Is the word name a noun

I was meditating this morning and this came to me. Hear me out:

A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.

An adjective on the other hand is something which describes a noun.

My name is Jesse. If my name denotes me, am I the noun or is my name? If my name is the noun, then what happens when I change it? I can’t call a building a car but I can call a building hot or cold. If my name is an adjective describing me, why can’t I use it on anyone else?

I’ve read answers on how Shakespeare is a noun while Shakespearean is an adjective. This sort of touches on the issue but doesn’t answer it completely.

I could separate me the object from me the idea but I can still describe me the idea with a new name, let’s say Jordan, which would be a pen name. My idea stays the same.

asked Apr 19, 2017 at 2:34

KI4JGT's user avatar

6

Noun noun
A word (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of people, places, or things (common noun), or to name a particular one of these (proper noun).
— ODO

The point of interest here is that a noun is a word, not the concept or the object. Consider it a label if you wish. If you change your name, you simply switch labels. You then have a previous name (a noun) and your current name (also a noun).

In your sentence «A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea», the word is should be understood as the following:

be verb
3.3 Represent.
‘let A be a square matrix of order n’
— ODO

That is, a noun represents the person, place, etc, as opposed to being those things ontologically.

answered Apr 19, 2017 at 11:21

Lawrence's user avatar

LawrenceLawrence

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Seems to me that a noun is a type of adjective then.
But there is confusion because a noun is defined as being a signifier. which indicates a flaw:

If an adjective is describing a noun which is representing something that actually is (being) then calling a noun green when the being which is being represented is green and not the actual noun is inaccurate unless the noun as a word is in fact printed, displayed or presented in green.

Upon doing a search it seems this issue must have been dealt with since I studied this in grammar. Merriam-Webster defines adjective:

A word belonging to one of the major form classes in any of numerous languages and typically serving as a modifier of a noun to denote a ‘quality of the thing named’, to indicate its quantity or extent, or to specify a thing as distinct from something else

  • I added quotations

KillingTime's user avatar

KillingTime

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answered Jun 23, 2020 at 7:09

Patrick Michael Sullivan's user avatar

Continue Learning about English Language Arts

Is teacher’s name a noun?

The word teacher’s is a noun, the word name is a noun, and they
can function together as a noun.


Is the word Jess a noun?

Yes, the word ‘Jess’ is a noun, a proper noun, the name of a person.


Is the word Claire a noun?

Yes, the word ‘Claire’ is a noun, a proper noun, the name of a person.A noun is a word for a person, a place, or a thing. The noun ‘Claire’ is a word for a person.


Is a name a noun or a pronoun?

The word ‘name’ is a noun, a word for a thing. Example sentence:I can’t remember the name of that perfume, it was heavenly something.Note: a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence; for example, the word ‘it’ in the sentence above is a pronoun taking the place of the noun name.


Is a name a pronoun?

No, the word ‘name’ is a noun, a word for a thing.A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence.The pronoun that takes the place of the noun ‘name’ is it.Example: Here is her name but I don’t know how to pronounce it.

name | noun | Synonyms |

Noun is a synonym of name.

In transitive terms the difference between name and noun

is that name is to designate for a role while noun is to convert a word to a noun.

As a proper noun NAmE

is abbreviation of North American English|lang=en.

Other Comparisons: What’s the difference?

name

English

Noun

(wikipedia name)
(en noun)

  • Any nounal word or phrase which indicates a particular person, place, class, or thing.
  • * Bible, Genesis ii. 19
    Whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
  • * Shakespeare
    That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.
  • * 1904 , , (The Marvelous Land of Oz) :
    So good a man as this must surely have a name .
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=[http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-s-langston Lee S. Langston], magazine=(American Scientist), title=[http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/2013/4/the-adaptable-gas-turbine The Adaptable Gas Turbine]
    , passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo», meaning »vortex , and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.}}

  • Reputation.
  • * 1604 , (William Shakespeare), :
    Good name in man and woman, dear my lord / Is the immediate jewel of their souls.[http://www.bartleby.com/100/138.34.42.html]

  • * 1952 , (Old Testament), Revised Standard Version , Thomas Nelson & Sons, 2 Samuel 8:13:
    And David won a name for himself.[http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=Rsv2Sam.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=8&division=div1]

  • A person (or legal person).
  • * Dryden
    They list with women each degenerate name .

