

1. The boy had a baseball in his hand.

2. My horse prefers to wear an English saddle.
3. That cat never seems to tire of jumping in and out of the box.
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4. You stole my idea and didn’t give me any credit.
5. Your mom is going to be upset about that broken lamp.
6. It’s not difficult to grow a tree as long as you give it plenty of water.
7. I can’t believe you let your dog stick his head out
the window while you drive.

Plural Noun Examples

The following sentences contain plural noun examples.

1. The boys were throwing baseballs back and forth between bases.
2. Our horses are much happier wearing lightweight
English saddles.
3. Those cats never seem to tire of chasing one another in and out of
those boxes.
4. You stole my ideas and didn’t give me any credit.
5. Our moms are going to be upset that we stayed out all night going
to parties.
6. It’s not too difficult to grow trees as long as you provide them with
plenty of water.
7. I can’t believe you allow your dogs to climb all over the seats while
you are driving.

Plural Nouns: Rules and Examples

BASICS
Most singular nouns are made plural by simply putting an -s at the

end. There are many different rules regarding pluralization

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depending on what letter a noun ends in. Irregular nouns do not

follow plural noun rules, so they must be memorized or looked up in

the dictionary.

Plural Noun Rules

There are many plural noun rules, and because we use nouns so
frequently when writing, it’s important to know all of them! The
correct spelling of plurals usually depends on what letter the
singular noun ends in.

1 To make regular nouns plural, add -s to the end.

cat – cats

house – houses

2 If the singular noun ends in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add -es

to the end to make it plural.

truss – trusses bus – buses

marsh – marshes lunch – lunches

tax – taxes blitz – blitzes

3 In some cases, singular nouns ending in -s or -z, require that

you double the -s or -z prior to adding the -es for pluralization.

fez – fezzes gas –gasses

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4 If the noun ends with -f or -fe, the f is often changed to -ve

before adding the -s to form the plural version.

wife – wives wolf – wolves

Exceptions:

roof – roofs belief – beliefs

chef – chefs chief – chiefs

5 If a singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a

consonant, change the ending to -ies to make the noun plural.

city – cities puppy – puppies

6 If the singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a

vowel, simply add an -s to make it plural.

ray – rays boy – boys

7 If the singular noun ends in -o, add -es to make it plural.

potato – potatoes tomato – tomatoes

Exceptions:

photo – photos piano – pianos

halo – halos

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With the unique word volcano, you can apply the standard
pluralization for words that end in -o or not. It’s your choice! Both of
the following are correct:

volcanoes volcanos

8 If the singular noun ends in -us, the plural ending is

frequently -i.

cactus – cacti focus – foci

9 If the singular noun ends in -is, the plural ending is -es.

analysis – analyses ellipsis – ellipses

10 If the singular noun ends in -on, the plural ending is -a.

phenomenon – phenomena criterion – criteria

11 Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized.

sheep – sheep series – series

species – species deer –deer

You need to see these nouns in context to identify them as singular

or plural. Consider the following sentence:

Mark caught one fish , but I caught three fish .

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Plural Noun Rules for Irregular Nouns

Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize

these or look up the proper pluralization in the dictionary.

child – children goose – geese

man – men woman – women

tooth – teeth foot – feet

mouse – mice person – people

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 II
PRONOUNS
Pronouns replace nouns. A different pronoun is required depending
on two elements: the noun being replaced and the function that
noun has in the sentence. In English, pronouns only take the
gender of the noun they replace in the 3rd person singular form.
The 2nd person plural pronouns are identical to the 2nd person
singular pronouns except for the reflexive pronoun.

Subject Object Possessive Possessive Reflexive

Pronoun Pronoun Adjective Pronoun or
(Determiner) Intensive
Pronoun

1st I Me My mine Myself

person
singular

2nd You You Your yours Yourself

person
singular

3rd He Him His his Himself

person
singular
male

3rd She Her Her hers Herself

person
singular
female

3rd It It Its Itself

person
singular

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 Subject Object Possessive Possessive Reflexive
Pronoun Pronoun Adjective Pronoun or
(Determiner) Intensive
Pronoun

, neutral

1st We Us Our ours Ourselves

person
plural

2nd you you Your yours yourselve

person s
plural

3rd they them Their theirs themselve

person s
plural

A. SUBJECT PROnounS

Subject pronouns replace nouns that are the subject of their clause.
In the 3rd person, subject pronouns are often used to avoid
repetition of the subject's name.

EXAMPLES
 I am 16.
 You seem lost.
 Jim is angry, and he wants Sally to apologize.
 This table is old. It needs to be repainted.
 We aren't coming.
 They don't like pancakes.

