Guide to NOUNS
Nouns name ‘things’, people and places.
Common Nouns:
Many nouns talk about a class of things (girls, dogs, roads, towns). They are called
common nouns and do not take a capital letter.
The girl called to the dog that was running down the road towards
town.
Proper Nouns:
Jasmine called to Jim, her dog, who was running down North Road in
Bristol.
The nouns talk about a particular girl, a particular dog, a particular road and a particular
town. Because they are not talking about a class of things but a specifically named
thing, they take a capital letter.
Collective Nouns:
You can have a group of children, a pack of wolves, a flock of sheep
and a pride of lions.
The bold words are all collective nouns. Most collective nouns take a singular verb:
‘The group of children was in the park’ not ‘The group of children were in the park’
Abstract Nouns:
Most nouns are ‘concrete nouns’. They are things that you can understand with your
senses – you can see, hear, touch, taste or smell them. But, some nouns you can only
feel, and these are abstract nouns:
I’m grateful for your kindness and angry about his cruelty.
Singular and Plural Nouns:
Nouns come in two groups – singular and plural. Singular is one of the noun and
plural is more than one. Most nouns make a plural by adding -s or -es, but some
nouns have odd plurals, and some don’t change at all.
cat → cats
cow → cows
church → churches
box → boxes
child → children
person → people
tooth → teeth
foot → feet
sheep → sheep
deer → deer
luck → luck
music → music