Continue Learning about English Language Arts
What part of speech is the word next?
next is an adjective because it usually describes a noun
like
example: next YEAR (noun), and next WEEK (noun)
What is the noun clause of The Judge was stunned at what happend next?
The noun clause is ‘what happened next’. The relative pronoun
‘what’ is taking the place of a noun; the clause ‘what happened
next’ is the object of the preposition ‘at’.
Is next pronoun?
No, the word ‘next’ is an adjective, adverb, and a noun.Examples:The next bus should be here in five minutes. (adjective, describes the noun ‘bus’)You should take the next best offer. (adverb, modifies the adjective ‘best’)Jim took the first one, you can have the next. (noun, direct object of the verb ‘can have’)A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence.Example: Jim took the first one, you can have the next. It will take just a minute.The pronoun ‘it’ takes the place of the noun ‘next’.
Is stone a noun?
Yes, stone is a noun, a singular, common, concrete noun; a word for a thing. Example sentence:The stone was next to the pebble
What is the noun the ladybug fluttered from one leaf to the next?
The nouns in the sentence are: ladybug and leaf.
However, some dictionaries designate the word ‘next’ as a noun
and some dictionaries designate the word ‘next’ as an indefinite
pronoun. The choice is yours.
When we talk about days of the week, weeks, months, years, seasons or public holidays in the future in relation to now, we use next without the and without a preposition:
I have an appointment with the dentist next Wednesday morning.
Not: … the next Wednesday morning.
Are you working next week?
Not: Are you working on next week?
Next year will be our fortieth wedding anniversary.
We’re going to plant some new flowers next spring.
To refer to the future, we can use the next few hours, the next two days, the next six months, etc.:
I’ll finish the work in the next few days. You can pay me then.
We’ll be home for the next three weeks, then we’re going away to France for two weeks.
When we talk about times in the past or future not related to now, we normally use the. However, in informal situations, we can omit the when we talk about the past:
The next day we travelled to the ancient city of Qom.
We’re going to spend the first night in Oslo, then the next day we’ll fly to Narvik.
Two policemen grabbed me. Next minute, I was arrested and thrown into a van.
We can use the next time to refer to the past or to the future. In informal situations, we can omit the:
We’ve been to Australia a few times. The first time we went it was work, then the next time we went it was a mix of work and holiday.
The next time you’re in Ireland, you must come and visit us.
I saw him about five years ago and he was unemployed. Next time I saw him he was driving a bus. (informal)
Look everywhere around you. Is there something you can see that you cannot name? There isn’t, right?
All thanks to nouns! But what are nouns exactly?
Well, in general, nouns are what name everything around us. But nouns are way more than that.
If you are curious to find out the answer to the question ‘What are nouns,’ and what the different rules governing nouns are, you are in luck! We have laid out everything about nouns in this post. If you want to learn more, please read on.
Nouns represent people, places, and things. A word represents everything we can see or talk about. That word is referred to as a ‘noun.’
You can think of a noun as a ‘naming word’ if that helps.
A noun is usually the name of something we can touch (for example, ‘lion,’ ‘cake,’ or ‘computer’), but it can also be the name of something we can’t touch (e.g., ‘bravery,’ ‘mile,’ ‘joy’).
A well-tested method of syntactic identification must be explored if you want to utilize nouns correctly and identify, form, and employ this word class every time.
The most effective way to identify nouns is first to recognize their multiple functions in the English language and then run a series of syntactic and morphological tests on the words in question.
What are the Eleven Types of English Noun?
It is critical to recognize that nouns vary in their form and function between languages.
While such diversity is important from a linguistic standpoint, the most important component of this word class for English academic students is to identify the different types of nouns and how to use them properly.
- Abstract and Concrete Nouns
- Common and Proper Nouns
- Singular and Plural Nouns
- Countable and Uncountable Nouns
- Collective Nouns
- Compound Nouns
- Possessive Nouns
1 & 2: Abstract and Concrete Nouns
The first two noun kinds are described together because they are distributed in complementary ways like many other noun categories.
The first category, abstract nouns, refers to things that do not have a physical or visible presence, such as thoughts or emotions that cannot be felt with the five senses.
