Noun

Noun

A noun is a word that represents a person, a place, or a thing. A thing in this definition can be a physical entity or it can be an abstract idea. A noun may be used as a subject of a sentence, as a direct object, as an indirect object, or it may be used as the object of a preposition.

A. Noun as subject

1. Carpenters drive nails with air powered guns.
2. Blackhawk was a famous American Indian.

Carpenters are the subject of the first sentence. Blackhawk is the subject of the second sentence.

B. Noun as direct object

1. Mr. Liu washed the car.
2. The authorities commended Roberta.

Identify a direct object by asking what or whom.

First sentence - Mr. Liu washed what? Answer: car. Car is the direct object of the verb washed.

Second sentence - The authorities commended whom? Answer: Roberta. Roberta is the direct object of the verb commended.

C. Noun as indirect object

1. I sent Stephanie the camera.
2. He bought the dog a kennel.

Identify an indirect object by asking to what, for what, or to whom, for whom.

First sentence - I sent the camera to whom? Answer: Stephanie. Stephanie is the indirect object.

Second sentence - He bought a kennel for what? Answer: dog. Dog is the indirect object.

D. Noun as object of a preposition

1. He pulled the little red wagon to the store.
2. From her perspective, the meeting was a success.

First sentence - The preposition is to, and the object of that preposition is the noun store.
Second sentence - The preposition is from, and the object of that preposition is the noun perspective.

Types of Noun:

Noun Type	Examples
Common Nouns name people, places or things that are not specific.	man, mountain, state, ocean, country, building, cat, airline
Proper Nouns name specific people, places, or things.	Walt Disney, Mount Kilimanjaro, Minnesota, Atlantic Ocean, Australia, Empire State Building, Fluffy, Sun Country
Abstract Nouns name nouns that you can't perceive with your five sense.	love, wealth, happiness, pride, fear, religion, belief, history, communication
Concrete Nouns name nouns that you can perceive with your five senses.	house, ocean, Uncle Mike, bird, photograph, banana, eyes, light, sun, dog, suitcase, flowers
Countable Nouns name nouns that you can count.	bed, cat, movie, train, country, book, phone, match, speaker, clock, pen, David, violin
Uncountable Nouns name nouns that you can't count.	milk, rice, snow, rain, water, food, music
Compound Nouns are made up of two or more words.	tablecloth, eyeglasses, New York, photograph, daughter-in-law, pigtails, sunlight, snowflake
Collective Nouns refer to things or people as a unit.	bunch, audience, flock, team, group, family, band, village
Singular Nouns name one person, place, thing, or idea.	cat, sock, ship, hero, monkey, baby, match
Plural Nouns name more than one person, place, thing, or idea.	cats, socks, ships, heroes, monkeys, babies, matches

Spelling Rules for Making Plural Nouns

1.      Normal Nouns

Normal nouns are made plural simply by adding an s. Because normal nouns are very numerous, this is a very limited list.

Singular	Plural
artichoke	artichokes
bubble	bubbles
chart	charts
drum	drum
egg	eggs

2.      Nouns ending in s, x, z, ch, or sh

Nouns that end in s, x, z, ch, or sh are made plural by adding es. The list below includes only a small sampling.

Singular	Plural
boss	bosses
bus	buses
class	classes
fox	foxes
box	boxes
ax	axes
buzz	buzzes
fizz	fizzes
witch	witches
stitch	stitches
rash	rashes
dish	dishes
marsh	marshes

3.      Nouns ending in y, preceded by a consonant

Nouns that end in y, preceded by a consonant, are made plural by replacing the y with ies.

Singular	Plural
ability	abilities
battery	batteries
candy	candies
city	cities
energy	energies

4.      Nouns ending in y, preceded by a vowel

Nouns that end in y, preceded by a vowel, are treated like normal nouns: just add s.

Singular	Plural
day	days
play	plays
toy	toys
valley	valleys

5.      Nouns ending in o, preceded by a consonant

Some nouns that end in o, preceded by a consonant, are made plural by adding es.

Singular	Plural
echo	echoes
hero	heroes
potato	potatoes
tomato	tomatoes
tomato	tomatoes
zero	zeroes

 Other nouns that end in o and are preceded by a consonant are made plural by just adding s. If in doubt, check a dictionary.

