8th Grade English
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A NOUN is a word that names a PERSON,
PLACE, THING, OR IDEA
COMMON Nouns: is a GENERAL name for a
person, place, thing, or idea; usually NOT
CAPITALIZED
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Examples: astronaut, planet, mission
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PROPER NOUNS: name of a particular
person, place, thing, or idea; ALWAYS
CAPITALIZED.
Examples: Sally Ride, George Washington,
Jupiter, Douglassville, Apollo 11, Brooklyn
Bridge
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CONCRETE NOUNS: name things that can
be SEEN, HEARD, SMELLED, TOUCHED,
OR TASTED
Examples: sunlight, explosion, fuel, rocks,
moon, ice
ABSTRACT NOUNS: names an idea,
FEELING, QUALITY, OR
CHARACTERISTIC
Examples: exploration, excitement, lightness,
courage
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EVERY NOUN IS EITHER COMMON OR
PROPER AND CONCRETE OR ABSTRACT.
For example, planet is common and concrete.
Excitement is common and abstract.
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COLLECTIVE NOUNS: word that names a
group of people or things.
Example: community, audience, panel, crowd,
class, government, staff, pack, herd, colony
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1.
2.
3.
Try it out. Write the nouns in these sentences,
identifying each as common or proper as well
as abstract or concrete. Identify any collective
nouns.
The first astronauts squeezed food from tubes.
Astronauts in the Space Shuttle Program eat
from a tray with forks and spoons.
They use straws to drink beverages from
sealed pouches.
8th Grade English
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A SINGULAR NOUN names ONE person,
place, thing, or idea.
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A PLURAL NOUN names more than one
person, place, thing, or idea.
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One ASTRONOMER saw a STAR (singular).
The ASTRONOMERS saw many STARS (plural).
In many cases, to make a noun plural you add
an –s to the end of the word. However, there
are other rules that you can find on page 39 of
your grammar textbook.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Pause the video. Number your paper 1-5. Rewrite
the nouns in parenthesis in their plural forms.
Stars are made of hydrogen, helium, and small
(quantity) of other elements.
They create enormous (amount) of energy when
their hydrogen atoms join together.
Like human (being), stars go through a life cycle.
Stars fall into (category), mainly based on their
size.
Many stars shrink as they age into smaller (body)
known as white dwarfs.
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POSSESSIVE NOUNS show OWNERSHIP
Rules for spelling possessive nouns:
NOUN
RULE
POSSESSIVE
SINGULAR
Mars
Planet
ADD AN
APOSTROPHE
AND –S
Mars’s
atmosphere
Planet’s color
PLURAL
ENDING IN –S
Canals
Rocks
ADD AN
APOSTROPHE
Canals’ shape
Rocks’ origin
PLURAL NOT
ENDING IN –S
Women
Children
ADD AN
APOSTROPHE
AND –S
Women’s careers
Children’s games
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Pause the video. Number your paper 1-5. Write the
possessive form of each noun in parenthesis. Label
each possessive noun as singular or plural.
(Astronomy) history dates back 5,000 years.
The (Babylonians) calendar was based on their
observations of the stars and planets.
(Men) and (women) lives were governed by the stars.
Ancient (Egypt) builders may have used the stars to
guide their placement of the pyramids.
The Greek philosopher Aristotle claimed that Earth
was the (solar system) center.
8th Grade English
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A noun can be the subject of a sentence or it can
work as a complement.
A SUBJECT tells whom or what a sentence is about.
Comets are made of ice, dust, and gas. What is this
sentence about? Comets. Comets is the subject.
A COMPLEMENT is a word that completes the
meaning of the verb. Carolyn Shoemaker is an
astronomer. Carolyn Shoemaker is the subject so
astronomer is the complement.
The complement is almost always after the verb.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Pause the video. Identify each underlined
noun as a subject or complement.
Comets orbit the sun just as planets do.
However, their orbits are not very predictable.
A small comet gave human beings a scare in
1908.
The comet destroyed a forest when it crashed
into Siberia.
People felt its impact hundreds of miles away.
8th Grade English
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Nouns are often found in prepositional phrases
and appositives.
NOUNS AS OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS:
an object of a preposition is the NOUN OR
PRONOUN that follows the PREPOSITION.
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Mount Wilson is an observatory in California.
In California is the preposition, California is the
object of the preposition.
A preposition is a word
that shows a
relationship between a
noun or pronoun and
some other word.
Common prepositions
are:
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About
Above
Across
After
Against
Along
Among
Around
As
Before
Behind
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Below
Beneath
Beside
Beyond
By
Despite
Down
During
Except
For
From
In
Inside
Into
Like
Near
Of
Off
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On
Out
Over
Past
Through
To
Toward
Under
Until
Up
With
Within
Without
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An APPOSITIVE is a noun or pronouns that
IDENTIFIES or RENAMES another noun or
pronoun.
Usually, commas are used before and after an
appositive phrase.
The Milky Way, our galaxy, is one of many.
Our galaxy is the appositive phrase. Galaxy is
the appositive.
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Pause the video. Number your paper 1-5. Identify
each underlined noun as an object of a preposition or
an appositive.
Shannon Lucid, an American astronaut, was chosen
for a joint American-Russian space mission.
She spent a year in Russia preparing for her duties
on Mir, a Russian space station.
She flew to Mir on a space shuttle.
Two Russians aboard Mir showered her with
greetings.
Lucid grew used to eating Russian foods such as
borscht, a beet soup.