  • * second edition of, 2002, Graham Richards, Putting Psychology in its Place , ISBN 1841692336, page 287 [http://books.google.com/books?id=7bxvJIs5_wsC&pg=PA287&dq=names]:
    Later British psychologists interested in this topic include such major names as Cyril Burt, William McDougall,.

  • * 2008 edition of, 1998, S. B. Budhiraja and M. B. Athreya, Cases in Strategic Management , ISBN 0074620975 page 79 [http://books.google.com/books?id=-IaKYHY0sogC&pg=PA79&dq=names]:
    Would it be able to fight the competition from ITC Agro Tech and Liptons who were ready and able to commit large resources? With such big names as competitors, would this business be viable for Marico?

  • * 2009 third edition of, 1998, Martin Mowforth and Ian Munt, Tourism and Sustainability , ISBN 0203891058, page 29 [http://books.google.com/books?id=bM6MPBIFwkQC&pg=PA29&dq=names]:
    International non-governmental organisations (INGOs), including such household names as Amnesty International, Greenpeace and.

  • Those of a certain name; a race; a family.
  • * Macaulay
    The ministers of the republic, mortal enemies of his name , came every day to pay their feigned civilities.

  • (computing) A unique identifier, generally a string of characters.
  • An investor in Lloyds of London bearing unlimited liability.
  • Synonyms

    * proper name
    * See also

    Derived terms

    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *
    *

    Verb

    (nam)

  • To give a name to.
  • * 1904:‘ , »The Land of Oz» — I will ‘ name the fellow ‘Jack Pumpkinhead!’
  • *, title=[http://openlibrary.org/works/OL5535161W Mr. Pratt’s Patients], chapter=1
    , passage=A chap named Eleazir Kendrick and I had chummed in together the summer afore and built a fish-weir and shanty at Setuckit Point, down Orham way. For a spell we done pretty well.}}
  • To mention, specify.
  • To identify as relevant or important
  • To publicly implicate.
  • To designate for a role.

  • Derived terms

    * codename
    * misname
    * name after
    * name names
    * you name it

    See also

    * christen
    * cognomen
    * epithet
    * moniker
    * nom de guerre
    * nom de plume
    * pseudonym
    * sobriquet

    Statistics

    *

    noun

    Noun

    (en noun)

  • (grammar, sensu lato) A name of a thing. Either a noun substantive, which can stand alone and does not require another word to be joined with it to show its signification, or a noun adjective, which can not stand by itself, but requires to be joined with some other word, in order to make sense.
  • (grammar, sensu stricto) A word that can be used to refer to a person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.
  • Usage notes

    * (sensu stricto) In English (and in many other languages), a noun can serve as the subject or object of a verb. For example, the English words (table) and (computer) are nouns. See .

    Synonyms

    * name, nameword
    * (sensu stricto) noun substantive, substantive

    Hyponyms

    * (sensu lato) noun substantive = substantive, noun adjective = adjective
    * (sensu stricto) See also

    Derived terms

    * abstract noun
    * adjectival noun
    * attributive noun
    * collective noun
    * common noun
    * concrete noun
    * count noun
    * mass noun
    * non-count noun
    * noun adjunct
    * noun clause
    * noun of assemblage
    * noun of multitude
    * noun phrase
    * plural noun
    * pronoun
    * proper noun
    * uncount noun

    Verb

    (en verb)

  • To convert a word to a noun.
  • * 1992 , Lewis Acrelius Froman, Language and Power: Books III, IV, and V
    For example, that females are different from but equal to males is oxymoronic by virtue of the nouned status of female and male as kinds of persons.
  • * 2000 , Andrew J. DuBrin, The complete idiot’s guide to leadership
    However, too much nouning makes you sound bureaucratic, immature, and verbally challenged. Top executives convert far fewer nouns into verbs than do workers at lower levels.
  • What is a noun?

