{"id":142,"date":"2018-08-02T11:44:33","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T16:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/?p=142"},"modified":"2019-03-25T07:59:07","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T11:59:07","slug":"nouns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/nouns\/","title":{"rendered":"Nouns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nouns are usually things, people, names or places, but do not have to be tangible, and can be abstract in nature (such as a concept). Examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

sea <\/span><\/i>(a common noun), <\/span>brother <\/span><\/i>(a common noun), <\/span>Sarah<\/span><\/i> (a proper noun), <\/span>New York<\/span><\/i> (a proper noun), <\/span>honesty<\/span><\/i> (a common noun)<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Proper nouns (as opposed to common nouns) are a specific name, so are always capitalised.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because nouns have so many types, they constitute a large part of the English language. And because the subject of a sentence is always a noun, and a sentence always needs a subject, a noun is found in every English sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Types of common nouns<\/h1>\n

Generally speaking, common nouns can be sub-divided into the following categories:<\/span><\/p>\n


\n1. Concrete nouns \u2013 nouns that can be seen, heard or visualised. Examples: <\/span><\/p>\n

I saw a swan<\/i>. She was listening to a song<\/i>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2. Abstract nouns \u2013 usually ideas, concepts or processes that cannot be visualised. Examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

Honesty<\/i> is a virtue<\/i>. The benefits <\/i>of capitalism <\/i>are clear.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3. Collective nouns \u2013 nouns that express a group of something. Examples:<\/p>\n

There are 12 people in my <\/span>team<\/span><\/i>. Elephants live in a <\/span>herd<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

4. Singular nouns. Examples:<\/p>\n

A <\/span>man<\/span><\/i>. A <\/span>dog<\/span><\/i>. An <\/span>idea<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

5. Plural nouns. Examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

Men<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>dogs<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Ideas<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Note that some words are already plural (<\/span>men<\/span><\/i> in the above case), so the original singular noun is not used with an s (so never <\/span>mens<\/span><\/i>).<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Uncountable nouns. Examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

Water, love, chocolate.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Note that uncountable nouns can be made countable by adding another noun. Example:<\/span><\/p>\n

A <\/span>glass<\/span><\/i> of <\/span>water<\/span><\/i>. An <\/span>act<\/span><\/i> of <\/span>love<\/span><\/i>. A <\/span>bar<\/span><\/i> of <\/span>chocolate<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nouns as subjects, objects and complements<\/h1>\n

Subjects, objects and complements to these within clauses and sentences are always nouns. If an action is being used as a subject of a sentence, then that action is converted into a gerund (-ing form of the verb). Examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

Martin<\/span><\/i> is a fine <\/span>dancer<\/span><\/i>. (<\/span>Martin<\/span><\/i> is the subject and <\/span>dancer<\/span><\/i> is the subject complement.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Fishing<\/span><\/i> is a fun activity. (<\/span>Fishing<\/span><\/i> is the subject, and because it is an action, it must be a gerund.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Tina<\/span><\/i> has two <\/span>brothers<\/span><\/i>. (<\/span>Tina<\/span><\/i> is the subject and <\/span>brothers<\/span><\/i> are the object.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Jan<\/span><\/i> took the <\/span>plane<\/span><\/i> to <\/span>Madrid<\/span><\/i>. (J<\/span>an<\/span><\/i> is the subject, <\/span>plane<\/span><\/i> is the object and <\/span>Madrid <\/span><\/i>is the indirect object.)<\/span><\/p><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Appositive nouns<\/h1>\n

Appositive nouns are nouns that immediately proceed another noun to define it more clearly. Example:<\/span><\/p>\n

My dog, <\/span>Bruno<\/span><\/i>, is a Labrador.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Compound nouns<\/h1>\n

Compound nouns are nouns that are comprised of two nouns, with the first noun further defining the noun. Example:<\/span><\/p>\n

Seatbelt, powerhose, hairbrush<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pronouns and possessives<\/h1>\n

Often when a noun is obvious it is replaced by a pronoun. Pronouns can be the subject, object, possessive or even reflexive. Furthermore, both common and proper nouns can be made possessive by adding \u2018s. Examples:<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t enjoy Latin. <\/span>It<\/span><\/i> is a difficult subject \u2013 subject pronoun<\/span><\/p>\n

Tony is a good guy, I like <\/span>him<\/span><\/i> \u2013 object pronoun<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not <\/span>your<\/span><\/i> pen, it\u2019s <\/span>my <\/span><\/i>pen (or <\/span>mine<\/span><\/i>) \u2013 possessive pronoun <\/span><\/p>\n

Paul and Trevor are always hurting <\/span>themselves<\/span><\/i> \u2013 reflexive pronoun<\/span><\/p>\n

That is <\/span>Sheila\u2019s<\/span><\/i> bicycle \u2013 possessive noun.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n

Use\u00a0<\/strong>Linguix.com Premium<\/strong><\/a> to receive advanced grammar (including tense issues!), spelling, and style checks, access content template library, and get your writing fixed everywhere on the web!\ufeff<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nouns are usually things, people, names or places, but do not have to be tangible, and can be abstract in nature (such as a concept). Examples: sea (a common noun), brother (a common noun), Sarah (a proper noun), New York (a proper noun), honesty (a common noun) Proper nouns (as opposed to common nouns) are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[15,38],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-grammar","tag-nouns"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNouns - Linguix Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/linguix.com\/blog\/nouns\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nouns\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nouns are usually things, people, names or places, but do not have to be tangible, and can be abstract in nature (such as a concept). 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