On the other hand, concrete nouns refer to tangible, observable objects that can be touched, seen, or smelled.
| Abstract Nouns |
Concrete Nouns |
|---|---|
| ambition
anger information love time |
book
laptop mountain table tree |
3 & 4: Common and Proper Nouns
One of the largest clusters of nouns is the common noun, which is a noun that names any general thing. There are three categories of common nouns: abstract/concrete, singular/plural, and countable/uncountable.
On the other hand, proper nouns are a small group of nouns that are used to name certain things like an object, a person, a title, or a location.
Proper nouns are usually the nouns that must be capitalized due to their uniqueness and specificity.
| Common Nouns |
Proper Nouns |
|---|---|
| chocolate
perfume country occasion shoes |
Reese’s Santal
33 Egypt New Year Nike |
5 & 6: Singular and Plural Nouns
Almost all nouns have a manner of establishing singularity (one) from a plurality (more than one).
However, how they do this differs depending on the type of noun used, with plural nouns having only a simple ‘-s’ suffix to indicate the number and uncountable nouns requiring additional terms such as ‘four bowls or ‘six slices of’.
Even with the simplicity of single and plural categorizations, some irregular nouns pluralize differently by changing the spelling.
| Singular Nouns | Plural Nouns |
|---|---|
| chair
box memory mouse foot |
chairs
boxes memories mice feet |
7 & 8: Countable and Uncountable Nouns
A countable noun is anything that can be counted, singular or plural. Uncountable nouns are anything that cannot be counted.
Singular verbs must always be used with uncountable nouns since they are singular despite the fact that they are not separate things.
| Countable Nouns |
Uncountable Nouns |
|---|---|
| egg
apple friend dream emotion |
oil
rice water equipment information |
9: Collective Nouns
Collective nouns are nouns that retain their plural meaning even when employed singularly.
If a collective noun, such as ‘team,’ is singular, it can express one meaning, and when it is plural, it can express another.
| Collective Noun |
Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| committee | “The committee is discussing its plan for future investments.” | “The committee seems to have a misunderstanding regarding their plans for future investments.” |
| group | “The group decided to cancel the project.” | “The group agrees to share a part of their savings as a pledge.” |
10: Compound Nouns
Compound nouns are nouns in which a noun and another word (typically another noun) are combined to form a new word with its own distinct meaning.
Compound nouns can be written as a single word, two separate words, or as a single hyphenated phrase.
| Single Word |
Separate Words |
Hyphenated Phrase |
|---|---|---|
| butterfly
notebook pineapple toothbrush |
credit card
fire drill post office swimming pool |
six-pack
dry-cleaning mother-in-law three-year-old |
11: Possessive Nouns
A possessive noun expresses ownership or belonging.
This would typically include an ‘s for a single person holding one or more people, places, or things, also known as a singular possessive noun, and an ‘s for multiple people possessing singular or plural people, places, or things, also known as a plural possessive noun.
| Possessor | Concept/Item | Possessive Noun |
|---|---|---|
| dog | tail | dog’s tail |
| girl | bow | girl’s bow |
| Pete | car | Pete’s car |
| California | climate | California’s climate |
What are the Five Functions of Nouns in English Grammar?
Because an independent sentence must include a subject and a verb, and because nouns are the essential words in clause subjects and objects of verbs and prepositions, this word class obviously serves to form the basic foundation of human language.
Below are the different ways in which nouns function in a sentence.
- Function 1 – Nouns as Subjects
- Function 2 – Nouns as Objects
- Function 3 – Nouns as Subject and Object Complement
- Function 4 – Nouns Being in Apposition to Another Noun
- Function 5 – Nouns as Modifiers
Function 1 – Nouns as Subjects
A noun can be the subject. It acts or demonstrates a state of being as defined by the verb.
The subject is clearly identifiable because it appears at the start of a phrase and is followed by a verb.
Examples:
“The woman left her purse in the restaurant.”
“She takes care of her pets.”
“Elle loves to paint.”
“Indonesia is a tropical country.”
Function 2 – Nouns as Objects
When a noun follows after an action verb and receives the verb’s action, it operates as the verb’s object.
In a sentence, a noun that serves as the object of a verb is always the recipient of an action.
Examples:
“He helped the lady cross the street.”
“She is baking a cake.”
“They are watching Star Wars.”