    Noun Definition | Meaning

    A noun is a naming word. It can be the name of a thing, place, person, animal or feeling.

    Examples of Noun

    Naming People
    It could be a name of any person, for example: John, Fatima, Singh, Michael, Tom and so on.

    Naming Places
    It could be a name of any place, for example: America, China, Church, Taj Mahal, Paris and so on.

    Naming Things
    Naming things are like Car, Hat, Bottle, Table, Chair, Ball and so on.

    Naming Animals
    Dog, Rabbit, Elephant, Chicken, Horse.

    Naming Feeling/Qualities/Ideas
    Joy, Fear, Beauty, Strength, Anger.

    Example Sentences

    1. I live in Australia.
    2. Jenny is my sister.
    3. I love to play with my dog.
    4. The name of this monkey is Boo.
    5. Pacific Ocean is very vast.

    All the things in the world of nouns fall into two classes:

    1. Concrete Noun (or Material Noun)
    2. Abstract Noun

    All Types of Nouns

    • Proper Noun
    • Common Noun
    • Collective Noun
    • Concrete Noun (or Material Noun)
    • Abstract Noun
    • Possessive Noun
    • Number Noun
    • Compound Noun
    • Countable Noun
    • Uncountable Noun (or Mass Noun)
    • Masculine Noun
    • Feminine Noun

    Proper Noun

    Names of people or places such as your name, your friend’s name, your parents’ name or the name of your town and country are special naming words. These words are called proper nouns. Special naming words or proper nouns always  always begin with a capital letter.

    Example Sentences of Proper Noun

    1. My name is Mark.
    2. Her name is Sofie.
    3. Come Tom, let us go for a walk.
    4. Hello Jack! Will you play with me?
    5. My cousin lives in Norway.
    6. These bears are from China.
    7. Albert Einstein was born in Germany.
    8. I visited the Taj Mahal in India.
    9. Fio and Laa are close friends.

    Understanding Proper Nouns

    The days of the week and the months of the year are proper nouns.

    Example Sentences

    1. Every Sunday Mike visits the church.
    2. Christmas comes in the month of December.
    3. My sister was born in March month.
    4. Sam goes for swimming classes every Friday.

    The names of festivals and some special days are proper nouns.

    Example Sentences

    1. Christmas is my favourite festival.
    2. My mother likes Mother’s Day.
    3. We will celebrate New Year’s Eve.

    The names of buildings, mountains, rivers and seas are also proper nouns.

    Example Sentences

    1. I have seen the Great Wall of China.
    2. Last year we visited the Niagara Falls.
    3. Many people  have climber the Mount Everest.
    4. River Nile is very long.

    Common Noun

    Common nouns are naming words that are common to people, places, things and animals etc. Common nouns do not define any particular person, place or thing. They are general names. So, they are not capitalized unless they begin a sentence. For example boy, girl, doctor, town, city, dog, car and so on.

    Example Sentences of Common Noun

    1. Teachers teach in school.
    2. Birds live on trees.
    3. I love to read storybooks.
    4. Sally’s mother is a doctor.
    5. These chocolates and cakes are so delicious.

    Identify and learn about proper nouns and common nouns in the list of sentences below.

    1. Sony produces cameras too.
    2. Alicia and Cathy were playing with a doll.
    3. Sandy is joining school today.
    4. Hens have laid eggs at Todd‘s farm.
    5. The postman Mr. Robert was carrying postcards.

    In above examples the words in purple colour are proper noun whereas words in green colour are common nouns.

    Collective Noun

    Collective nouns are used to name a group of persons, places, animals or things. A collective noun represents a complete whole. For examples: a library of books, a team of players and a family of four.

    Some collective nouns are used to name a group of animals and birds.

    1. A flock of sheep.
    2. A herd of cattle.
    3. A stud of horses.
    4. A gaggle of geese.
    5. A litter of cubs.
    6. A flock of birds.
    7. A shoal of fish.
    8. A pack of wolves.
    9. A swarm of bees.

