NOUNS

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this lesson students should be able

to:

Use plural and singular nouns.

Recognize and identify the noun in a sentence.
Identify the parts of a sentence.
Increase vocabulary.
Use capital letters for the correct noun type.
Understand types of noun.

WHAT IS A NOUN?

A noun is a person, a place, a thing, an idea

or a concept.

Person: the postman, a teacher, Tom, a

neighbour.
Place: a village, England, Jakarta, a street, a
park.
Thing: a box, a banana, a computer.
Idea or concept: beauty, information,
importance.

WHAT IS A NOUN?

Every noun has a type

Common

/ Proper / Concrete / Abstract / Count /

Non-Count / Collective

Every noun has a Gender

Masculine

Every noun has a Number

Singular

/ Plural

Every noun has a Person

1st

/ Feminine / Neuter

Person / 2nd Person / 3rd Person

Every noun has a case

Nominative,

Objective, Possessive,

The subject of a sentence is always a noun:

Children play
Students studied

COMMON AND PROPER NOUNS

A noun is a person, place, or thing
Common Nouns

general word used to name a person, animal, place,

thing, or abstract idea.
Ex. teacher, bottle, boy, computer, hope, love, city

Proper Nouns
Proper

nouns are the names of specific things, people,

or places. They always begin with a capital letter.
Examples include days of the week, months, historical
documents, institutions, organizations, religions,
their holy texts and their adherents are proper nouns.
Ex. Moslem, Maryam, Joseph, Christian, Friday,
Coca- Cola

POSSESSIVE NOUNS
In

the possessive case, a noun or pronoun

changes its form to show that it owns or is
closely related to something else.
When a noun does not end in with an s, the
possessive is formed with an apostrophe s.
The

bus drivers seat was worn.

Davids hair was brown.

When

a noun does end with an s, simply

add an apostrophe.
The

bus seats were worn.

James hair was brown.

NOUN TYPES CONCRETE /

ABSTRACT

Concrete Nouns are able to be touched, smelt,

seen, heard, or felt.
Cotton
Gas

Clouds
Insect
Air

Abstract Nouns are ideas, feelings, or attributes

nouns you cannot touch, smell, feel, hear, or
see.
Love

Hate Peace Honesty Beauty Dream

Education Friendship Thought Culture Evil

NOUN TYPES COUNT / NONCOUNT

Count noun are nouns that can be pluralized or

that have a plural form.
Cat

Cats
Goose Geese
Helicopter Helicopters
Bureau Bureaus

Non-Count nouns are nouns that have no plural

form.
Weather

Furniture Happiness Education

Homework Lightning Popcorn Cotton Rice
Corn Intelligence Knowledge Oxygen Blood

NOUN TYPES COLLECTIVE

Collective Nouns are nouns that represent groups

of people, places, or things.
Flock

= many birds
Band = many musicians
Audience = many people
Quiver = many arrows
Class = many students
Army = many soldiers
Gaggle = many geese
Team = many athletes
Department = many people

WHICH NOUNS SHOULD BE

CAPITALIZED/ OR SHOW
POSSESSION?
The telephone company suspended babus account.

1.

The telephone company suspended Babus account.

The doctor said that he bought his honda in japan last

february.

2.

The doctor said that he bought his Honda in Japan last

February.

My son, david, has many books, but his favorite is

gullivers travels.

3.

My son, David, has many books, but his favorite is Gullivers

Travels.

SINGULAR AND PLURAL NOUNS

Nouns can be singular (there is one thing):

My chair is near the window.

Or they can be plural (there is more than one

thing):

There are enough chairs in the classroom.

IRREGULAR PLURALS

Plural nouns usually end in s, but are sometimes

irregular:

Woman - women
Child - children
Person- people
Man- men
Myself ourselves

PAIR WORK ACTIVITY

Write a list of 5 singular nouns

Swap lists with your partner, and make the
nouns plural.

POSTCARD ACTIVITY

ANY QUESTIONS SO FAR?

Singular

Plural

Possessive

CLASS ACTIVITY

In your groups, you have 30 seconds per

column to write as many nouns which are in
that category as possible. (2 minutes in
total!)

Person

Place

Thing

Concepts/
ideas

5 RULES

Rule 1: To change a singular form of a word to a

plural we usually just add s to the end of the
word. E.g. girl/girls, shoe/shoes, bangle/bangles

Rule 2:If the singular form of the word ends in ss,

X, zz, ch or sh, then add es on the end of the
word to make its plural form.
E.g. Box
boxes
Church churches

Rule 3: If the singular form of the vowel ends in

y, but is preceded by a vowel, then for the plural
add s. E.g. boy/boys, tray/trays,
Rule 4: If the singular form of the verb ends in y
and the preceding letter is a consonant, replace y
with i and add ies to the end. E.g. baby/babies,
city/cities, country/countries.
Rule 5: If the singular form of the letter ends
with f, or fe, to make the plural you take the v
and add ves, e.g. leaf/leaves, knife/knives.

SOME EXCEPTIONS
Singular

Plural

half

halves

fish

fish

sheep

sheep

goose

geese

fly

flies

ox

oxen

mouse

mice

foot

feet

church

churches

SINGULAR (1)

PLURAL (+1)

QUIZ

Please go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/topic/nouns

Click Entry 3 Quiz, then complete level C.

WRITING ACTIVITY

Write 1 paragraph about your favourite thing.

This can be a person, place, object or idea.
Try to include. Singular, plural and possessives
in your writing.
After this, cross out all of the nouns.
See how nouns are a very important part of the
sentence, and commonly occurring.

SUMMARY

A noun is a person, place, thing, idea or concept.

The subject of a sentence is always a noun.

Nouns can be singular and plural.

Capital letters for proper nouns.

s for possessives: e.g. Lindseys, Wednesdays, the

cats, if the noun ends in s, then it is Jesus.