Nouns

Singular and Plural Nouns Nouns can be singular or plural, depending upon whether they name one person, place, thing, or idea or more than one. Singular: boy, body, watch, wife, ox Plural: boys, bodies, watches, wives, oxen

Possessive Nouns The possessive form of a noun can show possession, ownership, or the general relationship between two nouns. Add an apostrophe and –s to form the possessive of a singular noun, even one that already ends in –s. Use an apostrophe alone to form the possessive of a plural noun that ends in –s.

Possessive Nouns Singular Possessive the car’s hood the baby’s bottle the dish’s pattern the valley’s town the calf’s mother the business’s payroll

Possessive Nouns Plural Possessive the cars’ hoods the babies’ bottles the dishes’ patterns the valleys’ towns the calves’ mothers the businesses’ payrolls

Concrete and Abstract Nouns A concrete noun names an object that occupies space or that can be recognized by any of the senses. –petalsmokecoughorange An abstract noun names an idea, a quality, or a characteristic. motionhumorquantitytact

Proper Nouns A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, thing, or idea. Person: Sean Connery Uncle Peter Place: Mexico Lake George Thing: Statue of Liberty Thanksgiving Idea: Baroque Age Judaism

Common Nouns A common noun is the general-not the particular-name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Person: actor uncle Place: country lake Thing: statue holiday Idea: era religion

Collective Nouns A collective noun names a group. family(the) senate (the) public(a) gaggle (of geese) team(an) audience (the) press(the) board (of directors)

Collective Nouns You consider a collective noun singular when you talk about a group as a whole. Singular: The audience shouts its approval.

Collective Nouns You consider a collective noun plural when you talk about the individual members of the group. Plural: The audience have arrived in small groups.