“Ned is buying a Tesla.”
Function 3 – Nouns as Subject and Object Complement
When a noun follows after a linking verb or a state-of-being verb and receives no action from the verb, it functions as the complement.
The following are some examples of linking verbs in the English language: is, are, am, be, was, were, been, being, seem, taste, appoint, become, feel, smell, sound, appear, etc.
Examples:
“Susan is the winner.”
“He was a businessman.”
“It looks like an insect.”
“Meryl Streep is an excellent actress.”
Function 4 – Nouns Being in Apposition to Another Noun
A noun might be in front of or behind another noun. The word ‘apposition’ implies ‘to place a noun next to another noun to explain it’.
So, if you find a noun next to another noun that explains the other noun, you have an excellent example of a noun in opposition to another noun.
Examples:
“He is working on her hobby, arts.”
“She is preparing her specialty, lasagna.”
“My English teacher, Ms. Smith, is retiring next year.”
“My favorite book, Little Women, has a movie adaptation.
Function 5 – Nouns as Modifiers
A noun can modify a noun that comes after it.
The initial noun acts as a modifier, providing information about the noun after it. In almost every situation, the noun that serves as a modifier is singular.
Examples:
“She loves chicken soup.”
“He lives in a two-bedroom apartment.”
“The gift shop is located across the museum.”
“Mr. Tan works in a culinary school.”
Which Tests Correctly Identify English Nouns?
To help with confident noun identification, keep in mind that any word in the English language can belong to many word classes based on its form, function, and syntax.
Because it is not always evident to the speaker which words belong to which word class and when we have put together a list of five tests to help you recognize nouns more easily and consistently.
- Test 1: Collocation
- Test 2: Function
- Test 3: Morphology
- Test 4: Syntax
- Test 5: Exceptions
Test 1: Collocation
One of the most effective ways to tell if a word is a noun is to look at the words surrounding it – the words it collocates with.
To do so effectively, remember that nouns are always contained within a bigger noun phrase, regardless of whether they operate as subjects or objects.
The head noun is the most important word in a noun phrase that may or may not include additional pre-modifying or post-modifying word classes.
| Modifying Elements | Noun Phrases |
|---|---|
| Determiners | ‘the baby’
‘a building’ |
| Adjectives | ‘her lovely dress’
‘the old man’ |
| Prepositional Phrases | ‘the car in front of the house’
‘the books on the shelf’ |
| Adjective Clauses | ‘his old bag, which was given by his parents’
‘my red coat that I bought in Paris’ |
Test 2: Function
In English, nouns can fulfill functions such as categorizing or specifying numbers and gender.
Students who want to improve their odds of correctly identifying nouns should pay attention to the following functions:
| Noun Functions | Examples |
|---|---|
| Naming things | door, phone, England, Mount Kilimanjaro |
| Categorizing Things | animals > herbivores > sheep |
| Making clauses | “He loves cars.” |
| Specifying number | “I own three purses.” |
| Specifying gender | “Is the newborn a boy or a girl?” |
Test 3: Morphology
Morphology is the study of how words are produced through affixation processes.
While English nouns do not alter their form as frequently as some languages to indicate case, gender, or number through prefixation and suffixation, several commonly used terms worth memorizing convey these traits and aid in identification.
| Nominal Inflection | Examples |
|---|---|
| Gender | man – woman
queen – king |
| Number | butterfly – butterflies
child – children |
| Possession | Jason – Jason’s
Kelly – Kelly’s |
The two tables below show how adjectives and verbs can become nouns by basic suffixation processes in derivational affixation, which is the act of transforming words from one class to another.
Nouns become considerably easier to recognize when suffixes like ‘-ness,’ ‘-ty,’ and ‘ant’ are recognized.
| + Suffix Adjectives |
+ Suffix |
= Nouns |
|---|---|---|
| helpful | -ness | helpfulness |
| special | -ist | specialist |
| tranquil | -ity | tranquility |
| young | -ster | youngster |
| Verbs | + Suffix | = Nouns |
|---|---|---|
| fail | -ure | failure |
| inform | -ant | informant |
| refuse | -al | refusal |
| tour | -ist | tourist |
Test 4: Syntax
Syntax, or the study of how words are put together, is also helpful for identifying nouns.
