2. NOUN
A noun is a word that names a person, place,
a thing, a quality or an idea. It comes from the
Latin word namen which means name. (Shane
1956)
Nouns are easily recognized because they
often follow the articles the, a or an.
Sometimes adjectives come between articles
and the nouns follow them, but a noun will still
answer “What?” after an article. (Emery 1977)
Examples:
the road
the long, winding road
a contract
a binding contract
Simple Form
Without a/an
Singular & Plural
Expressions
Specialized Meanings
• business cake
• cake
• candy
• change
• company
• experience
• glass
• iron (metal)
• lace
• lamb
• mint (the plant)
• paper
• room
• youth (quality of
being young)
• a business -
businesses
• a cake - cakes
• a candy - candies
• a change - changes
• a company -
companies
• an experience -
experiences
• a glass - glasses
• an iron - irons
• a lace - laces
• a lamb - lambs
• a mint - mints
• a paper - papers
• a room - rooms
• a youth - youths
• stores or factory
• cake of a special size or
shape
• individual pieces of candy
• alterations
• business
establishments/military
units
• isolated instances of
experience
• receptable for drinking
mirrors eye glasses
• household appliance for
smoothing clothing
• strings for lacing (e.g.,
shoes)
• animals
• candies floavored with mint
• newspapers written
compositions
• partitioned area
• individual young people
3. All the underlined words in the passages below are NOUNS:
Liberalism is trust of the people, tempered by prudence
Revenge is a kind of wild justice.
Silence is deep as eternity: speech is shallow as Time
Silence and modesty are very valuable qualities in
conversation.
4. KINDS OF NOUNS
Nouns are numerous but they only fall under two types - the common and the proper nouns.
1. Common Nouns - Nouns which may be used for any person or objects of a certain kind.
Examples:
man industry street plant hospital doctor
a) Abstract Nouns - nouns that name things which do not have physical existence. They name qualities,
ideas, and mental concepts.
Examples:
love independence democracy industry intelligence diligence
b) Concrete Nouns - nouns that name things which have physical existence and can be perceived by the
sense of touch, hearing, smell, sight and taste.
Examples:
pomelo cake gardenia bench chocolate bar fan
c) Collective Nouns - nouns that name classes or groups taken as one, or collectively. Although a collective
noun refers to more than one, it is singular in form (Shaw 1980)
Examples:
fleet orchestra team navy family crew
