Types of nouns

Grammar

Nouns Nouns are one of the four major word classes, along with verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Nouns are the largest word class.

Types of nouns A noun refers to a person, animal or thing. Some examples are:

Identifying nouns. It is not always possible to identify a noun by its form. However, some word endings can show that the word is probably a noun.

Nouns: compound nouns. Some nouns consist of more than one word. These are compound nouns. Compound nouns can be formed in different ways. The most common way is to put two nouns together (noun + noun); other common types are adjective + noun and verb + noun.

Nouns: countable and uncountable

Countable nouns. Some nouns refer to things which, in English, are treated as separate items which can be counted. These are called countable nouns. Here are some examples:

Uncountable nouns. In English grammar, some things are seen as a whole or mass. These are called uncountable nouns, because they cannot be separated or counted.

Countable and uncountable nouns with different meanings. Some nouns can be used either countably or uncountably, but with different meanings.

Uncountable nouns used countably

Nouns: form

Singular and plural nouns. Nouns can be either singular or plural. Singular means just one of the person, animal or thing which the noun refers to. Plural means more than one.

Forming the plural of nouns. The rules for making the plural of nouns depend on the spelling and pronunciation. Most nouns form their plural by adding -s:

Nouns: forming nouns from other words. We often form nouns from other parts of speech, most commonly from a verb or an adjective. We can then use the noun phrase instead of the verb or adjective to create a more formal style. We call this nominalisation:

Nouns: singular and plural

Nouns used only in the singular. Some nouns are used only in the singular, even though they end in -s. These include: the names of academic subjects such as classics, economics, mathematics/maths, physics; the physical activities gymnastics and aerobics; the diseases measles and mumps; and the word news:

Nouns used only in the plural. Some nouns only have a plural form. They cannot be used with numbers. They include the names of certain tools, instruments and articles of clothing which have two parts.

Collective nouns (group words)Some nouns refer to groups of people (e.g. audience, committee, government, team). These are sometimes called collective nouns. Some collective nouns can take a singular or plural verb, depending on whether they are considered as a single unit or as a collection of individuals:

Nouns and gender. Most English nouns do not have grammatical gender. Nouns referring to people do not have separate forms for men (male form) and women (female form). However, some nouns traditionally had different forms. Nowadays, people usually prefer more neutral forms.

Nouns and prepositions. Many nouns have particular prepositions which normally follow them. Here are some common examples:

Noun phrases.A noun phrase consists of a noun or pronoun, which is called the head, and any dependent words before or after the head. Dependent words give specific information about the head.

Noun phrases: dependent words. In a noun phrase, dependent words before the head are either determiners (e.g. the, my, some) or premodifiers (e.g. adjectives). Dependent words after the head are either complements or post modifiers.

Noun phrases: determiners (a, the, my, his, some, this, etc.)Determiners come first in a noun phrase (e.g. the big black car). They include:

Noun phrases: premodifiers (big, good, red) Premodifiers consist of single adjectives, adjective phrases, single nouns and noun phrases which are used before the head in a noun phrase.

Noun phrases: complements. Complements come immediately after the head in a noun phrase. They are prepositional phrases or clauses which are necessary to complete the meaning of the noun. Without the complement, we wouldn’t understand what the noun was referring to.

Noun phrases: post modifiers. Post modifiers come after the head in a noun phrase. They consist of adverb phrases, prepositional phrases and clauses. Post modifiers give extra or specific information about the noun (e.g. place, possession, identifying features). Unlike complements, they are not necessary to complete the meaning.

Noun phrases: complements or post modifiers? Complements are necessary to complete the meaning of a noun. Post modifiers are not necessary; they give extra information about the noun which helps to identify it or locate it in some way. (The complement and the post modifier are underlined below.)

Noun phrases: order. Before the head of a noun phrase, determiners come first, then adjectives, then nouns acting as modifiers. The spoken stress is normally on the head. …

Noun phrases: uses

Noun phrases: noun phrases and verbs

Noun phrases: two noun phrases together. We can put two noun phrases (np) together to refer to the same person or thing. This is called apposition:

Types of nouns

A noun refers to a person, animal or thing. Some examples are:

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