NOUNS*
USED TO NAME A PERSON, PLACE, THING, IDEA, QUALITY, OR ACTION
1. COMMON NOUNS = general names, common to an entire group -- e.g., boy, singer, field, horse
2. PROPER NOUNS = name specific for one-of-a-kind thing -- e.g., Istanbul, Turkey, Bob, Colorado
3. CONCRETE NOUNS = things that can be perceived by the senses -- e.g., cows, rain, shelf, cup
4. ABSTRACT NOUNS = things that cannot be observed by the senses -- e.g., intelligence, happiness, fear
| | COMMON | PROPER |
| ABSTRACT | freedom | Age of Discovery |
| CONCRETE | man | Denver |
5. COMPOUND NOUNS = formed by combining two or more words, but the new word expresses a single idea -- e.g., boyfriend, folk tale, brother-in-law
| | SINGULAR | PLURAL | POSSESSIVE |
| EQUAL PARTS | FOLK TALE | FOLK TALES | FOLK TALE'S / FOLK TALES' |
| | BIRTHRIGHT | BIRTHRIGHTS | BIRTHRIGHT'S / BIRTHRIGHTS' |
| UNEQUAL PARTS | FATHER-IN-LAW | FATHERS-IN-LAW | FATHER-IN-LAW'S / FATHERS-IN-LAW'S |
| | PASSERBY | PASSERSBY | PASSERBY'S / PASSERSBY'S |
6. COLLECTIVE NOUNS = NOUNS THAT REFER TO GROUPS OF PEOPLE OR THINGS -- E.G., ARMY, FLOCK, CLASS
NOTE the following:
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AMERICAN ENGLISH: Collective nouns always take a singular noun -- e.g., The army is attacking.
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BRITISH ENGLISH: Collective nouns can be singular or plural--whether you mean all the individuals separately (plural) or the group (singular) -- e.g., The army are eating their dinners. (Each member of the army is eating.) / The army is attacking. (They are attacking as one -- as a group.)
7. POSSESSIVE NOUNS = nouns that show who or what owns something
| CATEGORY | POSSESSIVE NOUN RULE | EXAMPLE |
| ALL SINGULAR NOUNS | ADD APOSTROPHE PLUS -S | George's, sister-in-law's, jury's, Jesus's |
| PLURAL NOUNS NOT ENDING IN "S" | ADD APOSTROPHE PLUS -S | men's, people's, children's |
| PLURAL NOUNS ENDING IN "S" | ADD APOSTROPHE ONLY | witnesses', males', friends', churches' |
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*The information on this page was adapted from literature textbook: Applebee, Arthur, Andrea B. Bermudez, et.al. (2006). The Language of Literature: American Literature, Teacher's Edition. Evanston, IL: McDougal-Littell Inc., p. 1306. For a more detailed explanation and exercises, see the text.
