DEFINITION
1. A noun generally names a person, place, thing, or idea.
2. A specific name for something is a proper noun, easily identified because it is capitalized.
EXAMPLES: Lake Erie, Cedar Point, Cleveland, LeBron James, Ohio River
EXAMPLES: Lake Erie, Cedar Point, Cleveland, LeBron James, Ohio River
3. Any one of a class or category is called a common noun, which will not be capitalized unless it begins a sentence or is part of a title.
EXAMPLES: river, lake, road, school, movie
EXAMPLES: river, lake, road, school, movie
4. If you can count a noun, it is called a count noun and will have a singular and plural form.
EXAMPLES: book, books; pencil, pencils; car, cars; shirt, shirts; song, songs
EXAMPLES: book, books; pencil, pencils; car, cars; shirt, shirts; song, songs
5. Things or ideas that cannot be counted are called noncount nouns or mass nouns.
EXAMPLES: air, sugar, water, education
EXAMPLES: air, sugar, water, education
6. A concrete noun can be perceived by the sense of sight, touch, smell, taste, or hearing.
EXAMPLES: dog, fur, sky, pizza, music, O’Neil Woods, Zippy
EXAMPLES: dog, fur, sky, pizza, music, O’Neil Woods, Zippy
7. An abstract noun names an idea, quality, or characteristic instead.
EXAMPLES: shyness, success, anger, love, friendship, Judaism
EXAMPLES: shyness, success, anger, love, friendship, Judaism
8. A collective noun names a group.
EXAMPLES: band, flock, gaggle, staff, audience
EXAMPLES: band, flock, gaggle, staff, audience
9. A compound noun is made up of two or more words. It may or may not be hyphenated (check Dictionary.com for whether it is).
EXAMPLES: basketball, step-dad, bedroom, good-bye, ice cream, Chess Club
EXAMPLES: basketball, step-dad, bedroom, good-bye, ice cream, Chess Club
10. Possessive nouns show possession or ownership. To form a possessive noun, add an apostrophe and then an s. Ask the question: To whom does this belong?
EXAMPLES: LeBron’s house, Bath’s fire station, Ohio’s population, the Wilsons’ pool
EXAMPLES: LeBron’s house, Bath’s fire station, Ohio’s population, the Wilsons’ pool
Use concrete nouns to make your writing more vivid for the reader.
Abstract: "Upon looking at the fish, I felt disgust."
Concrete: The fish "was speckled with barnacles,
fine rosettes of lime,
and infested with tiny white sea-lice,
and underneath two or three
rags of green weed hung down." (from "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop)
Use possessive nouns to eliminate wordiness.
Wordy: the play written by Shakespeare
Better: Shakespeare's play
Wordy: the dunk by Nance
Better: Nance's dunk