(TBASF) Lesson Topic 1: Nouns

Nouns are the building blocks of any language. A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. A proper noun which names a specific person, place, or thing is almost always capitalized.

Watch the following classic "Schoolhouse Rock" video called "A Noun is a Person, Place, or Thing."

While watching, look for examples of how nouns identify or name things. A noun can tell who, what, or where.

Who	What	Where
man	backpack	city
baby	mouse	garden
teacher	happiness	attic
student	rhino	basement
clown	chair	bookstore

Nouns name people, places, and things. Read the sentence that follows:

George walked to Papa John's to order a large pepperoni pizza.

George is a person. Papa John's is a place. Pizza is a thing.

 

Classes of Nouns

Not only is it important to know that a noun is a person, place, or thing, but it is also important to know the different classes of nouns.

Nouns have different classes: proper and common, concrete and abstract, count and noncount, and collective.

 

Proper nouns name specific, one-of-a-kind items while common nouns identify the general varieties. Proper nouns always begin with capital letters; common nouns, on the other hand, only require capitalization if they start the sentence or are part of a title. Read these two versions:

George and Godzilla dined at Papa John's.

George, Godzilla, Papa John's = proper nouns.

A boy and his monster dined at a pizza restaurant.

Boy, monster, restaurant = common nouns.

 

We classify concrete and abstract nouns by their ability to register one of the five senses. If we can see, hear, smell, taste, or feel the item, it is a concrete noun. If, however, we cannot experience the item with any of our senses, it is abstract. Concrete nouns name things that exist physically such as sidewalk, bird, toy, hair, and rain. Abstract nouns name ideas, characteristics, or qualities such as courage, pride, goodness, and success.

Here are two examples:

Pizza is Godzilla's favorite food.

Pizza = concrete because you can see, hear, smell, feel, and taste it.

Godzilla never tips the delivery boy from Papa John's; politeness is not one of Godzilla's strong points.

Politeness = abstract (you cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or feel the quality itself).

 

Countable nouns refer to things that we can count and that can be singular or plural. Noncount or uncountable nouns refer to things we cannot count. Noncount nouns can be abstract, like justice, or can refer to things presented as a group, like furniture. A collective noun is a special kind of noun that refers to a collection of objects--often animals--such as a flock of birds, or a pride of lions.

 

Plural and Singular Nouns

Nouns can be singular or plural in form. Plural means two or more. Plurals are formed by adding s, es, changing y to i and adding es, and with changes in spelling as in man becoming men. Examples: car, cars; fox, foxes; baby, babies, man, men.

 

Compound Nouns

Compound nouns are made up of, or formed from more than one word such as wallpaper, toothpaste, haircut, and home run.

Complete the following self-assessments to review the material in this lesson. 

 

 

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