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"Nouns? Ha! I know everything about nouns."
That's what you would probably say when someone asked you about nouns.
But that not true, unless you know about collective nouns, abstract nouns,
and ten other types of nouns, basics not included. Here on this site, you
will learn about the basic types of nouns, collective nouns, and quite a
few more.
What is a noun?
A noun is a person, place, or thing. These three subjects branch out
into two sets of categories: 1) singular nouns and plural nouns, and 2)
common nouns and proper nouns.
1) Singular and Plural Nouns
Singular are nouns that represent only have one person, place, or thing.
They rarely have "s" at the end. Plural nouns are used to show two
or more people, places, or things. Plural nouns usually have an "s"
or "es" at
the end, though there are exceptions such as woman- women. Below, the
singular nouns are bold and plural nouns are underlined.
- The brown monsters leaped from the swamp and roared at
the child and her parents.
- The child and her parents fled, but the huge
creatures easily caught up with them.
- The monsters took the three people under the swamp
and put them in a cage.
- Other children and some skeletons were also in the
cage.
2) Common and Proper Nouns
Common nouns are nouns that are more broad, such
as park, cookie, etc. Proper nouns are very specific, such as Central
Park, Mrs. Brown, etc. Proper nouns are names of specific
people, places, or things, while common nouns are just
the thing itself. Note that all the words that form proper nouns have to be capitalized,
but common nouns do not begin with a capital.
| Proper nouns |
Common nouns |
| Hannah |
girl |
| Mr. Hamburger |
man |
| French Fry Park |
park |
| Sprite Street |
street |
| Bread and Butter Bakery |
bakery |
Possessive nouns are nouns that show ownership. "Peggy's skates" and
"Quincy's book" are good examples. To make a noun possessive, add an
apostrophe and a "S" at the end of a singular noun, even if the name has an "S" at the end.
"Bess's shoes" are a good example.
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Singular Possessive Nouns |
| cat |
cat's bowl |
| Mr. Clam |
Mr. Clam's shells |
| desk |
desk's surface |
| Jess |
Jess's book |
What do you do if the noun is a plural
noun? If the plural noun ends with an "s", just add the
apostrophe (with no additional "s" after it). If the plural noun
does not end with "s", add the apostrophe and "s"
| three dogs |
dogs' bones |
| two shoes |
shoes' laces |
| five children |
children's teacher |
| four men |
men's overcoats |
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