    Some collective nouns define a group of people.

    1. A crew of sailors.
    2. An army of soldiers.
    3. A band of musicians.
    4. A class of pupils.
    5. A troupe of actors.
    6. A panel of judges.
    7. A gang of robbers.

    There are some collective nouns that stand for a group of things.

    1. A bunch of keys.
    2. A pile of clothes.
    3. A collection of books.
    4. A string of pearls.
    5. A set of stamps.
    6. A galaxy of stars.
    7. A pack of cards.
    8. An atlas of maps.
    9. A bouquet of flowers.
    10. A bunch of grapes.

    Example Sentences of Collective Noun

    1. My maternal aunt bought me a pair of tennis shoes.
    2. At the playground, you get to observe a colony of ants.
    3. A pile of clothes was kept on the bed.
    4. I need to finish an agenda of tasks before I leave.
    5. There is a network of computers in Joseph’s office.

    Concrete Noun

    Things that have material bodies are called “concrete nouns.” In other words, a concrete noun represents a material object rather than an abstract quality, state, or action, for example, a building, tree, or dog.

    Example Sentences of Concrete Noun

    1. The dog is a faithful animal.
    2. She gave me a bouquet of flowers.
    3. He bought a new pack of playing cards.
    4. I cannot go outside because of the rain.
    5. The scent of the perfume is delightful.

    Abstract Noun

    These are the nouns that name feelings, qualities, actions, ideas, states, and other things that one cannot touch or see but feel or experience. They are called abstract nouns. In other words, things that have no material bodies are known as abstract nouns.

    Example Sentences of Abstract Noun

    1. We should always speak the truth.
    2. The audience burst into peals of laughter.
    3. Theidioms.com gives us a lot of knowledge.
    4. Treat animals with kindness.
    5. In his excitement, he dropped his glass.

    Possessive Noun

    A possessive noun is a word that names who or what has or owns something. We add an apostrophe and s (‘s) to form the possessive of most singular nouns.

    Example Sentences of Possessive Noun

    1. This is Bob’s skateboard. (Means – The skateboard belongs to Bob)
    2. This is Ian’s Coat. (Means – The coat belongs to Ian)
    3. Papa bought a new frame for grandpa’s spectacles.
    4. Ted’s dream for a bicycle came true on his birthday.
    5. Julia’s homework was not checked.

    Sometimes we need to show possession for plural nouns or where the owners are more than one. In such cases we add an apostrophe at the end.

    1. A girls’ school is located near my house.
    2. We should not harm the birds’ nests.

    Number Noun

    Number nouns denote one or many. There are two kinds of number nouns:

    1. Singular number noun – It stands for one person, animal, thing or place.
    2. Plural number noun – It stands for more than one person, animal, thing or place.

    For example: One toy, three balls, two dogs, five cars, nine planets and so on.

    Generally, by adding a ‘s’ at the end, we can change a singular noun to a plural noun.

    There are different rules we follow to change a singular noun to a plural noun.

    Rule 1

    When a singular noun ends with a ‘y’ after a consonant, we remove the ‘y’ and add ‘ies’.
    For example:

    • City – Cities
    • Lady – Ladies
    • Story – Stories

    Consonants are all other letters except vowels (a, e, i, o, u).

    Rule 2

    If there is vowel before ‘y’ just add s to form its plural.
    For example:

    • Boy – Boys
    • Day – Days
    • Trolley – Trolleys
    • Toy – Toys

    Rule 3

    When a singular noun ends with ‘o’ after a vowel, add ‘s’ to make it a plural noun.
    For example:

    • Bamboo – Bamboos
    • Radio – Radios
    • Video – Videos

    Rule 4

    When a singular noun ends with ‘o’ after a consonant, we add ‘es’ to make it a plural noun.
    For example:

    • Tomato – Tomatoes
    • Volcano – Volcanoes
    • Hero – Heroes

    It is also possible that for few nouns ending with ‘o’ preceded by a consonant, we add the letter ‘s’ to form their plurals.
    For example:

