NOUNS

WH

AT

IS

A N

OU

N?

WHAT IS A NOUN?

• A noun is a word that names a person, a place, or a thing.

How many nouns are in the following sentence?

• The birds rested in their nests in the trees by my house.

PRACTICE

• The birds rested in their nests in the trees by my house.

• There were 4 nouns in that sentence.

EXAMPLES

• Persons: girl, student, Ms. Knapp, policeman

• Places: school, park, Dearborn, Alaska

• Things: flag, book, pencil

COMMON AND P

ROPER

NOUNS

COMMON VS. PROPER

• A common noun is used when you are talking about persons, places, or things in general.

• A proper noun is used when you are talking about specific persons, places, or things.

COMMON VS. PROPER

Are the following words common or proper?

• school

• october

• monday

• frog

• los angelos

• beach

SINGULA

R AND P

LURAL

NOUNS

SINGULAR VS. PLURAL

• A singular noun names one place, person, thing, or idea.

• A plural noun names more than one place, person, thing, or idea.

RULES FOR CHANGING SINGULAR TO PLURAL

• For most nouns, you just need to add an “s” to the end of the word.

• kid kids

• park parks

• car cars

RULES FOR CHANGING SINGULAR TO PLURAL

• For nouns ending in s, x, ch, or sh, you need to add an “-es” to the end of the word.

• cross crosses

• tax taxes

• bunch bunches

• hush hushes

RULES FOR CHANGING SINGULAR TO PLURAL

• For nouns ending in a vowel and a y, add “–s”.

• key keys

• toy toys

• pray prays

RULES FOR CHANGING SINGULAR TO PLURAL

• For nouns ending in a consonant and a y, change the y to an i and add “–es”.

• sky skies

• try tries

• imply implies

RULES FOR CHANGING SINGULAR TO PLURAL

• For nouns ending in f or fe, change the f to a v and add “es”; for other nouns, just add “s”.

• life lives

• half halves

• sniff sniffs

RULES FOR CHANGING SINGULAR TO PLURAL

• For nouns ending in a vowel and o, add “s”.

• rodeo rodeos

• radio radios

RULES FOR CHANGING SINGULAR TO PLURAL

• For nouns ending in a consonant and o, add “s” or “-es”.

• solo solos

• tomato tomatoes

• potato potatoes

• piano pianos

RULES FOR CHANGING SINGULAR TO PLURAL

• Some nouns have unique changes from singular to plural.

• mouse mice

• goose geese

• octopus octopi

• foot feet

RULES FOR CHANGING SINGULAR TO PLURAL

• Some nouns stay the same from singular to plural.

• deer deer

• moose moose

• fish fish

SINGULA

R POSSESSIV

E

NOUNS

WHAT IS A SINGULAR POSSESSIVE NOUN?

• It shows that one person, place, or thing has or owns something.

• To show ownership, add an apostrophe and an s (‘s)

EXAMPLES

• The fur of the dog

• The dog’s fur

• The tail of the fox

• The fox’s tail

EXAMPLES

• The name of the dog

• The dog’s name

• The class of Ms. Knapp

• Ms. Knapp’s class

PLURAL P

OSSESSIVE

NOUNS

WHAT IS A PLURAL POSSESSIVE NOUN?

• It shows ownership of a plural noun.

If it ends in an “s” already, just add an apostrophe.

If it doesn’t end in an “s”, add an apostrophe and an s.

EXAMPLES

• The yards of the neighbors

• The people’s names

• The cars of the teachers

• The teachers’ cars

EXAMPLES

• The names of the people

• The neighbor’s yards

• The crayons of the children

• The children’s crayons