All you need to know about nouns
Nouns are essential words in any language. They are used regularly in speaking and writing. Try to put together a couple of sentences without using a noun and you will have problems. We use nouns all the time and we see them all around us in our daily lives.
It is convenient to put the words that make up a language into groups according to what they do, and the noun group is massive. A noun is a word used to name a person, an object, a place, an animal or an idea.
Nouns are the first type of words that a baby learns to say when it starts to talk. We can draw pictures of most nouns if we want to and we can touch some nouns with our hands. Nouns can be divided into the following groups.
1. Proper Nouns - these are the names of people, days, months, organisations, places, titles of books or films. They are particular things. We begin a proper noun with a capital letter. Tom Cruise, Monday, January, World Health Organisation, Manchester, War of the Worlds.
2. Common Nouns - these are the names of everyday objects.
E.g. pen, book, boy.
3. Abstract Nouns - these are things that you cannot see. Air, bitterness, sweetness, oxygen, softness.
4. Collective Nouns - these are groups of things. Flock, swarm, herd.
Now your turn
Select a noun from this list and put it into the gap to complete the sentence. There are more nouns than you need, so be careful.
desktop/interview/movie/watch/Christmas/cousin/gadget/Tuesday/pen/screen/fast-food/jeans/television/magazine
1. Next ............ we are having a big maths test at school.
2. Chris is my Aunt Peggy's son. He's the only ......... I have.
3. Have you got a ......? I have to sign my name on this form.
4. Tom wears baggy ....... all the time.
5. My favourite is McDonald's ............ because it is cheap.
6. The ...... on my new mobile phone is 128 x 128 pixels.
7. The MP3 is my favourite ............
8. Tomorrow morning I have to attend an important .......
Your turn again
Choose your own noun to put in these gaps to complete the sentence.
1. I read a ................ every day if I have time. It is important to keep up with world .......
2. It is my grandparents' wedding ............. next month. What shall I buy them?
3. The ...... is so overcast today we can't see the sun.
4. So many cars! I hate driving in heavy ..... like this.
5. The government intends to change the ..... about smoking in public places.
6. If this dry weather goes on, there will be a .......... shortage before long.
7. We had a great holiday in Thailand without spending too much ......
8. He's not on the tennis team because he had a bad ......... last week.
Answers:
Tuesday/cousin/pen/jeans/fast-food/screen/gadget/interview
newspaper/events (happenings/news)/anniversary/sky/traffic/law/water/money/accident (fall)
