A noun is a person, place, thing or idea.
A noun is often “ clued ” by the words “ an ” “ a ” and
“ the ”
An ape on the bike hit a bird with a rock at the end of
the long road.
We will learn about: concrete nouns and abstract nouns common nouns and proper nouns singular nouns and plural nouns collective nouns possessive nouns

A noun is a person, place, thing or idea…
Person Place Thing Idea/Feeling girl
Mr. Robbins nurse
Sam boy man president
Carmichael city back yard
San Francisco toy tree arm couch mountain
Disneyland monster
Big Foot
Starr King School Apple Computer love happiness freedom honesty commitment kindness democracy

• A concrete noun is a noun that can be experienced with your five senses. You can touch, smell, see, hear or taste a concrete noun.
• An abstract noun can not be experienced with your five senses. An abstract noun exists, but you cannot see it, taste it, smell it, touch it or hear it.

• A concrete noun can be experienced with one or more of your five senses.
• An orange is a concrete noun. You can see an orange, taste one, smell one, touch one.
• A whistle is a concrete noun. You can hear it and see hit and touch it.

Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns aren ’ t detected by your five senses.
Honesty is an example of an abstract noun.
What color is honesty? You don't know because you cannot see it.
What texture is honesty? Who knows? You cannot touch it.
What flavor is honesty? No clue! You cannot taste it!
Does it make a sound ? Of course not!
Does it smell ? Not a bit! Honesty is an abstract noun!
Other abstract nouns: anger, peace, hate, pride, sympathy, bravery, success, courage, beauty, fun, loyalty pain, knowledge, trust, education, friendship, intelligence

Common Nouns vs. Proper
Nouns
• A common noun is an ordinary person, place or thing. A common noun is not capitalized. (boy, city, house)
• A proper noun is a specific person, place or thing. A proper noun is capitalized. (Sam,
Nashua, The White House)

• holiday = common noun
• Valentine ’ s Day = proper noun

• tower = common noun
• Eiffel Tower = proper noun

• doctor = a common noun
• Dr. Ed Jones = a proper noun

• doctor
• lady
• building
• city
• shoe
• college
• girl
• boy
• Dr. Paine
• Mrs. Jones
• The Capital Building
• Nashua, NH
• Adidas
• Rivier College
• Mary
• James

• Singular means ONE
• ONE crazy guy…
• Plural means MORE THAN ONE
• TWO crazy guys…
• There are rules to making
Singular nouns into plural nouns.

1.
cats
2.
baby
3.
church
4.
tables
5.
books
6.
Bus
7.
man
8.
oranges
9.
dog
10. bananas

If a noun ends with “ s ” “ x ” “ ch ” or “ sh ” , add
“ ES ” to make it plural:
• s
• x
– buses
– taxes
• ch
– benches
• sh
– dishes

Add ies to make nouns plural that end with a consonant and a y :
• lady
– Ladies
• fry
– fries

Some nouns that end in f or fe change to ves when made plural:
• calf
– calves
• knife
– knives

Some nouns that end in o change to es when made plural. Some change to s :
• kangaroo
– kangaroos
• potato
– potatoes

Some nouns do not change at all when made plural:
• sheep
– sheep
• deer
– deer

Some nouns change completely when made plural:
• man
– men
• goose
– geese

• Monkey changes to monkeys not monkies.
That ’ s just the English
Language for you!

Noun type
Ends with -fe
Ends with -f
Ends with -o ends with -us
ALL KINDS
Unchanging
Forming the plural Example
Change f to v then
Add -s
Change f to v then
Add -es
Add -es
Change -us to -i knife - knives life - lives wife - wives half - halves wolf - wolves loaf - loaves potato - potatoes tomato - tomatoes volcano - volcanoes cactus - -cacti nucleus - nuclei
Change the vowel or
Change the word or
Add a different ending
Singular and plural are the same man - men foot - feet child - children person - people tooth - teeth mouse - mice sheep deer fish

Can you make these nouns plural?

Can you make these nouns plural?

Can you make these nouns plural?

Can you make these nouns plural?