Singular	Plural
casino	casinos
disco	discos
egos	egos
Intro	intros
inferno	infernos
photo	photos
promo	promos
ratio	ratios

 Still other nouns ending in o and preceded by a consonant have both recognized plural forms: add either s or es. If in doubt, check a dictionary.

Singular	Plural
buffalo	buffalos or buffaloes
halo	halos or haloes
mosquito	mosquitos or mosquitoes
gazebo	gazebos or  gazeboes
tornado	tornados or tornadoes
embargo	embargos or embargoes

6.      Nouns ending in f or fe

Some nouns that end in f or fe become plural by changing the f or fe to ves.

Singular	Plural
calf	calves
elf	elves
half	halves
knife	knives
leaf	leaves
life	lives
shelf	shelves
wife	wives

 Other nouns that end in f or fe are treated as normal nouns: just add s.

Singular	Plural
belief	beliefs
brief	briefs
chef	chefs
chief	chiefs
cliff	cliffs
gulf	gulfs
proof	proofs
safe	safes

A small group of nouns that end in f can be made plural either way:

Singular	Plural
hoof	hoofs or hooves
dwarf	dwarfs or dwarves
scarf	scarfs or scarves
loaf	loafs or loaves
staff	staffs or staves
wharf	wharfs or wharves

7.      Irregular Plurals

Many nouns are just, well, different. There’s nothing to do but learn which these are. If in doubt, consult a dictionary.

1.      Some nouns ending in us are made plural by changing the us to i.

Singular	Plural
alumnus	alumni
cactus	cacti
focus	focuses or foci
fungus	funguses or fungi
octopus	octopuses or octopi
nucleus	nuclei
radius	radii
stimulus	stimuli

2.    

           Some nouns ending in is are made plural by changing the is to es.

Singular	Plural
axis	axes
analysis	analyses
basis	bases
crisis	crises
diagnosis	diagnoses
ellipsis	ellipses
hypothesis	hypotheses
oasis	oases
paralysis	paralyses
synthesis	syntheses
synopsis	synopses
thesis	theses

3.     

        Some nouns ending in ix or ex are made plural by changing the ix to ices.

Singular	Plural
appendix	appendices
index	indices
matrix	matrices
vertex	vertices

Some nouns ending in eau are made plural by changing the eau to eaux.

Singular	Plural
beau	beaux
bureau	bureaus or bureaux
chateau	chateaux
tableau	tableaux or tableaus

4.     

       Some nouns become plural by changing the ending to en.

Singular	Plural
child	children
man	men
ox	oxen
woman	women

5.      Some nouns become plural by changing the ending to a.

Singular	Plural
bacterium	bacteria
corpus	corpora
criterion	criteria
curriculum	curricula
datum	data
genus	genera
medium	media
memorandum	memoranda
phenomenon	phenomena
stratum	strata

6.      Some nouns become plural by changing oo to ee.

Singular	Plural
foot	feet
goose	geese
tooth	teeth

7.      Some nouns become plural by changing the ending a to ae.

Singular	Plural
antenna	antennae or antennas
formula	formulae or formulas
nebula	nebulae or nebulas
vertebra	vertebrae

8.      Some nouns become plural by replacing ouse with ice.

Singular	Plural
louse	lice
mouse	mice

Exceptional Nouns:

1.      Some nouns don’t change at all between singular and plural forms.

Singular	Plural
aircraft	aircraft
deer	deer
means	means
moose	moose
offspring	offspring
series	series
sheep	sheep
species	species

2.      Some nouns only have a plural form.

Plural
dregs	pliers
grits	scissors
mumps	shorts
news	victuals

3.      Some nouns have only a singular form in ordinary usage (some of these, like money, cotton, and sugar can be plural when talking about particular kinds).

Singular
coffee	money
corn	silver
cotton	sugar
gold	wheat

4.      Some nouns naming animals have two plural forms.

Singular	Plural
antelope	antelope or antelopes
cod	cod or cods
elk	elk or elks
fish	fish or fishes
flounder	flounder or flounders
grouse	grouse or grouses
herring	herring or herrings
quail	quail or quails
reindeer	reindeer or reindeers
salmon	salmon or salmons

5.      Compound nouns are usually made plural by making the first noun part plural.

Singular	Plural
attorney-general	attorneys-general
brother-in-law	brothers-in-law
father-in-law	fathers-in-law
mother-in-law	mothers-in-law
run batted in	runs batted in
sister-in-law	sisters-in-law