Unit 9 Nouns
Ms. Smith
7th Grade Language Arts
Unit 9 Nouns
I. Kinds of Nouns
A. A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.
B. A proper noun names a specific person, place,
thing, or idea.
1. Examples: Thomas Edison; Naples, Florida;
Monday.
C. A common noun names any person, place, thing,
or idea.
1. Examples: inventor, city, day.
D. A concrete noun names things you can see or touch.
1. Examples: desk, house, girl, boy.
E. An abstract noun names ideas qualities or feelings
that cannot be seen or touched.
1. Examples: love, knowledge, friendship, kindness.
F. Compound nouns are made up of two or more
words.
1. Written as one word. Example: hometown.
2. Written as two words. Example: dining room.
3. Written hyphenated. Example: runner-up.
G. Possessive Nouns – name who or what owns
or has something. They can be common or
proper.
1. Examples: Miko’s book is about inventions.
2. Can be formed in one of two ways.
3. To form the possessive of most singular nouns,
add an apostrophe and –s (‘s). Examples: girl’s
coat, Wichita’s population.
4. To form a possessive of a singular noun already
ending in –s, you add an apostrophe and an s (‘s).
Examples: Alexis’s book, Joseph Ives’s clock.
5. For plural nouns ending in –s, only add an apostrophe
(‘). Example: boys’ shoes, the Wrights’ plane.
6. For plural nouns not ending in –s, add an apostrophe
and s (‘s). Example: children’s toys, women’s
organization.
H. Distinguishing Plurals, Possessives, and
Contractions
1. Plural nouns and possessive nouns both end with the
letter –s.
2. They sound alike, but their spelling and meanings are
different.
3. Plural nouns do not have apostrophes (‘).
4. Apostrophes are used when letters have been
left out in a contraction.
a.
b.
c.
Can’t = can not
Don’t = do not
Shouldn’t = should not
5. A contraction is a word made by combining two
words into one and leaving out letters.
a.
b.
Example: Tyler’s going to the museum.
Tyler’s means Tyler is.
I. Collective Nouns name a group of
individuals. They can have a singular meaning
or a plural meaning.
1. If you are speaking about a group as a unit, the
noun has a singular meaning. When the
collective noun has a singular meaning, use a
singular verb.
a.
b.
The whole flock enters the meadow through a gate. (a unit,
singular)
The entire audience applauds the performers. (a unit,
singular).
2. If you are referring to the singular members of
the group, use a plural verb.
a. Other words in the sentence will help you tell
whether a collective noun is singular or plural.
1. The family begins its trip. (its – singular)
2. The family eat their sandwiches. (their –
plural).
J.
An appositive is a noun placed next
to another noun to identify it or add
information about it.
1.
Example: Rachael Ray, a chef, made an
important discovery.
a. The noun chef identifies Rachael Ray, the
noun next to it. Chef tells what Ray is. In
the sentence, a chef, is an appositive.
b. An appositive is sometimes accompanied
with other words.
c. The noun chef identifies Ray.
K. An appositive phrase is a group of
words that includes an appositive
and other words that describe the
appositive.
1. You always use an appositive or
appositive phrase together with another
noun.
2. An appositive phrase can come at the
beginning, middle, or end of a sentence.
3. It must appear next to the noun it
identifies.
a. Example: An expert on food, Dylan worried
about food spoilage.
b. Dylan, an expert on food, worried about
food spoilage.
c. A simple solution had occurred to Dylan,
an expert on food.
d. Take note of the placement of the commas.