Lesson 1 - Nouns

What Is a Noun?

Nouns are any naming words for people, animals, places, things, ideas, and qualities. In fact, they name everything around us including those that are invisible (wind, gas, vapour).�

A noun in a sentence can be recognized by the word called� determiner or an adjective that comes before it. The determiner (articles are also determiners) can be one of the following with the nouns are in bold:

Articles : the, a, an (the� duck , a� hen , an� egg )
Determiner : my, some, this (my� wallet , some� money , this� coin )
Descriptive adjective : red, old, beautiful (red� shirt , old� socks , beautiful� dress )

Sections in this Lesson
1. Types of Nouns
2. Functions of a Noun
3. Singular and Plural Nouns
4. Countable and Uncountable Nouns
5. Collective Nouns
6. Possessive form of nouns

What does a noun do in a sentence?

(1) � It acts as the subject of a sentence. The subject is a noun that performs the action of the verb in the sentence and is easily recognized as it usually comes at the beginning of a sentence and followed by a verb.

The man stepped on my toes.

(The subject is the� man (a noun) and it comes before the verb� stepped .)

(2) � It acts as an object in a sentence. The object is a noun which is acted upon by the subject.

Tom bit his nail.

(The object is� nail (a noun) that typically comes after the verb.)

(3) � It acts as a subject complement that follows a linking verb (am, is, was, are, were, has, being, been, seem, become) and modifies the subject .

My uncle is a wine taster.

(The subject complement is� a wine taster .)

Different types of nouns

There are many different types of nouns. The most common ones are � common nouns ,� proper nouns ,� concrete nouns , and� abstract nouns . Many nouns belong to more than one of these categories. For example, the noun� elephant is a common noun, a concrete noun as well as a� countable noun . �