Nouns
A noun (N) is the name of a person, place, thing, quality, action, or idea.
George, Brazil, chair, beauty, flight, mercy
Most nouns are made plural or possessive or both by inflections, or changes in form.
| Singular | Plural | Singular Possessive | Plural Possessive |
| boy | boys | boy’s | boys’ |
| woman | women | woman’s | women’s |
| tennis | - | tennis’s | - |
| society | societies | society’s | societies’ |
| Regina | - | Regina’s | - |
Nouns can be divided into the following subclasses:
Proper nouns name specific people, places, and things and they are capitalized.
Shannon Tweed, South Africa, CN Tower
Common nouns name all nouns that are not proper nouns.
dog, paper, stoves
Abstract nouns name ideas, qualities, and other intangibles.
fear, freedom, neglect
Concrete nouns name tangible items. We know concrete nouns through the five senses.
bottle, telephone, letters
Collective nouns name groups. If a collective noun refers to the group as a whole, it takes a singular verb. If it refers to the individual members of that group, it takes a plural verb.
army, communities, herd
Count nouns name items that can be counted. Count nouns are frequently accompanied by an adjective indicating how many are referred to.
one dollar, twenty-four pills, a half-dozen sandwiches
Noncount nouns name items that come in quantities that are not capable of being counted. Frequently such nouns fall into certain categories.
Food: butter, flour, milk, sugar
Nonfood bulk materials: asphalt, gold, oxygen, snow
Abstractions: anger, love, pity, stress
