Chapter 9 – Nouns

I. Kinds of Nouns (Noun – names a person, place, thing, or idea)

A. Proper Noun – names a specific person, place, thing, or idea

B. Common Noun – names any person, place, thing, or idea and can be concrete or abstract

1. Concrete nouns name things that you can see or touch.

2. Abstract nouns name ideas, qualities, or feelings that cannot be seen or touched.

II. Compound Nouns – words made up of two or more words

  1. One word compound noun – two words that make one

Examples: doorknob, homeroom, strongbox, bookmark, necklace

  1. Hyphenated compound nouns – two or more words joined by hyphens

Examples: age-group, runner-up, great-grandmother, kilowatt-hour

  1. More than one word – two words that have one meaning

Examples: dining room, motion picture, maid of honor, music box

Forming Plural Compound Nouns
To Make Plural / Examples
One Word / Add sto most words. Add es to most words that end in ch, sh, s, or x. / neclaces, leftovers, strongboxes
Hyphenated / Make the most important part of the word plural. / runners-up, mothers-in-law, great-grandmothers
More than one word / Make the most important part of the word plural. / music boxes, dining rooms, maids of honor

III. Possessive Nouns – Names who or what owns or has something

  1. Possessive nouns can be common or proper nouns.
  2. Possessive nouns show ownership.
  3. Possessive nouns can be singular or plural.

Forming Possessive Nouns
Nouns / To form Possessive / Examples
Most singular nouns / Add an apostrophe and s ('s). / a girl - a girl's coat Wichita - Wichita's population
Singular nouns ending in s / Add an apostrophe and s ('s). / Joseph Ives - Joseph Ives's clock Alexis - Alexis's book
Plural nouns ending in s / Add an apostrophe ('). / boys - boys' shoes the Wrights - the Wrights' plane
Plural nouns not ending in s / Add an apostrophe and s ('s). / children - children's toys women - women's organization

IV. Distinguishing Plurals, Possessives, and Contractions

  1. Plural nouns do not have apostrophes.
  2. Plural possessive nouns end with an apostrophe.
  3. Singular possessive nouns end with an apostrophe and an s. (boy’s)

Plural and Possessive Nouns
Example / Meaning
Plural Noun / The scientists met. / more than one scientist
Plural Possessive Noun / The scientists' discovery was important. / the discovery of the scientists
Singular Possessive Noun / This scientist's photograph is in the newspaper. / the photograph of one scientist
  1. Contraction – a word made by combining two words into one by leaving out one or more letters.

Possessive Nouns and Contractions
Example / Meaning
Possessive / Elaine's invention is a new bell. / the invention by Elaine
Contraction / Elaine's going to the game. / Elaine is going.

V. Collective Nouns –

A. Collective nouns name groups of individuals.

Collective Nouns
committee / audience / swarm / club
family / team / crowd / orchestra
flock / class / jury / herd

B.Collective nouns can have singular or plural meaning

  1. Collective nouns as a unit are singular – use a singular verb.
  2. Collective nouns referring to individual members are plural – use a plural verb.

Examples:

The whole flock enters the meadow through a gate. (a unit, singular)

The flock enter by different gates. (individual members, plural)

The entire audience applauds the performers. (a unit, singular)

The audience take their seats. (individual members, plural)

  1. Other words in a sentence may help to determine if the collective noun is singular or plural.

Examples:

The family begins its trip. (its, singular)

The family eat their sandwiches. (their, plural)

VI. Appositives

  1. Appositive – a noun placed next to another noun to identify it or add information about it.

Ken, an artist, paints beautiful scenes. (The word artist tells what Ken is. In this sentence, artist is an appositive.)

  1. Appositive Phrase – a group of words that includes an appositive and other words that describe the appositive.

Ken, a landscape artist, paints beautiful scenery. (The word landscape is used to describe the word artist. The words landscape artist form an appositive phrase.)