Nouns: A Guide for Students Grades K-12

Nouns are a part of speech that name a person, place, thing, or idea (baby, house, mountain, justice). Singular nouns name one person, place, thing, or idea (girl, pool, slide). Plural nouns name one or more persons, places, things, or ideas (chairs, desks, staplers).

Plural Noun Rules

To make most singular nouns plural, add s (shirts, ties).
Nouns ending in s,ch,sh, or x, should have es added at the end (bunches, taxes).
Nouns ending in y after a vowel, should have s added at the end (days, keys).
Nouns ending in o after a vowel, should have s added at the end (radios).
Nouns ending in o after a consonant, should have es added at the end ((potatoes).
Musical words, such as pianos and solos, are exceptions.
Some nouns ending in f or fe should be replaced with ves (safes, knives, roofs, leaves). Check a dictionary to be sure of the correct change.
Irregular plurals are common with some animal words like mice and deer.

Common nouns name any person, place or thing and do not have a capital letter unless beginning a sentence (mountain, lake,river).

Proper nouns name a specific person, place, or thing and begin with a capital letter (Rocky Mountains, Lake Cumberland, Ohio River).

Abstract nouns names an idea or concept, quality, or state of mind (chaos, respect, depression, respect).

Concrete nouns name something that can be seen or touched (swimsuit, cereal, blanket, Bob).

Possessive nouns show ownership. They tell who or what owns something. To make a singular noun show possession or ownership, add an apostrophe and an s. To make a plural noun show possession or ownership, add an apostrophe after the final s. If the plural noun ends in a letter other than s, add an apostrophe and an s.

Collective nouns name a group of people, places, or things. Collective nouns are considered singular when they refer to a group as a unit. Collective nouns are considered plural when they refer to individual members of a group that are acting separately.The following are collective nouns: assortment, gang, collection, crowd, group, herd, crew, band, batch, pile, set, troop, bunch, team, pride of lions, gaggle of geese, school of fish, murder of crows, swarm of bees, pack of dogs, and flock of sheep.

Predicate nouns come after a linking verb and refer back to the subject. Predicate nouns are used as subject complements. (Marley is the cutest girl in my class).

Noun clauses are dependent clauses that function as nouns used as subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, object of a preposition, or predicate nouns.

Appositives are nouns or noun phrases placed next to or very near another noun or noun phrase. Appositives identify, explain, or add to its meaning or renames the initial noun or pronoun. (Lorie, our Class President, spoke at Graduation).

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