Download Grammar Unit 2: Nouns

Grammar Unit 2: Nouns
• A noun is a word that names a person, place,
thing, or idea.
PLACES
park
Sierra Nevada
THINGS
sequoia
backpack
IDEAS
curiosity
Surprise
PERSONS
guide
Terry
Common and Proper Nouns
• A common noun is a general name for a
person, place, thing, or idea. Common nouns
are usually not capitalized.
• A proper noun is the name of a particular
person, place, thing, or idea.
Common: leader
forest
Proper: Sequoia Giant Forest
mountain
Mount Whitney
Concrete and Abstract Nouns
A concrete noun names a thing that can be
seen, heard, smelled, touched, or tasted.
Examples include rainbow, thunder, sapling,
feather, and blueberry.
On the path we spotted a large, slithery
snake.
A abstract noun names an idea, feeling,
quality, or characteristic. Examples include
happiness, beauty, freedom, humor, and
greed.
We felt tremendous relief after the snake
passed us.
*** Every noun is either common or proper and
either concrete or abstract.
For example, desert is common and concrete;
Mohave Desert is proper and concrete. Nature
is common and abstract.
Collective Nouns
• A collective noun is a word that names a
group of people or things. Examples include
class, crowd, family, staff, trio, and team.
Our family gathered around the campfire for
breakfast.
• Some collective nouns name specific groups of
animals. Examples include school, herd, pack,
and colony.
At night, a pack of wolves howled at the moon.
Singular and Plural Nouns
• A singular noun names one person, place,
thing, or idea. A plural noun names more than
one person, place, thing, or idea.
One tourist noticed a statue. (singular nouns)
Many tourists looked at statues. (plural nouns)
One of the hardest things about plural nouns is spelling them
correctly. Use these rules to help.
SINGULAR
RULE
PLURAL
statue
dream
Add –s to most nouns
statues
dreams
wish
sandwich
Add –es to a noun that ends in s, sh, ch, x, or z.
wishes
sandwiches
photo
hero
•Add –s to most nouns that end in o.
•Add –es to a few nouns that end in o.
photos
heroes
city
cities
valley
•For most nouns ending in y, change the y to an i
and add –es.
•When a vowel comes before the y, just add –s.
wolf
life
•For most nouns ending in f or fe, change the f
to v and add –es or –s.
wolves
lives
chief
•Just add –s to a few nouns that end in f or fe.
chiefs
deer
buffalo
For some nouns, keep the same spelling
deer
buffalo
valleys
The plurals of some nouns are
formed in irregular ways.
Singular
man
child
foot
mouse
Plural
men
children
feet
mice
Possessive Nouns
• The possessive form of a noun shows
ownership or relationship.
Rick’s parents met us at the train station.
Relationship
I held Corey’s camera as she tied her shoe.
Ownership
You may use possessive nouns in place of longer
phrases.
We visited (the home of George Washington Carver).
∧
We visited George Washington Carver’s home.
NOUN
RULE
POSSESSIVE
Singular
sun
Charles
Add an apostrophe The sun’s heat
and –s.
Charles’s souvenirs
Plural ending in
-s
states
farmers
Add an
apostrophe.
Plural ending
not ending in -s
children
geese
Add an apostrophe children’s toys
and –s.
geese’s migration
states’ border
farmers’ crops
Compound Nouns
• A compound noun is made of two or more
words used together as a single noun. The
parts of a compound noun may be written as
– a single word: toothbrush, watermelon
– two or more separate words: sleeping bag, dining
room
– a hyphenated word: runner-up, great-aunt
Plural Compound Nouns
One word
Two or more
words or
hyphenated
words
SINGULAR
RULE
PLURAL
rooftop
Add –s to most words
rooftops
paintbrush
Add –es to words that end in
ch, sh, s, x, or z.
paintbrushes
compact disc
lily of the valley
sixteen-year-old
sister-in-law
Make the main noun plural.
The main noun is the noun
that is modified.
compact discs
lilies of the valley
sixteen-year-olds
sisters-in-law
Nouns and Their Jobs
• A noun can be the subject of a sentence or it
can work as a complement.
Nouns as Subjects
• A subject tells whom or what a sentence is
about. Nouns are often subjects, as this
description shows.
Independence Hall in Philadelphia us one
of the nation’s most popular landmarks. Here,
the Declaration of Independence was
approved by the 13 colonies on July 4, 1776.
Nouns as Complements
• A complement is a word that completes the
meaning of the verb. Three kinds of
complements are predicate nouns, direct
objects, and indirect objects.
Nouns as Complements
Predicate Noun Renames or defines the
Benjamin Franklin was a Founding
subject after a linking verb Father of our country.
Direct Object
Names the receiver of the
action of the verb
Thomas Jefferson wrote the
Declaration of Independence.
Indirect Object
Tells to whom or what or
for whom or what an
action is done
Mom gave my brother a miniature
replica of the Liberty Bell.
Nouns in Phrases
• An object of a preposition is the noun or
pronoun that follows the preposition. Nouns
often appear in sentences as objects of
prepositions.
Mount Wilson is an observatory in California.
preposition / \object of a
preposition
Edwin Hubble made many discoveries at the
famous observatory.
Nouns as Appositives
• An appositive is a noun or pronoun that
identifies or renames another noun or
pronoun. An appositive phrase is made up of
an appositive and its modifiers.
The Milky Way, our galaxy, is one of many.
\appositive
Edwin Hubble, the famous astronomer, proved
this.
***Note that you should use commas before
and after the appositive phrase if the
information isn’t essential to understanding
the preceding noun or pronoun.
Cosmology, the study of the universe, owes a
great debt to Hubble.
Common Prepositions
A preposition is a word that shows a relationship
between a noun or a pronoun and some other word in
the sentence.
Robots in outer space perform useful functions.
about
at
despite
like
to
above
before
down
near
toward
across
behind
during
of
under
after
below
except
off
until
against
beneath
for
on
up
along
beside
from
out
with
among
between
in
over
within
around
beyond
inside
past
without
as
by
into
through