What is a Noun?

A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Think of them as the names of everything around you! We will focus on three important types: Common Nouns, Proper Nouns, and Singular/Plural Nouns.

Common Nouns

A common noun is a general name for a person, place, or thing. They are not capitalized unless they are at the beginning of a sentence.

Examples:

  • person: `teacher`, `girl`, `friend`
  • place: `city`, `park`, `school`
  • thing: `table`, `book`, `car`

Proper Nouns

A prproper noun is a specific name for a particular person, place, or thing. They are always capitalized.

Examples:

  • person: `Walid`, `Sarah`, `Mr. Smith`
  • place: `Paris`, `France`, `Amazon River`
  • thing: `MacBook`, `Google`, `The Empire State Building`

Singular and Plural Nouns

Nouns can be singular (referring to one person, place, or thing) or plural (referring to more than one).

Rules for Plural Nouns

1. Most Nouns: Add `-s`

car → cars

house → houses

2. Nouns ending in `-s`, `-x`, `-z`, `-sh`, `-ch`: Add `-es`

bus → buses

watch → watches

3. Nouns ending in a consonant + `-y`: Change `-y` to `-ies`

city → cities

baby → babies

4. Nouns ending in `-f` or `-fe`: Change to `-ves`

leaf → leaves

knife → knives

5. Irregular Nouns (no rule)

child → children

man → men

Quiz Time!

Read the sentences and identify the nouns.

1. The teacher gave the students a book.

2. My favorite food is pizza, but I also love tacos.

3. I visited London and the Tower of London last summer.