Parts of Speech -- Nouns

This is a review of nouns, not a full unit. In this activity, identify the nouns and type them accurately and in order in the blank. Put one space between each noun.

Nouns can be signaled by "noun markers" or articles (a, an, and the), although modifiers may come between the article and the noun.

In terms of the sheer number of words in English, nouns are the biggest part of speech. Nouns include people, places, and things, and ideas.

Nouns can be common or concrete, proper and abstract.

Many nouns are both common and concrete. Common nouns refer to a class or category, like BOY or GIRL, CAT or DOG. There are billions of boys and girls, and cats and dogs, around the world. If a noun is concrete, it can be experienced with the senses. You can tap on a TABLE, for instance. A BIRD sings outside your window.

If a noun is proper, it stands for a particular common noun. The name Mr. Stone -- he might be your neighbor, too -- is a proper noun. Cleveland is a proper noun; it's not any old city. The Chevrolet Equinox is a very specific type of car. Proper nouns are always capitalized.

Abstract nouns are idea words like HAPPINESS, CONFIDENCE, SORROW. These refer to emotions, but note that just because a word refers to an emotion, it's not always a noun. For example, happy is the adjective form, and happily, an adverb. It has to be in the abstract noun form. Concept words like COMMUNICATION, EXPLANATION, IMPROVEMENT, OPPORTUNISM, BUDDHISM (The suffixes -ion, -ment, and -ism signal abstract nouns). Note that Buddhism is also proper!

There are some specialized forms of nouns, which are fun. Compound nouns are words formed from two words, such as RATTLESNAKE, THUNDERHEAD, BASKETBALL.

The last category is the collective noun. It collects many individuals, treating them as a group, and uses a singular, not plural verb: "The SCHOOL of fish darted through the coral." "The HERD of wildebeast is stampeding."

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