When you first started studying English, you most likely learned nouns at first among the other parts of speech. Also known as naming words, it has a significant impact over the sentences you write or speak on a daily basis.
It is the word that defines the subject of the sentence, who is doing the action, and where the action or event is happening. While verbs are cars, nouns are the roads that drive up, the cities they pass through and the gas stations they stop at along the way.
It may seem simple, nouns can often prove confusing to both native and non-native English speakers (or Writers) due to a combination of several different, conflicting categories each with its own set of rules and uses. Mastering these subcategories will help avoid common grammatical errors such as mismatched verbs, misplaced apostrophes, and incorrect articles.
This guide will give you an overview of each and explain the basics of what makes them unique.
What Is a Noun?
A noun is a word that refers to a person, place, thing or idea within the sentence. It’s a textbook definition, because ‘thing’ has a heavy impact in that sentence; it is the catch-all category which covers tangible objects, feelings, qualities, occurrence, etc., anything that people think about.
Person: Nurse, Plumber, Names
Place: Kitchen, California, Sea Beach
Thing: Computer, Notebooks, Rain
Idea: Patience, Teamwork, Freedom
A noun can function as a sentence’s subject, object, or object of a preposition. For instance, in the sentence “The electrician repaired the bulb socket before dinner”, the word electrician is the subject, bulb socket is the object and dinner is the object of the preposition.
How to Identify a Noun In A Sentence
If you ever find yourself questioning which word is the noun within a sentence, here are three simple tests to try:
Putting “the”, “a”, or “an” in front of the word: if adding these words in front makes sense, chances are it’s a noun. For example, the bicycle, a pen, etc.
Making the words plural or possessive: Most nouns can become plural by adding an “s” at the end, and all nouns can turn into possessive form by adding an apostrophe such as “teachers” or “teacher’s”. Verbs or adjectives can be made plural or possessive too, but the rules for doing so are much different.
Does it answer the question “who” or “what”? Ask yourself “who or what” is doing something or “who or what” something is. The answer should be a noun.
For example:
Sentence: The board members approved the proposal quickly.
Nouns:
Who approved something? – The board members.
What did they approve of? – The proposal.
Adverb: Quickly (Because it tells you how they approved the proposal)
Another way to identify a noun is to look for the words ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these, ‘my, ‘your’ ‘their’ and other possessive pronouns. These words are used to point out a noun. For example:
- This umbrella
- My notebook
- Their table
- Those chairs
You can use this tactic to find nouns, especially in longer, more complex sentences.
Common Nouns vs Proper Nouns
This is the first difference most often encountered, and it is one of the easiest to identify once you understand the pattern.
- A common noun refers to a general idea, or non-specific object, such as city, professor, lake or a holiday.
- A proper noun refers to a particular person, place, or thing and always begins with a capital letter. For example, New York, John, the Ganges, or Christmas.
In simple terms, common nouns are categories, whereas proper nouns give individual names to things. For instance, “country” is a common noun, whereas, “England” is a proper noun because it is the name of a particular country. “Artist” is a common noun, “Van Gogh” is the proper noun.
A proper noun always denotes a unique entity of a certain category. In contrast, a common noun can turn into a proper one when it is used as a name of a specific entity (and capitalized accordingly).
One thing to watch out for is that some words can be both common and proper nouns, depending on their context within a sentence. For instance, the common noun “president” can become a proper noun in a phrase such as “Our President gave an amazing speech today”.
Concrete Nouns vs. Abstract Nouns
In this category, the difference lies between the nouns that can be perceived by the five senses and those that cannot be.
Concrete nouns are those that have a tangible form and can be seen, touched, heard, tasted or smelled. For example, a chair, rain drops, cinnamon, sunlight, etc.
Abstract nouns are the opposite, they describe intangible things, such as curiosity, childhood, silence, honesty, etc.
‘Silence’ is interestingly enough considered an abstract noun because while it can be ‘heard’, it cannot be physically touched or picked up and examined, which is most likely why it is classified as abstract.
Similarly, many abstract nouns are formed from an adjective or a verb with a suffix that gives it the nature of a noun, for example, ‘honesty’ comes from ‘honest’, ‘kindness’ from ‘kind’, ‘frustration’ from ‘frustrate’ etc.
Quick tip: Avoid the over usage of an abstract noun in a sentence, because it can often lead to vague, unclear writing.
Countable Nouns vs. Uncountable Nouns
This category is essential in everyday language practice since it determines which words can be used with countable and uncountable nouns.
Countable nouns can be counted and have both singular and plural forms. Example: One table, two tables; one apple, six apples.
Uncountable nouns (also referred to as mass) cannot be quantified and have only a singular form. For example, water, information, advice, etc.
This split can be seen in three types of grammatical patterns:
A/an: This article is used only before countable nouns in singular. So we can say “a suggestion”, but not “an information”, because information is uncountable, and we have to say “some information” or “a piece of advice”.
Much / many: Many is used with countable nouns and much with uncountable ones. For example, many suggestions, much advice.