    • Piano – Pianos
    • Photo – Photos

    Rule 5

    If a singular noun ends with a sound like ‘s’ such as ‘ss’, ‘sh’, ‘ch’, ‘x’, ‘z’, ‘tch’, we add ‘es’ to make it plural.
    For example:

    • Box – Boxes
    • Watch – Watches
    • Dress – Dresses
    • Quiz – Quizzes

    Rule 6

    If a singular noun ends with ‘f’ or ‘fe’, change the ‘f’ into ‘v’ and add ‘es’ to make it plural.
    For example:

    • Life – Lives
    • Calf – Calves
    • Loaf – Loaves
    • Knife – Knives

    Irregular Plural

    Plurals of some nouns remains the same.
    For example:

    • Fish – Fish
    • Deer – Deer
    • Cattle – Cattle
    • Sheep – Sheep
    • Bison – Bison

    Plural of some nouns are totally different from their singular form.
    For example:

    • Mouse – Mice
    • Ox – Oxen
    • Cactus – Cacti
    • Child – Children
    • Man – Men

    Some nouns are always plural like pants, jeans, shorts, tongs, scissors, hair and sunglasses.

    Compound Noun

    Compound nouns are formed by joining two nouns together. There are three different ways to form compound nouns:

    1. The closed form, like notebook, firefly and keyboard.
    2. The hyphenated form, like x-ray, co-pilot and mother-in-law.
    3. The open form, like post office, history book, mineral water.

    Example Sentences of Compound Noun

    1. Ian looked at his timetable.
    2. It was going to be lunchtime.
    3. The basketball match was scheduled in the afternoon.
    4. Just after the breakfast, Matt rushed to his tracksuit.
    5. X-rays were discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen.

    Countable Noun

    Nouns that can be counted are called countable nouns. Most of the nouns come in the category of countable nouns rather than uncountable nouns because they refer to things, people or animals that can be counted.

    Example Sentences of Countable Noun

    1. I saw two owls sitting on the tree.
    2. There are four milk bottles in the fridge.
    3. My father has two cars.
    4. I need an umbrella to get out in the rain.
    5. To make this cake we need an egg.

    Note: We use ‘the’ for some singular nouns which are unique (one of their kind). For example: The Earth, The Sun, The Moon etc.

    Uncountable Noun

    Nouns that cannot be counted are called uncountable nouns. Uncountable nouns also known as ‘mass noun.’

    We cannot count certain things in numbers such as milk, rain, sugar, water, jam. We have to use words like – a glass of milk, a jar of sugar, a jug of water or a bottle of jam. We can use terms like – a little, plenty or a bowl of with uncountable nouns. Though these nouns can be measured, they cannot be counted. Such nouns do not have a singular or plural form.

    The Noun: Gender

    Noun words can be divided into masculine and feminine.

    Masculine Nouns

    Masculine nouns represent males: Boys, men and male animals. For example: Prince, man, king, boy, cock, lion etc.

    Feminine Nouns

    Feminine nouns represent females: Girls, women and female animals. For example: Princess, woman, queen, girl, hen, lioness, etc.

    But there are some nouns that represent both males and females. For example: Children, artists, principals, teachers, singers, lawyers, etc.

    NOUNS

    We have the following:

    ,

     Notes and Videos

     Exercises with Answers

    NOTES

    The Definitions of Noun

    — A noun
    is a word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects,
    such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or
    ideas.

    — Noun
    is a word (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of people,
    places, or things (common noun), or to name a particular one of these ( proper
    noun ).

    — Noun
    is a word that is the name of something (such as a person, animal, place,
    thing, quality, idea, or action) and is typically used in a sentence as subject
    or object of a verb or as object of a preposition

    — A noun
    is a word that names something, such as a person, place, thing, or idea. In a
    sentence, nouns can play the role of subject, direct object, indirect object,
    subject complement, object complement, appositive, or adjective.

    — A noun
    is a part of a sentence that identifies the places, things, ideas, people,
    events, and other objects.