The following are seven common sentence patterns, each of which has a head noun within a noun phrase.
| Functions | Examples |
|---|---|
| Nouns as subjects | “The students are in the library.”
“The cats miss their owner.” |
| Nouns as objects | “He gave her a new watch.”
“My dad is fixing the car.” |
| Nouns as subject and object complement | “The whole community is feeling the pain.”
“They are the guests.” |
| Nouns being in apposition to another noun. | “The pastor, Mr. Hills, is moving to another town.”
“Her best friend, Holly, is coming next week.” |
| Nouns as modifiers | “The alarm clock has stopped working.”
“The flower vase is an antique.” |
Test 5: Exceptions
Like any other rules, there are some exceptions to every rule in grammar that must be memorized if you want to identify nouns every time accurately.
There is some variance and irregularity in the capitalization, plurality, and possession of nouns and other noun-like items that you should be aware of, such as pronouns and gerunds.
What are the Rules for Making Nouns?
Now that several key rules for accurately recognizing the forms and functions of nouns have been covered, the next section will focus on the five rules that, if followed, can substantially aid academic performance.
- Rule 1 – Pre-Modifying Nouns
- Rule 2 – Post-Modifying Nouns
- Rule 3 – Capitalizing Nouns
- Rule 4 – Pluralizing Nouns
- Rule 5 – Making Possessives
Rule 1 – Pre-Modifying Nouns
When deciding which words to employ before a noun in a noun phrase, or pre-modification, it is crucial to keep in mind that certain rules apply to which word types and word classes can be utilized.
Only determiners (such as articles and quantifiers), numerals, and adjectives can come before a noun, and they must stay in that order.
| Determiner | Number | Adjective | Noun |
|---|---|---|---|
| the | eight | cute | puppies |
| some | new | shops | |
| a | brilliant | idea |
Rule 2 – Post-Modifying Nouns
In English, post-modification refers to the placement of a modifying word, phrase, or clause after a noun.
The four categories of post-modifying structures are prepositional phrases, finite and non-finite adjective clauses, and non-finite verb phrases.
| Functions | Examples |
|---|---|
| Prepositional Phrase | “He’s the man in the picture.” |
| Non-finite Verb Phrases | “I need a new hobby to learn.” |
| Finite Adjective Clauses | “The house that was robbed last night is my friend’s. |
| Non-finite Adjective Clauses | “The man standing next to the car is my father.” |
Rule 3 – Capitalizing Nouns
You may find it struggling to know when to capitalize a noun correctly. Is it ‘Spring’ or ‘spring’, or ‘Doctor’ or ‘doctor’, for example?
If you want to capitalize correctly every time, there are three easy questions you should ask yourself.
- Is the noun used at the start of a sentence? If the answer is yes, capitalize the noun in question. Any sentence’s first word is always capitalized.
- Is the noun the pronoun ‘I’ in the first person? When the pronoun ‘I’ is used, it must always be represented by a capital letter.
- Is the noun in question a proper noun? Proper nouns are a small group of nouns that are used to refer to something specific, such as a person, thing, a title, or a region. Proper nouns, which are divided into four groups as stated below, should always be capitalized.
| Nouns | Examples |
|---|---|
| Locations: continents, countries, cities, regions, towns, states | Asia
Thailand Dubai Alabama |
| Geography: seas, oceans, lakes, rivers, mountains | The Andes
Dead Sea Nile River Himalayas |
| Time: holidays, days, seasons, months | Thanksgiving
Saturday Autumn December |
| Titles: movies, books, works, people | Avatar
Harry Potter Oprah Winfrey The Leaning Tower of Pisa |
Rule 4 – Pluralizing Nouns
In the English language, there are five categories of nouns that show singularity (one) or plurality (more than one) in some way.
There are standards for accurate and grammatical pluralization for singular, plural, countable, uncountable, and collective nouns, and each has its own set of norms.
1. Singular Countable Nouns
When single, countable nouns that only signify one of an object or concepts, such as ‘book’, ‘home’, or ‘idea’, must always take a determiner.
Determiners like ‘the’, ‘my’, or ‘a‘ (as in ‘the book’, ‘my house’, or ‘a fantastic concept’) must be used when the countable word is not in its plural form.