Can you make these nouns plural?

Can you make these nouns plural?

When you collect something, you put together a group of more than one.
Collective means a group. Collective nouns are “ groups of something.
”
Here are some collective nouns: herd group fleet army colony tribe mob class pack family team flock

I believe that belongs to me…

A possessive noun is a noun that shows ownership. To “ possess ” means to own or to have .
I am Bob and this is my towel.

To show ownership, an apostrophe is used.
Most people have a hard time putting the apostrophe in the correct place!
The rule for the apostrophe depends on whether the noun is singular or plural.

Use an apostrophe with -s for possessives of singular nouns.
SINGULAR MEANS ONE.
Use an apostrophe plus -s to show the possessive form of a singular noun, even if that singular noun already ends in -s:
Frank ’ s crayon my friend ’ s dad
Robert Frost ’ s poetry today's weather report the boss's problem
Star Jones's talk show
That boy ’ s shirt
I am one boy and this is my shirt.

Use an apostrophe without an -s for most possessives plural nouns.
PLURAL MEANS MORE THAN ONE.
To form the possessive of a plural noun that already ends in -s, add an apostrophe:
the girls' swing set (the swing set belonging to the girls)
the students' projects (the projects belonging to the students)
the Johnsons' house (the house belonging to the Johnsons)
If the plural noun does not end in -s, add an apostrophe plus -s:
women's conference (the conference belonging to the women)
the children's toys (the toys belonging to the children)
the men's training camp (the training camp belonging to the men)

Singular Possessive vs. Plural Possessive
Basically….
The project belonging to one student: (singular)
The student ’ s project
The apostrophe comes before the s.
The project belonging to more than one student: (plural)
The students ’ project
The apostrophe comes after the s.

Singular Possessive vs. Plural Possessive
Finally….
The shoes belonging to one woman:
WOMAN ’ S SHOES
The shoes belonging to many women:
WOMEN ’ S SHOES
The apostrophe comes before the s because the noun is a collective group and has no s on the end. It would be
“ ladies ’ shoes if the base word was lady.:
Lady ’ s shoes (the shoes belonging to one lady)
Ladies ’ shoes (the shoes belonging to more than one lady.

Can you make this sentence possessive?

:
's

Which answer best fits in the blank?
____________ bicycle is broken.
A.
Seths'
B.
Sethes
C.
Seths
D.
Seth's

Which answer best fits in the blank?
____________ bicycle is broken.
A.
Seths'
B.
Sethes
C.
Seths
D. Seth's

Which answer best fits in the blank?
The trash can will attract a lot of
____________ if you leave the lid off.
A. flys
B. flies
C. flie's
D. fly's

Which answer best fits in the blank?
The trash can will attract a lot of
____________ if you leave the lid off.
A. flys
B.
flies
C. flie's
D. fly's

Which answer best fits in the blank?
The ____________________ skin is red.
A.
tomatoes
B.
tomato's
C.
tomatos'
D.
tomatos's

Which answer best fits in the blank?
The ____________________ skin is red.
A.
tomatoes
B.
C.
tomatos'
D.
tomatos's

Which answer best fits in the blank?
Emily has two hamsters named Barry and
Steve. The ____________________ cage looks like a tiny house.
A. hamsters'
B. hamsters
C. hamster's
D. hamsterers

Which answer best fits in the blank?
Emily has two hamsters named Barry and
Steve. The ____________________ cage looks like a tiny house.
A.
hamsters'
B. hamsters
C. hamster's
D. hamsterers

Which answer best fits in the blank?
Billy will carry his ____________ suitcase.
A. sister's
B. sisters
C. sisteres
D. sister'

Which answer best fits in the blank?
Billy will carry his ____________ suitcase.
A.
B. sisters
C. sisteres
D. sister'

Which answer best fits in the blank?
I borrowed ___________ sweater.
A.
Jane's
B.
Janes
C.
Jane
D.
Janes'

Which answer best fits in the blank?
I borrowed _________ sweater.
A.
B.
Janes
C.
Jane
D.
Janes'
I am Jane and this is my sweater.