    — Noun
    is a word that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance, or quality

    — A noun is
    a word such as ‘ car’, ‘ love’, or ‘ Anne’ which is used to refer to a person or thing.

    NOTES 1

    What is a Noun?

    noun (noun): a word (except a pronoun) that identifies a person, place or thing, or names one of them (proper noun)

    The simple definition is: a person, place or thing. Here are some examples:

    • person: man, woman, teacher, John, Mary
    • place: home, office, town, countryside, America
    • thing: table, car, banana, money, music, love, dog, monkey

    The problem with the simple definition above is that it does not explain why «love» is a noun but can also be a verb.

    Another (more complicated) way of recognizing a noun is by its:

    1. ending
    2. position
    3. function

    1. Noun ending

    There are certain word endings that show that a word is a noun, for example:

    • -ity → nationality
    • -ment → appointment
    • -ness → happiness
    • -ation → relation
    • -hood → childhood

    But this is not true for the word endings of all nouns. For example, the noun «spoonful» ends in -ful, but the adjective «careful» also ends in -ful.

    2. Position in sentence

    We can often recognise a noun by its position in the sentence.

    Nouns often come after a determiner (a determiner is a word like a, an, the, this, my, such):

    • relief
    • an afternoon
    • the doctor
    • this word
    • my house
    • such stupidity

    Nouns often come after one or more adjectives:

    • a great relief
    • a peaceful afternoon
    • the tall, Indian doctor
    • this difficult word
    • my brown and white house
    • such crass stupidity

    3. Function in a sentence

    Nouns have certain functions (jobs) in a sentence, for example:

    • subject of verb: Doctors work hard.
    • object of verb: He likes coffee.
    • subject and object of verb: Teachers teach students.

    But the subject or object of a sentence is not always a noun. It could be a pronoun or a phrase. In the sentence «My doctor works hard», the noun is «doctor» but the subject is «My doctor».

    Types of Nouns

    Nouns are an important part of speech in English, probably second only to verbs. It is difficult to say much without using a noun.

    There are several different types of English nouns. It is often useful to recognize what type a noun is because different types sometimes have different rules. This helps you to use them correctly.

    Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

    Common Nouns

    Most nouns are 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.

    Examples: teacher, car, music, danger, receipt

    • Have you seen my dog?
    • The books are on your desk.
    • …the pursuit of happiness.

    Proper Nouns

    Names of people, places or organizations are proper nouns. Your name is a proper noun. London is a proper noun. United Nations is a proper noun.

    Rule: Proper nouns always start with a capital letter.

    Examples: Jane, Thailand, Sunday, James Bond, Einstein, Superman, Game of Thrones, Shakespeare

    • 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.

    Note: Adjectives that we make from proper nouns also usually start with a capital letter, for example Shakespearian, Orwellian.

    Concrete Nouns and Abstract Nouns

    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.

    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.

    Countable Nouns and Uncountable Nouns

    Countable Nouns

    (also called count nouns)

    You can count countable nouns. Countable nouns have singular and plural forms.

    Examples:  ball, boy, cat, person

    • I have only five dollars.
    • The Earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago.
    • There are lots of people but we don’t have a car.

    Uncountable Nouns

    (also called mass nouns)

    You cannot count uncountable nouns. You need to use «measure words» to quantify them.

    Rule: We never use uncountable nouns with the indefinite article (a/an). Uncountable nouns are always singular.

    Examples: water, happiness, cheese

    • 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.

    Collective Nouns

    A collective noun denotes a group of individuals.

    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.

    • 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.

    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]. Each compound noun acts as a single unit and can be modified by adjectives and other nouns.

    Compound nouns have three different forms:

    1. open or spaced — space between words (bus stop)
    2. hyphenated — hyphen between words (mother-in-law)
    3. 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.

    NOTES 2

    Nouns are everywhere in our writing. But what are all the types of nouns you come across, and how do you use them?

    What is a noun?

    A noun is a word that names something, such as a person, place, thing, or idea. In a sentence, nouns can play the role of subject, direct object, indirect object, subject complement, object complement, appositive, or adjective.