2. Plural Countable Nouns
Countable nouns that denote multiples of an item or concept can be used without a determiner (as in ‘computers are helpful’) or with particular determiners, quantifiers, and numerals (as in “Those phones are useful.” “Some phones are useful”, or “I have two phones”).
When trying to pluralize countable nouns like these, there are four guidelines to follow:
| Rules for Pluralizing Nouns | Examples |
|---|---|
| Add the suffix ‘-s’ | painting – paintings
shop – shops |
| Add the suffix ‘-es’ for nouns that end in ‘-ch’, ‘-o’, ‘-s’, ‘-sh’, ‘-ss’, and ‘-x’ | church – churches
mango – mangoes bus – buses bush – bushes glass – glasses box – boxes |
| Omit the ‘-y’ and change it to ‘-i’, then add ‘-es’ for nouns that end in ‘-y’ | butterfly – butterflies
library – libraries |
| Change the spelling for irregular nouns | goose – geese
leaf – leaves ox – oxen person – people |
3. Uncountable Nouns
Uncountable nouns, like ‘oil’ or ‘sand’, are plural by definition and do not show plural forms in the same way as countable nouns do.
These nouns can be used with quantifiers (as in ‘some food’), but never with the indefinite articles ‘a’ or ‘an’.
Nevertheless, it is essential to note that nouns with both uncountable and countable forms should be avoided.
While some nouns, such as ‘hope’, will have the same meaning in both counts and uncountable forms, others, such as ‘language’, will have different meanings.
| Nouns | Singular Usage |
Plural Usage |
|---|---|---|
| hope | “Having hope is always important.” | “He has high hopes for his band.” |
| language | “I want to learn a new language.” | “She speaks four languages.” |
It is also worth watching out for uncountable nouns that end in ‘s’, such as ‘mathematics’ or ‘rabies’, as they can appear to be plural countable nouns.
You have to remember that many uncountable nouns can be counted by adding additional expressions.
| Nouns | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| paper | a piece of paper | three pieces of paper |
| water | a liter of water | four liters of water |
| bread | a loaf of bread | five loaves of bread |
| jam | a jar of jam | two jars of jam |
4. Collective Nouns
The essential guideline to remember is that collective nouns that are always plural, such as ‘family’, ‘group’, or ‘team’, may require singular or plural subject-verb agreement depending on their meaning.
| Collective Nouns |
Singular Usage |
Plural Usage |
|---|---|---|
| family | “He is from a well-known family.” | “My family loves eating together every now and then.” |
| team | “The team hopes to win their first-ever championship.” | “The team needs to settle their differences.” |
Rule 5 – Making Possessives
When one noun asserts ownership over another (as in ‘the student’s research’), possessives are used.
The most evident difference in how possessives are produced is between singular and plural nouns.
1. Singular Nouns
The simplest rule for making a singular noun possessive, whether countable or uncountable, is to put an apostrophe (‘) and the suffix ‘-s’ to the noun that possesses ownership.
However, because many common nouns and proper nouns already end in a ‘-s’, there is some ambiguity and variety.
For cases like these, it is ambiguous whether the existing noun should have both an apostrophe and a ‘-s’ or just the apostrophe.
Reading the statement aloud is the best piece of advice we can give.
If you say the extra ‘-s’ when pronouncing it, add that extra ‘-s’, and if you do not, just add the apostrophe.
| Apostrophe + ‘-s’ | Apostrophe Only |
|---|---|
| the class’s project | the spectacles’ frame |
| Ms. Jones’s | Mr. Hastings’ donation |
2. Plural Nouns
The basic practice here is to add only an apostrophe and not an additional ‘-s’ to regular plural nouns that end in the suffix ‘-s’ already.
This also applies to plural proper names. However, an apostrophe and the suffix ‘-s’ should be added to the end of irregular nouns.
| Regular Plural Nouns |
Plural Proper Nouns |
Irregular Plural Nouns |
|---|---|---|
| these books’ covers | the Joneses property | women’s purses |
| her daughters’ rooms | the Hastingses business | children’s party |
Which Academic Nouns and Phrases are Best?
This section focuses on using nouns correctly in academic settings.
Below are some of the most popular academic nouns and expressions since some nouns and accompanying expressions are more appropriate while studying academically, such as when conducting research or writing university-level projects.
