noun
word class naming people or things
A kind of word that is used to name a person, place, thing, or idea, like "teacher", "city", or "happiness".
the noun for [adjective]
- In the sentence "The cat slept", the word "cat" is a noun.
- Children often learn that a noun is a word for a person, place, or thing.
- The teacher asked the class to underline every noun in the paragraph.
- Words like "freedom" and "happiness" are also nouns, even though you cannot touch them.
- In this example, "information" is an uncountable noun.
- "Dog" is a noun.
- The word "school" is a noun for a place.
- We can use the noun "love" to talk about a strong feeling.
- Please write three nouns on the board.
- What is the noun for the adjective "happy"?
abstract noun
1noun for ideas or qualities
A noun that names something you cannot see or touch, like an idea, feeling, or quality, for example "freedom", "happiness", or "honesty".
- "Happiness" is an abstract noun because it is a feeling, not a physical thing.
- The teacher asked the class to find three abstract nouns in the poem.
- Words such as "justice" and "friendship" are abstract nouns.
common noun
1general name for a type of thing
A noun that gives a general name to a person, place, or thing, not a special name, like "city", "teacher", or "car".
- "City" is a common noun, but "Tokyo" is a proper noun.
- The worksheet asks students to circle all the common nouns in the text.
- Words such as "dog", "book", and "mountain" are common nouns.
concrete noun
1noun for physical things
A noun that names something you can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch, such as "apple", "music", or "dog".
- "Table" is a concrete noun because you can touch it.
- The list includes both abstract and concrete nouns.
- Learners often understand concrete nouns more easily than abstract nouns.
countable noun
1noun that can be counted
A noun that you can count with numbers and usually has both singular and plural forms, like "one book", "two books".
- "Apple" is a countable noun: you can say "one apple" or "three apples".
- With countable nouns, you can use "a" or "an" before the singular form.
- The chart shows the difference between countable nouns and uncountable nouns.
noun clause
1clause used like a noun
A group of words with a subject and verb that together act like a noun in a sentence, for example "what you said" in "I liked what you said".
- In the sentence "What she decided surprised everyone", the words "What she decided" form a noun clause.
- A noun clause can be the subject, object, or complement of a verb.
- Learners often find it difficult to identify noun clauses in complex sentences.
noun phrase
1phrase that functions as a noun
A group of words built around a noun that together act like one noun in a sentence, for example "the big red car".
- In the sentence "The tall man in the hat smiled", the words "the tall man in the hat" form a noun phrase.
- A noun phrase can be the subject or the object of a verb.
- The teacher showed how adjectives and prepositional phrases can expand a simple noun into a noun phrase.
uncountable noun
1noun that is not countable
A noun that you do not usually count with numbers and that does not normally have a plural form, like "water", "rice", or "information".
- "Rice" is an uncountable noun, so we do not normally say "rices".
- With uncountable nouns, we use words like "some" or "a piece of" instead of "a" or "an".
- Many learners make mistakes with articles before uncountable nouns.
collective noun
1grammar term for group word
A noun that talks about a group of people or things as one thing, like "team", "family", or "audience".
- Students often confuse plural nouns with collective nouns.
- "Team" is a collective noun that refers to a group of players.
- The teacher asked the class to list five collective nouns.
- In British English, a collective noun can take a plural verb when the group is seen as individuals.
- In British English, many collective nouns can take plural verbs.
- Words like "family", "staff", and "crowd" are common collective nouns.
proper noun
1name of specific person/place/thing
A noun that names a specific person, place, or thing and starts with a capital letter in English.
- 'London' and 'Sarah' are examples of proper nouns.
- "Paris" is a proper noun because it is the name of one specific city.
- In English, days of the week are written as proper nouns.
- In English, we write proper nouns with a capital letter at the beginning.
- Names of months, such as "July", are also proper nouns.