Nouns

Presented by:

Fay Virrey
College of Arts and Sciences
 What is a NOUN?
A “noun” is the name of a person, place, or thing.
person - Socrates, actor, Mr. Uy
place - Scotland, forest, James St.
The category thingcontains subcategories.
visible things - duck, daffodil, desk
ideas - capitalism, Christianity, 1944
actions - competition, exercise, labor
conditions - joy, health, happiness
qualities - compassion, intelligence, drive
 Where are the nouns?
Here’s an exercise. Look for the nouns in the following
nursery rhymes.
Jack and Jill went up the hill CHECK

To fetch a pail of water

Jack fell down and broke his crown
And Jill came tumbling after.
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are
CHECK
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky
 Number of Nouns
Is it SINGULAR or PLURAL?
A Singular Noun names one person, place, or thing.
A Plural Noun names more than one person, place, or
thing. Most plural nouns are formed by adding -s or -es to
their singular forms. Some nouns, however, form their
plurals in other ways and must be memorized.
Notice that the
Examples: examples of plurals in
the left column are
meal - meals knife - knives formed in unusual
brush - brushes alumnus - alumni ways.
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.
Most nouns add the letter s to the singular to form the plural.
1.
lamp lamps college colleges
dance dances manager managers
chief chiefs dynamo dynamos
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.

2. Nouns ending in s, sh, ch, x, or z form the plural by adding es.

The plural adds another syllable in the pronunciation.
dress dresses couch couches
match matches waltz waltzes
tax taxes loss losses
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.

3. Nouns ending in o preceded by a vowel add s. Musical terms

ending in o add s.
patio patios piano pianos
rodeo rodeos alto altos
Some nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant add s.
Others add es. Some form the plural either way.
Add “s” kimono kimonos zero zeros
Add “es” Negro Negroes hero heroes
Add “s” or “es” cargo cargos cargoes
motto mottos mottoes
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.

4. Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant, change the y to

i and add es.
party parties country countries
city cities enemy enemies
lady ladies berry berries
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.

5. Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel, usually add s. In

many cases, the vowel before the final y is e.
boy boys day days
alley alleys journey journeys
key keys valley valleys
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.

6. Some nouns ending in f or fe change the f or the fe to v and

add es. Some nouns ending in f have two plurals.
Change to “ves” Add “s” or change to “ves”
wife wives scarf scarfs scarves

thief thieves wharf wharfs wharves

half halves hoof hoofs hooves

 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.

7. Some nouns form their plural by a change in the word.

man men mouse mice
foot feet goose geese
tooth teeth louse lice
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.
Some nouns have the same form for both singular and plural.
8.
sheep sheep species species
Chinese Chinese series series
fish fish salmon salmon (or salmons)
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.

9. The plural of compound nouns are generally formed by

adding s to the principal word in the compound.
mother-in-law mothers-in-law
board of education boards of education
attorney general attorneys general or attorney generals
court-martial courts-martial
Sometimes both parts of the compound are made plural.
man servant menservants
woman doctor women doctors
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO. 9 continued…
Sometimes an s or es is added to the end of the compound. In
that case, there is no important word in the compound.
forget-me-not forget-me-nots
toothbrush toothbrushes

Compounds ending in ful are made plural by adding s to the

end of the compound. This rule applies when the same
container is filled a number of times.
spoonful spoonfuls handful handfuls
bucketful bucketfuls cupful cupfuls
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.

10. The plurals of proper nouns are formed by adding s or es.

There are three Ruths in the class.
The two Burnses left the hall.
The Joneses and the Smiths attended.

The spelling of proper names must not be changed. If we

followed the rule for words ending in y in the case of
Mary, we would change the y to i and add es. The name
would then be changed to Maries. The correct plural for
Mary is Marys.
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.

11. Titles are made plural in several ways.

Miss Misses
Mr. Messrs
Mrs. (has no plural)
Madam Mesdames (sometimes used for the plural of Mrs.)
Either form of the following plurals is correct.
The Misses Thomas or the Miss Thomases
The Messrs Churchill or the Mr. Churchills
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.
Words taken from foreign languages usually retain their
12. foreign plurals. Some of these words are used so
commonly that they have acquired an English plural.
Foreign Word Foreign Plural English Plural
alumna alumnae ——
alumnus alumni ——
analysis analyses ——
appendix appendices appendixes
bacterium bacteria ——
basis bases ——
cactus cacti cactuses
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.
Words taken from foreign languages usually retain their
12. foreign plurals. Some of these words are used so
commonly that they have acquired an English plural.
Foreign Word Foreign Plural English Plural
crisis crises ——
criterion criteria criterions
curriculum curricula curriculums
datum data ——
formula formulae formulas
gymnasium gymnasia gymnasiums
hypothesis hypotheses ——
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.
Words taken from foreign languages usually retain their
12. foreign plurals. Some of these words are used so
commonly that they have acquired an English plural.
Foreign Word Foreign Plural English Plural
index indices indexes
madam mesdames ——
medium media mediums
memorandum memoranda memorandums
parenthesis parentheses ——
phenomenon phenomena ——
radius radii radiuses
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.
The plural of numbers, letters, signs, and symbols is formed
13. by adding the apostrophe and s.
Your 2’s look like your 3’s.
You use too many ands in your writing. or
You use too many and’s in your writing.
You must always cross your t’s.
He received three A’s and two B’s last semester.
 Number of Nouns
Methods of forming the plural of nouns:
RULE NO.
The following nouns are used only in the plural. You may
14. find some of them used in the singular, but the general
practice is to regard them as plural.
trousers shears contents
pants pliers riches
scissors alms scales (weighing)
billiards nuptials remains
clothes gallows victuals
1. Sheep
2. Box
3. Leaf
4. Bystander
5. Shoes
6. Necklace
7. Fish
8. Attorney General
9. Pants
10.Measles
11. Criterion
12. Mr. Mantuano
13. Scarf
14. Hoof
15. Alumnus
16. Index
17. Appendix
18. Nail
19. Knife
20. Medium
 Classification of Nouns
Is it CONCRETE or ABSTRACT?
A Concrete Noun names something you can see, touch, taste, hear,
or smell.
An Abstract Noun names something you cannot perceive through
any of your five senses.