150+ Common Academic Nouns
| A | ability, achievement, advantage, amount, analysis, application, argument, association, assumption, attempt, author, awareness |
| B | balance, behavior, being, belief, benefit, bias, birth |
| C | category, cause, characteristic, classification, colleague, combination, community, comparison, complexity, compromise, concept, concern, conclusion, contrast, control, convention, country, creation, crisis, criticism, culture |
| D | data, definition, degree, demand, determination, difficulty, dilemma, disadvantage, discussion, distinction, diversity |
| E | effect, environment, evidence, example, exception, exclusion, existence, experience, experiment, explanation |
| F | fact, factor, failure, finding, form, formation, function |
| G | gain, group, growth, guidance, guideline |
| H | hypothesis |
| I | idea, identity, impact, importance, improvement, increase, influence, insight, instance, institution, introduction, investigation, isolation, issue |
| J | jargon, justice, juvenile |
| K | knowledge |
| L | level, likelihood, limit, limitation |
| M | maintenance, majority, material, means, measure, medium, motivation, movement |
| N | need, network, norm, notion, number |
| O | observation, occurrence, opportunity, option, organization |
| P | participant, past, percentage, population, position, possibility, potential, practice, presence, procedure, process |
| Q | quality |
| R | range, rate, reality, reasoning, recognition, reduction, reference, relation, relationship, research, result, review, rise |
| S | sample, scale, scheme, scope, search, section, significance, similarity, situation, source, space, spread, standard, statistics, summary |
| T | task, technique, tendency, theory, tolerance, topic, trend |
| U | undertaking, usage |
| V | validity, variation, viewpoint, volume |
| W | welfare, whole, work, world |
| X | xenophobia |
| Y | yore |
| Z | zeal, zest |
Why Should We Be Familiar with Nouns?
The majority of the English language is made up of nouns. Nouns are perhaps the most important of the many different components of speech.
New nouns emerge as people develop new ideas, media, and technologies every year. The core function of a noun, on the other hand, remains constant.
Nouns make it possible for everyone to understand each other more easily, so learning the different nouns and the rules governing them is crucial for your professional and academic success.
Additional Reading — ENGLISH GRAMMAR
A noun,
or noun substantive, is
a part of speech (a word or phrase) which can co-occur with (in)
definite articles and attributive adjectives, and function as the
head of a noun phrase.
The word «noun» derives from the Latin
nomen meaning
«name», and a traditional definition of nouns is that they
are all and only those expressions that refer to a person,
place, thing,
event,
substance,
quality or idea.
They serve as the subject or object of a verb, and the object of a
preposition. That definition has been criticized by contemporary
linguists as being quite uninformative. For example, it appears that
verbs like kill
or die refer to
events, and so they fall under the definition. Similarly, adjectives
like yellow or
difficult might
be thought to refer to qualities, and adverbs like outside
or upstairs seem
to refer to places. But verbs, adjectives and adverbs are not nouns,
so the definition is not particularly helpful in distinguishing nouns
from other parts of speech.
Case, number, and gender
In sentences, noun phrases may function in a variety
of different ways, the most obvious being as subjects
or objects. For
example, in the sentence «John wrote me a letter», «John»
is the subject, and «me» and «letter» are objects
(of which «letter» is a noun and «me» a pronoun).
These different roles are known as noun
cases. Variant forms of the same noun—such
as «he» (subject) and «him» (object)—are called
declensions.
The number
of a noun indicates how many objects the noun refers to. In the
simplest case, number distinguishes between singular («man»)
and plural («men»). Some languages, like Arabic (and also
Saami and Aleut ) also distinguish dual from plural.
Many languages (though not English) have a concept of
noun gender,
also known as noun class,
whereby every noun is designated as, for example, masculine or
feminine.
12. Category of number.
English countable nouns have 2 categories of number:
singular
plural
І. The plural form is formed be adding the ending -s, -es,
pronounced as /z/, /s/, /iz/.
2. if the noun ends in –y presided by a consonant. –y is changed
into –i + -es-
13. Category of case.
Case indicates the relations of the noun ( or pronoun ) to the other
words in the sentence. Nouns denoting living beings and some nouns
denoting lifeless things have two cases:
the common case.
the genitive case.
