Grammar Focus: Nouns I. Key Concepts A. Noun: a person, place, thing, or idea B. Proper noun: the specific name of a person, place, thing, or idea 1. The first letter of proper nouns should be capitalized. 2. Examples: Abraham Lincoln; Paris, France; Statue of Liberty; Big Bang Theory C. Common noun: a noun that is not the specific name for a person, place, thing, or idea 1. The first letter of common nouns should not be capitalized. 2. Examples: president; city; statue; theory D. Collective noun: a noun, which even in its singular form, names a group of people, places, things, or ideas 1. Singular collective nouns require singular verbs and pronouns: The team is winning its first game. 2. Examples: team; family; group; collection; set; couple; company; faculty; pack II. Practice A. Instructions: Read the following paragraph (and place each noun in the appropriate column within the chart below. B. We watched a documentary about African elephants. The program showed a herd of elephants working together to raise the young members of their family. The baby elephant was named Dumbo. Often the baby elephant seemed to call out to its mother, as if to say, “Momma, I’m scared!” Dumbo would get frightened because, sometimes, a pack of hyenas can threaten and even kill a large elephant. The crew filming the documentary shot terrific footage of animals on the African plains. The film illustrated how varied the animal population of Africa truly is. Proper Common Collective III. Extended practice A. Instructions: Now, read the first five pages of Freak the Mighty and list all of the nouns that you see. Place the nouns in the appropriate places within the chart below. Note: If you fill up one column before the end of the five pages, then don’t list anymore of those, and all of the slots in each column may not be used. B. Proper Common Collective Editing and revision I. Instructions A. Turn to pages 754 and 755 in the Writing with Power textbook. B. Complete the following exercises by writing your answers on the blanks below. II. Practice Your Skills 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. III. Connect to Writing 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. IV. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Check Point V. Proper VI. Now, exchange papers with your partner and list all of the nouns in your partner’s paper on the appropriate column within the chart below. Common Collective Finally, list any specific mistakes regarding capitalization errors of proper or common nouns or problems with subject-verb agreement regarding the collective nouns.