Language Arts
Grammar - Nouns
Nouns
A noun is a word used to name a
person, a place, a thing, or an idea.
View the following examples:
PERSONS
PLACES
THINGS
IDEAS
Alice Walker
Desert
Money
Courage
Dr. Lacy
neighborhood
Wind
Love
children
outer space
animals
freedom
architect
New York City
Voyager 2
luck
team
Grand Canyon
equality
Baby sitter
Nigeria
Statue of
Liberty
Newbery
Medal
gymnast
Golden Gate
orange juice
democracy
Self-control
Compound Nouns
A compound noun is two or more words
used together as a single noun. The parts
of a compound noun may be written as
one word, as separate words, or as a
hyphenated word.
View the following examples:
ONE WORD
Seafood, filmmaker,
videocassette, footsteps,
grasshopper, Iceland,
daydream, Passover
SEPARATE WORDS
compact disc, House of
Representatives, police
officer, John F. Kennedy, The
Call of the Wild
HYPHENATED WORD
Self-esteem, fund-raiser,
sister-in-law, fourteen-yearold, grand-parents
Collective Nouns
A collective noun is a word that names a
group.
View the following examples:
Collective Nouns
faculty, family, herd, team, congress,
audience, flock, crew, jury, committee
Common Nouns and Proper
Nouns
A common noun is a general name for
a person, place, thing, or idea. A
proper noun names a particular
person, place, thing, or idea.
Note: Proper nouns always begin with a
capital letter. Common nouns begin with
a capital letter only when they come at
the beginning of a sentence.
Common Nouns
poem
nation
athlete
ship
newspaper
river
street
day
city
organization
language
holiday
Proper Nouns
“The Raven,” “Casey at Bat”
Canada, United States of America
Ken Griffey Jr., Peyton Manning
Mayflower, U.S.S. Constitution
The New York Times, USA Today
Ohio River, Kentucky River
Hawkins St., Highland Ave.
Friday, Independence Day
Carrollton, Madison
American Legion, Boy Scouts
English, Spanish
Thanksgiving, Labor Day
Concrete Nouns and Abstract
Nouns
A concrete noun names a person, place,
or thing that can be perceived by one or
more of the senses (sight, hearing, taste,
touch, or smell). An abstract noun
names an idea, a feeling, a quality, or a
characteristic.
CONCRETE NOUNS
Hummingbird, telephone,
popcorn, ocean, Madison
Milton Bridge, Jesse
Jackson, sneeze, stone,
refrigerator, rain
ABSTRACT NOUNS
Knowledge, love, humor,
patriotism, beliefs, honor,
beauty, peace, health,
competition, Buddhism
The Pronoun
A Pronoun is a word used in place of one
noun or more than one noun.
Example: When Kelly saw the signal, Kelly
pointed the signal out to John.
When Kelly saw the signal, she pointed it
out to John.
The Pronoun
Note: The word that a pronoun stands for is
call its antecedent.
Example: Mark read the book and returned it
to the library.
The photographers bought themselves
new lenses.
Personal Pronoun
A personal pronoun refers to the one
speaking (first person), the one spoken to
(second person), or the one spoken about
(third person).
View the following examples:
Personal Pronouns
Singular
Plural
First Person
I, me, my, mine
we, us, our, ours
Second Person
you, your, yours
you your, yours
Third Person
he, him, his,
they, them, their,
she, her, hers, it, theirs
its
Bell Ringer - Nouns
• Without using your notes, give an
example for each of the following nouns:
• Noun =
• Compound Noun =
• Collective Noun =
• Proper Noun =
• Concrete Noun =
• Abstract Noun =
Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
A reflexive pronoun refers to the subject
and directs the action of the verb back to
the subject. An intensive pronoun
emphasizes a noun or another pronoun.
View the examples:
Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
First Person
myself, ourselves
Second Person
yourself, yourselves
Third Person
himself, herself, itself,
themselves
Reflexive and Intensive Pronouns
Juan wrote himself a note as a reminder.
(reflective)
The rescuers did not consider themselves
heroes. (reflective)
Amelia designed the costumes herself.
(intensive)
I myself sold more than fifty tickets.
(intensive)
Demonstrative Pronouns
A demonstrative pronoun points out a
specific person, a place, a thing, or an
idea.
View the examples:
Demonstrative Pronouns
this
that
these
those
This is the most valuable baseball card I
have.
These are the names of those who
volunteered.
Interrogative Pronouns
An interrogative pronoun introduces a
question.
View the following examples:
Interrogative Pronouns
what
which
who whom
whose
What is the largest planet in our solar
system?
Who scored the most points in the game?
Relative Pronouns
A relative pronoun introduces a
subordinate clause.
View the following examples:
Relative Pronouns
that what which who whom whose
The Bactrian camel, which has two humps,
is native to central Asia.
Ray Charles is one of several blind
performers who have had a number of hit
recordings.
Indefinite Pronouns
An indefinite pronoun refers to a person,
a place, or a thing that is not specifically
named.
View the examples:
Indefinite Pronouns
Everyone completed the test before the bell
rang.
Neither of the actors knew what costumes
the other was planning to wear.
Common Indefinite Pronouns
all
both
few
nobody
several
another
each
many
none
some
any
either
more
no one
somebody
anybody
everybody most
nothing
someone
anyone
everyone
one
something
anything
everything neither
other
such
much