The genitive case is formed by:
‘s – is used with the singular and plural nouns not ending in –s:
a man’s job, men’s job, a child’s voice, a children’s
voice.
b) a simple apostrophe (‘)is used with plural nouns ending in –s:
the students’ hostel, the Smiths’ car.
other names ending I –s can take “ ’s ” or the “ ’ ”
alone:
14. The problem of gender.
In linguistics, the term gender
refers to various forms of expressing biological or sociological
gender by inflecting words. For example, in the words actor
and actress the
suffix -or
denotes «male person» (masculine), and the suffix -ress
denotes «female person» (feminine). This type of
inflection, called lexical gender,
is very rare in English, but quite common in other languages,
including most languages in the Indo-European family. Normally,
Modern English does not mark nouns for gender, but it expresses
gender in the third person singular personal pronouns he
(male person), she
(female person), and it
(object, abstraction, or animal), and their other inflected forms.
When gender is expressed on other parts of speech, besides nouns and
pronouns, the language is said to have grammatical
gender. Grammatical gender may be partly
assigned by convention, so it doesn’t always coincide with natural
gender. Furthermore, the gender assigned to animals, inanimate
objects and abstractions is often arbitrary. Gender can refer to the
(biological) condition of being male or female, or less commonly
hermaphrodite or neuter, as applied to humans, animals, and plants.
In this sense, the term is a synonym for sex,
a word that has undergone a usage shift itself, having become a
synonym for sexual intercourse.
15. Noun determiners. The article.
An article
is a word that is put next to a noun to indicate the type of
reference being made by the noun. Articles can have various
functions:
a definite
article (English the)
is used before singular and plural nouns that refer to a particular
member of a group. (The cat on the mat is
black.)
an indefinite
article (English a,
an) is used
before singular nouns that refer to any member of a group. (A
cat is a mammal).
a partitive
article indicates an indefinite
quantity of a mass noun; there is no partitive article in English,
though the words some
or any often
have that function.
a zero article
is the absence of an article (e.g. English indefinite plural), used
in some languages in contrast with the presence of one. Linguists
hypothesize the absence as a zero article based on the X-bar theory.
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Nouns refer to persons, animals, places, things, ideas, or events, etc. Nouns encompass most of the words of a language.
Noun can be a/an —
- Person – a name for a person: — Max, Julie, Catherine, Michel, Bob, etc.
- Animal – a name for an animal: — dog, cat, cow, kangaroo, etc.
- Place – a name for a place: — London, Australia, Canada, Mumbai, etc.
- Thing – a name for a thing: — bat, ball, chair, door, house, computer, etc.
- Idea – A name for an idea: — devotion, superstition, happiness, excitement, etc.
Examples of Noun in sentence
Different Types of Noun:
- Proper Noun
- Common Noun
- Abstract Noun
- Concrete Noun
- Countable Noun
- Non-countable Noun
- Collective Noun
- Compound Noun
Proper Noun:
A proper noun is a name which refers only to a single person, place, or thing and there is no common name for it. In written English, a proper noun always begins with capital letters.
Example: Melbourne (it refers to only one particular city), Steve (refers to a particular person),
Australia (there is no other country named Australia; this name is fixed for only one country).
More Examples of Proper Noun
Common Noun:
A common noun is a name for something which is common for many things, person, or places. It encompasses a particular type of things, person, or places.
Example: Country (it can refer to any country, nothing in particular), city (it can refer to any city like Melbourne, Mumbai, Toronto, etc. but nothing in particular).
So, a common noun is a word that indicates a person, place, thing, etc. In general and a proper noun is a specific one of those.
More Examples of Common Noun
Abstract Noun:
An abstract noun is a word for something that cannot be seen but is there. It has no physical existence. Generally, it refers to ideas, qualities, and conditions.
Example: Truth, lies, happiness, sorrow, time, friendship, humor, patriotism, etc.
Abstract Noun examples in sentences
Concrete Noun:
A concrete noun is the exact opposite of abstract noun. It refers to the things we see and have physical existence.
Example: Chair, table, bat, ball, water, money, sugar, etc.
Countable Noun:
The nouns that can be counted are called countable nouns. Countable nouns can take an article: a, an, the.
