A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. The highlighted words in the following sentences are all nouns:
1. Late last year our neighbours bought a goat.
2. Portia White was an opera singer.
3. The bus inspector looked at all the passengers' passes.
A noun can function in a sentence as a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, a subject complement, an object complement, an adjective or an adverb.
You always write a proper noun with a capital letter, since the noun represents the name of a specific person, place, or thing. The names of days of the week, months, historical documents, institutions, organisations, religions, their holy texts and their adherents are proper nouns. A proper noun is the opposite of a common noun.
In each of the following sentences, the proper nouns are highlighted:
1. Malaysian consists of Malay, Chinese, Indian and other minority races.
2. Many people hate Monday mornings.
3. Valentine is celebrated in February.
4. Koran is the main source for Muslim people.
5. Last year, I had a Baptist, a Buddhist, and a Gardnerian Witch as roommates.
A common noun is a noun referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense -- usually, you should write it with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. A common noun is the opposite of a proper noun.
In each of the following sentences, the common nouns are highlighted:
1. According to the sign, the nearest town is 60 miles away.
2. All the gardens in the neighbourhood were invaded by beetles.
3. I don't understand why some people insist on having six different kinds of mustard in their cupboards.
4. Many child-care workers are underpaid.
A concrete noun is a noun which names anything (or anyone) that you can perceive through your physical senses: touch, sight, taste, hearing, or smell. A concrete noun is the opposite of a abstract noun.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are all concrete nouns:
1. The judge handed the files to the clerk.
2. Whenever they take the dog to the beach, it spends hours chasing waves.
3. The real estate agent urged the couple to buy the secondhouse because it looked good as new.
An abstract noun is a noun which names anything which you can notperceive through your five physical senses, and is the opposite of a concrete noun. The highlighted words in the following sentences are all abstract nouns:
1. Tillie is amused by people who are nostalgic about childhood.
2. Justice often seems not exist.
3. Some scientists believe that schizophrenia is transmitted genetically.
A countable noun (or count noun) is a noun with both a singular and a plural form, and it names anything (or anyone) that you can count. You can make a countable noun plural and attach it to a plural verb in a sentence. Countable nouns are the opposite of non-countable nouns and collective nouns.
In each of the following sentences, the highlighted words are countable nouns:
1. We painted the table red and the chairs blue.
2. Since he inherited his aunt's library, Jerome spends every weekend indexing his books.
3. Miriam found six dollars in the shoes.
4. The oak tree lost three branches in the hurricane.
5. Over the course of twenty-seven years, Martha Ballad delivered just over eight hundred babies.
A non-countable noun (or mass noun) is a noun which does not have a plural form, and which refers to something that you could (or would) not usually count. A non-countable noun always takes a singular verb in a sentence. Non-countable nouns are similar to collective nouns, and are the opposite of countable nouns.
The highlighted words in the following sentences are non-countable nouns:
1. Joseph Priestly discovered oxygen.
2. Oxygen is essential to human life.
3. We decided to sell the furniture rather than take it with us when we moved.
4. The furniture is heaped in the middle of the room.
Written by Heather MacFadyen
