THE NOUN
Megan Rittmeyer
Kaitlin Bandy
What is a noun?

A noun is a word or word group that is used to
name a person, a place, a thing, or an idea.
Persons
Sharon, Major Brown, hairstylist, joggers
Places
Iowa, districts, Mars, Antarctica, library
Things
Great Pyramid, okra, toothpicks, merrygo-round
Ideas
Peace, truth, artistry, excellence, beauty
Common and Proper Nouns


A proper noun names a particular person, place, thing, or idea
and is capitalized.
A common noun names any one of a group of persons, places,
things, or ideas and is generally not capitalized.
Common Nouns
Proper Nouns
scientist
Marie Curie, Charles Drew
woman
Coretta Scott King, Rita Moreno
city
Cario, St. Louis, Paris
building
World Trade Center, Eiffel Tower
continent
Africa, North America, Asia
day
Monday, Thursday, Labor Day
Classifying Nouns
Read the following nouns aloud, and identify each one as a
common noun or a proper noun. If the noun is proper, name a
corresponding common name
EXAMPLE: 1. Zora Neale Hurston
1. proper noun- writer
1. man
2. month
3. Vietnam
4. singer
5. Athena
6. city
7. gumbo
8. self-esteem
9. Virginia
10. ocean
11. Mount Hood
12. Australia
13. Detroit
14. street
15. Amelia Earhart
16. mercy
17. cousin
18. automobile
19. blues
20. Christopher Columbus
Concrete 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, and smell.)
An abstract noun names an idea, a feeling, a quality,
or a characteristic.
Concrete Nouns
cloud, poison, ivy, thunder, silk,
yogurt, Sarah
Abstract Nouns
Freedom, well-being, beauty,
kindness, Buddhism
Identifying and Classifying Nouns
Write all the nouns that you find in each sentence. Then, circle the proper nouns.
1.
Some words come from other languages, such as Spanish and French.
2.
Books, music, and movies often feature new words that are then added to everyday
English.
3.
Many useful and amusing words came into our language during World War II
4.
Now these words are familiar throughout the United States.
5.
One of these words is gremlin.
6.
Fliers were often troubled by mysterious mechanical problems.
7.
Not knowing what caused these problems, they joked that gremlin___small,
mischievous, creatures___ were in the aircraft.
8.
According to Grandpa Leroy, these gremlins could be helpful as well as harmful.
9.
Many fliers claimed that they had miraculously escaped danger only because the
gremlins had come to their rescue.
10. Artists drew the imps as little men with beards and funny hats who played all over
the planes.
Compound Nouns
A compound noun consist of 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.
One Word
Iceland, firefighter, newspaper
Separate Words
Red River Dam, prime minister,
fire drill
Hyphenated Word
Port-au-Prince, sister-in-law,
pull-up
Identifying Compound Nouns
Each of the sentences below contains at least one compound noun. Write the compound
noun(s) in each sentence.
EXAMPLE 1. My cousin John is a political scientist.
1. political scientist
1.
I use a word processor or a type writer in class.
2.
We went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.
3.
My sister and brother-in-law live in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
4.
My Old English sheepdog is still a puppy.
5.
Some almanacs give exact times for sunrise and sunsets.
6.
We used the play hide-and-seek in the old barn.
7.
Sitting Bull was the war chief who masterminded the Sioux victory at the Battle of
the Little Bighorn.
8.
Meet me at the bowling alley near the post office.
9.
The fountain pen is not as popular as the ballpoint.
10. Lui`s Valdez is a playwright, actor, and director.
Collective Nouns

A collective noun is a word that names a group.
People
audience, chorus, committee, crew
Animals
brood, flock, gaggle, herd
Things
assortment, batch, bundle, cluster
Identifying Nouns
Identify that twenty-five nouns in the sentences below.
EXAMPLE:
1. To enter the wildlife park, we walked
through the mouth of a huge fake alligator.
1. park, mouth, alligator
1. Businesses sometimes use gigantic objects to advertise their products.
2. A stand that sells fruit might look like an enormous orange, complete with
doors and windows.
3. A restaurant in Austin Texas, has a delivery can shaped like a dinosaur,
4. Huge dogs, windmills, and figures of Paul Bunyan are formed with cement or
fiberglass to help sell chain saws, trucks, and souvenirs.
5. An old hotel in New Jersey was even built to look like an elephant!