    Types of nouns

    Nouns form a large proportion of English vocabulary and they come in a wide variety of types. Nouns can name a person:

    Nouns can also name a place:

    Nouns can also name things, although sometimes they might be intangible things, such as concepts, activities, or processes. Some might even be hypothetical or imaginary things.

    Proper nouns vs. common nouns

    One important distinction to be made is whether a noun is a proper noun or a common noun. A proper noun is a specific name of a person, place, or thing, and is always capitalized.

    Tina is the name of a specific person.

    Old Faithful is the specific name of a geological phenomenon.

    The opposite of a proper noun is a common noun, sometimes known as a generic noun. A common noun is the generic name of an item in a class or group and is not capitalized unless appearing at the beginning of a sentence or in a title.

    Girl is a common noun; we do not learn the identity of the girl by reading this sentence, though we know the action she takes. River is also a common noun in this sentence.

    Types of common nouns

    Common or generic nouns can be broken down into three subtypes: concrete nouns, abstract nouns, and collective nouns. A concrete noun is something that is perceived by the senses; something that is physical or real.

    Doorbell and keyboard are real things that can be sensed.

    Conversely, an abstract noun is something that cannot be perceived by the senses.

    Courage is an abstract noun. Courage can’t be seen, heard, or sensed in any other way, but we know it exists.

    A collective noun denotes a group or collection of people or things.

    Pack of lies as used here is a collective noun. Collective nouns take a singular verb as if they are one entity – in this case, the singular verb is.

    Pride of lions is also a collective noun.

    Nouns as subjects

    Every sentence must have a subject, and that subject will always be a noun. The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is doing or being the verb in that sentence.

    Maria is the subject of this sentence and the corresponding verb is a form of to be (is).

    Nouns as objects

    Nouns can also be objects of a verb in a sentence. An object can be either a direct object (a noun that receives the action performed by the subject) or an indirect object (a noun that is the recipient of a direct object).

    Books is a direct object (what is being given) and her is the indirect object (who the books are being given to).

    Nouns as subject and object complements

    Another type of noun use is called a subject complement. In this example, the noun teacher is used as a subject complement.

    Subject complements normally follow linking verbs like to be, become, or seem. A teacher is what Mary is.

    A related usage of nouns is called an object complement.

    Husband and wife are nouns used as object complements in this sentence. Verbs that denote making, naming, or creating are often followed by object complements.

    Appositive nouns and nouns as modifiers

    An appositive noun is a noun that immediately follows another noun in order to further define or identify it.

    Michael is an appositive here, further identifying the subject of the sentence, my brother.

    Sometimes, nouns can be used adjectivally as well.

    Speed is a normally a noun, but here it is acting as an adjective to modify demon.

    Plural nouns

    Plural nouns, unlike collective nouns, require plural verbs. Many English plural nouns can be formed by adding -s or -es to the singular form, although there are many exceptions.

    Note the plural verb are.

    Countable nouns vs. uncountable nouns

    Countable nouns are nouns which can be counted, even if the number might be extraordinarily high (like counting all the people in the world). Countable nouns can be used with a/an, the, some, any, a few, and many.

    Cat is singular and—obviously—countable.

    Uncountable nouns are nouns that come in a state or quantity which is impossible to count; liquids are uncountable, as are things that act like liquids (sand, air). They are always considered to be singular, and can be used with some, any, a little, and much.

    Intelligence is an uncountable noun.

    This example refers to an unspecified, unquantifiable amount of homework, so homework is an uncountable noun.

    Possessive nouns

    Possessive nouns are nouns which possess something; i.e., they have something. You can identify a possessive noun by the apostrophe; most nouns show the possessive with an apostrophe and an s.

    The cat possesses the toy, and we denote this by use of ‑’s at the end of cat.

    When a singular noun ends in the letter s or z, the same format often applies. This is a matter of style, however, and some style guides suggest leaving off the extra s.

    Plural nouns ending in s take only an apostrophe to form a possessive.

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