Example: Chair, table, bat, ball, etc. (you can say 1 chair, 2 chairs, 3 chairs – so chairs are countable)
Countable Noun examples in sentences
Non-countable Noun:
The nouns that cannot be counted are called non-countable nouns.
Example: Water, sugar, oil, salt, etc. (you cannot say “1 water, 2 water, 3 water” because water is not countable)
Abstract nouns and proper nouns are always non-countable nouns, but common nouns and concrete nouns can be both count and non-count nouns.
Non-countable Noun examples in sentences
Collective Noun:
A collective noun is a word for a group of things, people, or animals, etc.
Example: family, team, jury, cattle, etc.
Collective nouns can be both plural and singular. However, Americans prefer to use collective nouns as singular, but both of the uses are correct in other parts of the world.
Compound Noun:
Sometimes two or three nouns appear together, or even with other parts of speech, and create idiomatic compound nouns. Idiomatic means that those nouns behave as a unit and, to a lesser or greater degree, amount to more than the sum of their parts.
Example: six-pack, five-year-old, and son-in-law, snowball, mailbox, etc.
More Types of Noun:
Singular Noun:
Singular Nouns are namely, singular in number. The base form of any noun is naturally singular and so that is the Singular Noun.
Examples:
Duck, Bush, Man, Mouse, Child, Fish etc. are Singular Nouns.
Singular Noun in a sentence:
- I have a pet duck.
- That big bush is beside our house.
- He is the man of the house.
- Ron’s pet mouse is too vicious for such a little creature.
- Their child has a sound sense of situational adjustments.
- I’d like that small fish, please.
Plural Noun:
The plural forms of the Singular Nouns are Plural Nouns. These nouns determine more than one element.
Examples:
Belts, Boxes, Mice, Sheep, People etc. are examples of Plural Noun.
Plural Noun in a sentence:
- There are seven belts in the seat.
- Let’s unpack those boxes.
- Our house is scattered with a herd of mice.
- I’ve chased the sheep back into the shed.
- These people are getting on my nerves.
Regular Noun:
Regular Nouns do not change in spelling when changed into plural; only the regular plural suffixes -s or -es are attached to it according to the grammar and spelling agreement.
Examples:
| Singular Noun | Plural Noun |
| Duck | Ducks |
| Belt | Belts |
| Box | Boxes |
| Bush | Bushes |
| Apple | Apples |
Irregular Noun:
Irregular Nouns do not have plural suffixes added to them for their plural form and they monumentally change in spelling.
Examples:
| Singular Noun | Plural Noun |
| Man | Men |
| Ox | Oxen |
| Fox | Vixen |
| Goose | Geese |
| Mouse | Mice |
Possessive Noun:
The noun that owns something or has something in its possession is the Possessive Noun. These nouns usually end with an apostrophe before one “s” that determines the possession of the object(s) that follows.
Example:
- My cat’s litter needs changing very soon.
- Jacky’s wallet is stolen.
- Your pet’s feeder is missing.
Verbal Noun:
Verb + ing often act as the noun/subject of the sentence instead of posing as a verb and then they become a Verbal Noun. Gerunds can be Verbal Nouns at times.
Example:
| Verb | Verbal Noun |
| Run | Running |
| Smoke | Smoking |
| Kill | Killing |
| Treat | Treating |
- Smoking is injurious to health.
- Killing the runaway tiger is not a solution.
- Running for dear life is what thieves do.
Material Noun:
Substances made out of tangible materials are usually Material Nouns. These are Common Uncountable Nouns by nature since they mostly determine a certain sector type of product.
Examples:
- I lack the common fascination with gold.
- Coal produces nonrenewable energy.
- Humans are 70% water.
Functions of Nouns
Nouns can be used as a subject, a direct object, and an indirect object of a verb; as an object of a preposition; and as an adverb or adjective in sentences. Nouns can also show possession.
Subject: The company is doing great. Roses are the flowers of love.
Direct object: I finally bought a new mobile.
Indirect object: Max gave Carol another chocolate.
Object of preposition: Roses are the flowers of love.
Adverb: The train leaves today.
Adjective: The office building faces the mall.
Possession: The lion’s cage is dangerous. My brother’s daughter is adorable.