Few/little: Few is used with countable nouns (there are few chairs in the room) and little with uncountable nouns (there is little time left).
Few nouns have a different plural form than one would expect: news, or luggage. All of these words end in an ‘s’ but are used as uncountable nouns. In other words, these are considered singular even though they have a plural ending. The difference between singular and plural is significant in English grammar. It conveys an entirely different meaning based on whether something is singular or plural. “The furniture is heavy” is a correct sentence whereas “the furnitures are heavy” is not.
Collective Nouns and Subject-Verb Agreement
A collective noun is a word used for a group of people, animals or things. It refers to them as one singular unit, such as team, flock, audience, family, staff, etc.
The complicated part is the verb. In general, collective nouns take singular verbs, since you are usually thinking of the group as a single entity acting together: “The team is practicing every evening this month”, “ the jury has reached a verdict”.
However, it is entirely correct to use a plural verb to refer to the members of a group acting individually, for example in British English: “The team are arguing amongst themselves about tactics.” As a general guide to avoid confusion in your own writing, use a singular verb with a collective noun, unless you specifically mean the individual members of the group.
Compound Nouns, With Examples
A compound noun is a combination of two or more words used together to name a single item. There are three types of compound nouns based on how the words are put together:
| Compound Noun | Example |
| Closed (one word) | Sunflower, notebook, toothpaste |
| Hyphenated | Father-in-law, well-being, editor-in-chief |
| Open (two words) | Middle school, debit card, tea table |
There is no general rule as to what form a compound noun should take; it is more like a convention that is established for a certain word when it gains popularity, so it is safer to rely on a dictionary rather than try to guess the form of a compound noun. Another thing to note is that compound nouns can be both countable and uncountable depending on the context; “toothpaste” is uncountable (“some toothpaste”), while “coffee table” is countable (“two coffee tables”).
Pluralizing compound nouns has one slight twist. Whereas you typically pluralize the last word of a closed or open compound (sunflowers, high schools, etc.), some hyphenated words have the plural -s at the front of the word rather than the end. This is true of compound nouns that have an underlying structure of noun + modifier. For example, mothers-in-law, editors-in-chief, and passers-by pluralize the first element. To figure out what to pluralize, ask yourself which word is repeated; it will almost never be the second word in hyphenated compound nouns.
Possessive Nouns and Apostrophe Rules
Possessive nouns indicate ownership or some other association between two entities. Apostrophe usage is one of the aspects that many people can make mistakes when writing or speaking.
Singular noun: The possessive form of singular nouns is formed by adding an apostrophe and ‘s’ to the end of a word, even if it ends with s. For example: the dog’s bone or James’s car.
Plural noun ending with ‘s’: If the plural of the noun is formed by adding ‘s’ to the end of the word, an apostrophe is added after that. For example, the teachers’ lounge.
Plural noun that does not end with ‘s’: For this, the possessive form is created by adding an apostrophe and ‘s’. For example: Men’s meeting.
Joint possession: If two people possess the same item, only the last of them gets an apostrophe. It can be seen in the example: Raj and Meera’s apartment. In the case where the two people have their own item, every one of them gets an apostrophe. For example, Raj’s and Meera’s laptops.
Quick tip: The way to know for sure is to think about which entity possesses the other. For example, if there is one dog, it will be the dog’s bone. If the owner has several dogs, then it will be ‘dogs’ bones. Therefore, the apostrophe goes after the owner, not the thing being owned.
Quick Reference: A List of Common Nouns by Type
| Type | Example |
| Common | town, professor, lake, holiday |
| Proper | California, Mr. Brown, Halloween |
| Concrete | chair, rain, sugar |
| Abstract | honesty, silence, anger |
| Countable | notebook, idea, table |
| Uncountable | water, furniture, advice |
| Collective | team, flock, family, audience |
| Compound | toothpaste, father-in-law, tea table |
| Possessive | The dog’s bone/ The dogs’ bones |
Frequently Asked Questions About Nouns
What is a noun?
A noun is a part of speech that names a person, place, thing or idea. They can act as the subject or object of a sentence. A noun can be singular, plural, or possessive.
What is the difference between a common noun and a proper noun?
Common nouns name a general person, place, or thing such as a city or teacher. In contrast, the proper noun denotes a specific person, place, or thing and is always capitalised (Christmas, John, Los Angeles etc.)
What are countable and uncountable nouns?
Countable nouns can be counted and have both singular and plural forms like books or chairs. On the other hand, uncountable nouns cannot be counted or divided into singular units, for example, water, information etc.
What are collective nouns?
Collective nouns are words that describe a group of people, animals, or things, such as team, family, or flock, which are treated as a single unit and typically take a singular verb.
How do you form the possessive of a noun?
To make a possessive noun, add an apostrophe and ‘s’ to the end of a singular noun, for example, the teacher’s lounge. However, if a plural noun ends in ‘s’, only add an apostrophe to it, for instance, the teachers’ lounge.