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b. objECT PROnounS

Object pronouns are used to replace nouns that are the direct or
indirect object of a clause.

EXAMPLES
 Give the book to me.
 The teacher wants to talk to you.
 Jake is hurt because Bill hit him.
 Rachid recieved a letter from her last week.
 Mark can't find it.
 Don't be angry with us.
 Tell them to hurry up!

c. possessive PROnounS

Possessive pronouns replace possessive nouns as either the

subject or the object of a clause. Because the noun being replaced
doesn't appear in the sentence, it must be clear from the context.

EXAMPLES
 This bag is mine.
 Yours is not blue.
 That bag looks like his.
 These shoes are not hers.
 That car is ours.
 Theirs is parked in the garage.

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Possessive pronouns come in two flavors: limiting and

absolute. My, your, its, his, her, our, their and whose are used to

show that something belongs to an antecedent.

Sarah is working on her application. Just put me back on my bike.

The students practiced their presentation after school.

The absolute possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers,

ours, and theirs. The absolute forms can be substituted for the thing

that belongs to the antecedent.

Are you finished with your application? Sarah already finished hers.
The blue bike is mine. I practiced my speech and the students
practiced theirs.

Some possessive pronouns are easy to mix up with similar-looking

contractions. Remember, possessive personal pronouns don’t

include apostrophes.

d. indefiniTe PROnounS

Indefinite pronouns are used when you need to refer to a person or

thing that doesn’t need to be specifically identified. Some common

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indefinite pronouns are one, other, none, some, anybody,

everybody, and no one.

Everybody was late to work because of the traffic jam. It matters more to
some than others. Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.

When indefinite pronouns function as subjects of a sentence or

clause, they usually take singular verbs.

e. demonstrative PROnounS

There are five demonstrative pronouns: these, those, this,

that, and such. They focus attention on the nouns that are
replacing.
 Such was his understanding.
 Those are totally awesome.

That, this, these and those are demonstrative pronouns. They take

the place of a noun or noun phrase that has already been

mentioned.

This is used for singular items that are nearby. These is used for

multiple items that are nearby. The distance can be physical or

metaphorical.
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Here is a letter with no return address. Who could have sent this?
What a fantastic idea! This is the best thing I’ve heard all day. If you
think gardenias smell nice, try smelling these.

That is used for singular items that are far away. Those is used for

multiple items that are far away. Again, the distance can be physical

or metaphorical.

A house like that would be a nice place to live. Some new flavors of
soda came in last week. Why don’t you try some of those? Those
aren’t swans, they’re geese.

f. interrogative PROnounS

These pronouns are used to begin a question: who, whom,

which, what, whoever, whomever, whichever, and whatever.
 What are you bringing to the party?

Interrogative pronouns are used in questions. The

interrogative pronouns are who, what, which, and whose.

Who wants a bag of jelly beans? What is your name? Which movie
do you want to watch? Whose jacket is this?

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g. compound-personal PROnounS
• Compound personal pronouns are made when adding the word
‘self’ (singular) or ‘selves’ (plural) to the end of a personal pronoun

• There are two types of compound personal pronouns

• Reflexive

• Intensive

Reflexive pronouns are, in fact, compound personal pronouns

because they are formed by the addition of the suffix ‘self’ (singular)
or ‘selves’ (plural) to the following pronouns.
My + self – myself
Him + self – himself
Your + self – yourself (singular) / yourselves (plural)
Her + self – herself
Them + selves – themselves
It + self – itself
Our + selves – ourselves

Reflexive Compound Pronouns

- Reflexive pronouns are so named because the action of the

subject reflects upon itself

• That woman hurt herself while playing soccer.

• I cut myself when I was shaving.

• He helped himself to a handful of candy.

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Intensive Compound Pronouns

- Intensive compound pronouns emphasize a noun or pronoun in

the same sentence

• The students themselves created the art project.

• I myself baked that cake.

• They did the work themselves.

• King Alfred himself won the battle.

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 III
ERRONEOUS STATEMENTS

should be “HORSE RIDING”

should be “NO PARKING ”

should be “Authorized Personnel

Only ”

should be “SOMETIMES
YOU’RE
THE DOG, SOMETIMES
YOU’RE THE HYDRANT”

should be “NO SMOKING

ALLOWED ”

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should be “FREE WOOD ”

WHERE should be replaced with

“WE’RE ”

THEIR should be replaced with

“THEY’RE ”

QUITE should be replaced with

“QUIET ”

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