All about Nouns

Types of Nouns

• There are nine types of nouns that will be explored
• The types of nouns are abstract, concrete, collective, compound, gender-specific, gerund, non-countable, countable, and verbal nouns

Categories of Nouns

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

Common Nouns

• Common nouns are words found in a dictionary that refer to general people, places, or things
• Examples include boy, city, cafe, mountain, apple, bear, and hurricane.

Proper Nouns

• Proper nouns are specific names or titles given to people, places, or things to make them more specific
• Examples include Blackbeard, Toby, Coco, Paris, Coffee Hut, Mount Everest, Granny Smith, Barney, and Hurricane Aaron.
• Proper nouns always start with a capital letter, while common nouns only have a capital letter when they begin a sentence

Abstract Nouns

• Abstract nouns represent things that cannot be seen, touched, or sensed.
• Examples include fear, anger, comfort, bravery, health, and freedom

Concrete Nouns

• Concrete nouns are things that can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, or tasted
• Examples include wave, hammer, and lobster.

Collective Nouns

• Collective nouns represent groups of things, whether people, animals, or objects
• Examples: team, gang, choir, a gang of thieves, a murder of crows, a fleet of ships
• Collective nouns can be treated as singular or plural, but should generally be treated as singular
• It is acceptable to treat a collective noun as plural when focusing on the individuals within the group

Compound Nouns

• Compound nouns are made up of two or more words.
• Examples include mother-in-law, bus stop, and snowman
• Compound nouns can be written with spaces (open compound nouns), without spaces (closed compound nouns), or with hyphens (hyphenated compound nouns).

Gender-Specific Nouns

• Gender-specific nouns are specifically male or female
• Masculine examples: rooster, man, bull elephant
• Feminine examples: hen, women, tigress
• Non-gender-specific nouns are neutral: chicken, doctor, hippopotamus

Gerunds

• Gerunds are nouns formed from a verb and always end in "-ing."
• Examples include singing, talking, and thinking
• A gerund can be modified by an adverb and take an object
• Gerunds retain some verb-like properties but are nouns

Non-Countable Nouns

• Non-countable nouns have no plural form
• Examples include milk, water, patience, strength, ice, knowledge, and wine.
• They can have plural forms when referring to categories of that noun

Countable Nouns

• Countable nouns do have a plural form.
• Examples include lemon, hamburger, pizza, orange, elephants, and crocodile

Verbal Nouns

• Verbal nouns are non-gerund nouns formed from a verb.
• Examples include development, drawing, and attack
• They do not have verb-like properties
• Examples: arrival (from the verb to arrive), decision (from to decide), repetition (from to repeat), building (from to build)
• Verbal nouns can be pluralized, modified by an adjective, and followed by a prepositional phrase.

Verbal Nouns vs. Gerunds

• A verbal noun can be modified with a determiner and an adjective, and it is often followed by a prepositional phrase
• A gerund is modified with an adverb (like a verb) and can take a direct object
• It is generally better to use gerunds for clearer and more concise writing