Download Nouns * people, places, things, and ideas

Grammar Glossary
Types of Nouns
Common Nouns – people, places, things(objects), and ideas that are not capitalized
Examples: girl, boy, school, lake, monument, city, loyalty, friendship
Proper Nouns – specific, capitalized nouns (names)
Examples: Sarah, Jake, Shaker Junior High, Lake George, Washington Monument, Statue of Liberty
Singular Noun – only one person, place, thing, or idea (single)
Examples: girl, boy, Hudson River, Statue of Liberty, friendship
Plural Noun – more than one person, place, thing, or idea
Examples: girls, boys, rivers, statues, friendships, mice, geese
Abstract Noun – a noun that does not have physical form or substance; often an idea or emotion
Examples: friendship, loyalty, love, anger
Concrete Noun – a noun that has physical form or substance
Examples: tables, girl, Lake George
*Remember, the same noun can be categorized in more than one way. For example, boy is a singular, common noun, as
well as a concrete noun.
Nouns have many roles in a sentence. Sometimes they can act as adverbs and adjectives, but their main jobs in a
sentence are to be the subject, direct object, indirect object, or object of a preposition.
Subjects – Every sentence must have at least one subject. The subject is who or what the sentence is about. Usually
the subject is “doing” the action, and usually the subject is at the beginning of the sentence.
John bought flowers. John is the subject.
Direct Objects must follow an action verb. They answer the questions who or what and receive the action of the verb.
John bought flowers. What did he buy? Flowers – direct object
Indirect Objects must be in between an action verb and a direct object. They tell the reader: to whom, for whom, to
what, for what.
John bought Susan flowers. What did he buy? Flowers For whom did he buy them? Susan – indirect object
Objects of the Preposition are found at the end of a prepositional phrase.
John put the flowers in a vase. What did he place? Flowers – direct object
vase is the object of the preposition.
Alec gave Keenan advice. Alec - subject
“In a vase” is a prepositional phrase and
gave – action verb advice – direct object Keenan – indirect object
Katie popped Bella’s bubble. Katie – subject popped – action verb bubble – direct object….Bella’s is showing
ownership, so it modifies bubble instead of acting as an indirect object.
Pronouns – take the place of nouns and other pronouns. The word or words the pronoun takes the place of is called the
antecedent. Pronouns must agree in number with their antecedents.
John went to the park. He met some friends there. John – antecedent he – pronoun
There are many kinds of pronouns:
Personal pronouns – subject (nominative), object (objective), and possessive
Subject pronouns replace nouns acting as the subject of a sentence. I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they, who
Object pronouns replace nouns acting as a direct object, indirect object, or object of the preposition. me, you, him, her,
it, us, you, them, whom
Possessive pronouns show ownership and replace nouns using an apostrophe. Possessive pronouns do not need
the apostrophe. my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, your, yours, their, theirs, whose
Demonstrative pronouns – this, that, these, those
Interrogative pronouns – who, whom, whose, which, what
Indefinite pronouns – can be used as both subjects and objects
singular indefinite pronouns – everyone, everybody, anybody, anything, anyone, each, either, neither, nobody, no
one, one somebody, someone
plural indefinite pronouns – both, many, several, few
singular or plural depending on the prepositional phrase that follows – all, any, most, none, some
Reflexive and intensive – must be used as an object and refer to a noun in the sentence – myself, herself, himself,
themselves, itself, ourselves, yourself
Adjectives – describe, or modify, nouns and pronouns. Adjectives tell the reader what kind, which one, or how
many.
a, an, the – articles; types of adjectives which explain which one.
A man walked down the quiet street.
this, that, these, those – demonstrative pronouns which can be used as adjectives
This book belongs to me.
Remember, sometimes nouns can be used as adjectives.
The French class will meet on Wednesday.
The tall, athletic girl is trying out for the basketball team.
The furry, black kitten quietly purred as he sat on the warm, blue blanket.
Comparative adjectives – compare two things by adding -er or using more
Superlative adjectives– compare three or more by adding -est or using most
Adverbs - words that describe or modify action verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They tell the reader where, when,
how, and to what extent
John very carefully unwrapped the fragile vase. Very modifies carefully, and carefully modifies unwrapped.
Common adverbs: here, there, away, up, outside, now, then, later, soon, ago, clearly, easily, quietly, slowly, quickly,
never, always, often, seldom, usually, rarely, frequently, very, too, almost, so, really, most, nearly, quite, forever
Conjunctions – used to join words or groups of words
Coordinating conjunctions connect words used in the same way, such as two noun, two adjectives, two prepositional
phrases, two independent clauses: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. (fanboys)
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions used to connect words or groups of words used in the same way:
both...and, neither…nor, whether...or, either…or, not only….but also.
Interjections – words used to express emotion; followed by an exclamation point or a comma
Commonly used interjections: aw, hey, wow, well, oops, hooray, ouch…
Verbs
Action verbs – express a physical or mental action; transitive action verbs express and action directed at a person or
thing, so they need a direct object; intransitive action verbs do not pass the action to a receiver.
Joel held the baby. Transitive
Mark sang beautifully. Intransitive
Linking verbs – link, or connect, the subject with a noun, pronoun, or adjective in the predicate or expresses a state of
being; no action occurs
Linking verbs formed from the verb be: is, am, are, was, were, being, be, has been, have been, will be, may be, could be,
should be, would be, should have been, will have been, was being
Linking verbs that also can be action verbs: appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, stay, taste,
turn
Helping verbs – help the main verb to express and action or state of being (A verb phrase consists of a main verb
preceded by at least one helping verb.)
Forms of be (also can be linking verbs): is, am, are, was, were, been, being, be
Forms of do (also can be action verbs): do, does, did
Forms of have (also can be action verbs): have, has, had
Always helping verbs: can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, must, might
Gerund – a verb form ending in –ing that is used as a noun
Gardening was a favorite hobby Luke’s grandmother.
Infinitive – a verb form that can be used as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. An infinitive usually begins with to.
To install the ceiling fan took two hours.
Participial phrase – a verb form and its related words; modifies a noun or pronoun; like a prepositional phrase, should be
as close as possible to the word it modifies
Yelling wildly, the bandits chased the stagecoach.
The vase, broken into many pieces, was lying on the ground.
Clause – a group of words that contains a verb and its subject and is used as part of a sentence.
An adjective clause modifies a noun or pronoun and often begins with a pronoun such as that, which, who, whom, or
whose. An adverb clause modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb and often begins with a subordinate conjunction
like although, while, if, when, or because. Clauses should be placed near the words they modify.
As he looked up, my brother saw a hawk circling.
A little boy who was lost came up to us.
Appositive – a noun or pronoun placed beside another noun or pronoun to identify or explain it. An appositive phrase
consists of an appositive and its modifiers.
We will read the novel The Thief of Always.
The explorers saw a strange animal, something with fur and a bill like a duck’s.