Concrete Nouns Abstract Nouns

mother hope
fabric improvement
chocolate evil
music desperation
perfume cooperation
 Kinds of Nouns
Is it PROPER or COMMON?
A Proper Noun is the name of a specific person, place or thing.
A Common Noun is the name used for any unspecified
member of a class of persons, places, things, qualities or
concepts.
P C P
•Lincoln attracts many visitors to New York City.
P C
•England occupies the largest, southern part of the
C
country.
 Is it PROPER or COMMON?
Try this exercise. Tell whether the given noun is proper or common.

McDonald’s lunch
food crew
deliverer janitor
San Pablo Shopping Mall BigMac
franchise Management Trainee
Chicken McNuggets Coca-Cola CHECK
 Is it PROPER or COMMON?
PROPER COMMON
McDonald’s lunch
BigMac crew
Management Trainee janitor
San Pablo Shopping Mall food
Coca-Cola deliverer
Chicken McNuggets franchise
Notice that all the Proper Nouns starts with a capital letter.
 Other Kinds of Nouns
A Collective Noun may represent a group or class considered
as a unit, and is considered as singular.
1. The army is advancing slowly.
2. The band has played well.
On the other hand, it may also represent a group or class
considered as individuals. In this case, the collective noun is
considered as plural.
1. The audience are leaving their seats now.
2. The committee disagree with the stand.
 Other Kinds of Nouns
Some of the most common collective nouns are:
audience crowd group couple majority
committee herd family flock army
team jury class band
 Other Kinds of Nouns
A Compound noun is a noun made up of two words.
Examples:
Separated bubble bath, station wagon,
life preserver, coffee table
Hyphenated daughter-in-law, hand-me-down,
jack-’o-lantern, aide-de-camp
Combined shipwreck, grandstand,
schoolwork, dreamland
 Gender of Nouns
Gender means the classification of nouns according to
distinctions in sex.
There are four genders:
1. Masculine gender – denotes the male sex.
– ex. father, boy, prince
2. Feminine gender – denotes the female sex.
– ex. mother, girl, princess
3. Common gender – denotes either sex.
– ex. child, adult, cousin
4. Neuter gender – denotes the absence of sex.
– ex. table, book, dress
 Gender of Nouns
Special forms to show gender:
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
uncle aunt bachelor spinster
bull cow executor executrix
waiter waitress baron baroness
alumnus alumna he she
emperor empress lad lass
host hostess man woman
peacock peahen rooster hen
male female master mistress
monk nun brother sister
actor actress drake duck
 Gender of Nouns
Special forms to show gender:
Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
god goddess prince princess
aviator aviatrix fiancé fiancée
hero heroine stallion mare
count (title) countess father mother
gander goose him her
sir madam widower widow
ram ewe husband wife
lion lioness buck (stag) doe
duke duchess landlord landlady
nephew niece son daughter
 Functions of Nouns
1. Subjects: subject of clauses. A clause is defined as consisting
of a subject and predicate. Ex: The baby cried.
2. Predicate Nominatives: follows a copular or linking verb
such as be and become and refers back to the subject. Ex:
My grandfather is a farmer.
3. Direct Objects: relates to the verb. Answers the question
what. Ex: The children ate all the cookies.
4. Object Complements: directly follows and modifies the
direct object. Ex: We consider our puppy our baby.
 Functions of Nouns
5. Indirect Objects: relates to the verb. Answers the questions
to whom and for whom. Ex: My husband bought me
flowers.
6. Prepositional Complements: functions as the object of a
preposition. Ex: The students studied during their spring
break.
7. Noun Phrase Modifiers: describes a noun or noun phrase.
Ex: The carpenter fixed the broken table leg.
 Functions of Nouns
8. Possessive Modifiers: consists of a noun or noun phrase and
the possessive clitic (apostrophe s or s apostrophe) and
describe another noun or noun phrase. Ex: The librarians'
report was informative.
9. Appositives: modifies or explains another noun or noun
phrase. Ex: My grandfather the farmer bought more farm
land.
10. Adverbials: modifies an entire clause by providing
information such as time, place, manner, condition, reason,
or purpose. Ex: Today the children woke up early.