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Step Right Up and Name Your Noun by Susan Thurman

A noun simply names a person (Sammy, man), place (Philadelphia, city), or thing (Toyota, car). Some definitions of noun also include another category: idea (e.g., philosophy, warmth). For purposes of capitalization and points of grammar, nouns are divided into various categories. Knowing the terms will come in handy when we get to the discussion of subject-verb agreement.

Notice that some of the nouns mentioned in the previous paragraph were capitalized and some weren't. Proper nouns (particular persons, places, things, or ideas) are capitalized, but common nouns (everyday names of places, things, or ideas) aren't.

<tgroup cols="2" align="center"> <colspec colnum="1" colname="col1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <colspec colnum="2" colname="col2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <thead> <tr> <td><p>Proper Noun</p></td> <td><p>Common Noun</p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>February</p></td> <td><p>month</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>Egypt</p></td> <td><p>country</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>Nouns are also classified as concrete or abstract. Concrete nouns, which most nouns are, name things that can be seen, felt, heard, touched, or smelled (<emphasis>star, water, album, television</emphasis>). Abstract nouns name concepts, beliefs, or qualities (<emphasis>freedom, capitalism, courage</emphasis>).</p> <p>Some nouns are called compound nouns; these nouns consist of more than one word but count as only one noun. Look at this name:</p> <div class="npsb"> <p><emphasis>Henderson County Community and Technical College</emphasis></p> </div> <p>It's a compound noun made up of six words, but it's only one noun (it's only one place).</p> <p>Nouns are also classified as either count or noncount nouns. Count nouns are persons, places, or things that can be (surprise!) counted (thirteen <emphasis>colonies, seventy-six trombones</emphasis>). Noncount nouns are persons, places, or things that can't be counted (<emphasis>unease, happiness</emphasis>) and are always singular.</p> <p>Collective nouns are names of persons, places, or things that are sometimes counted as one unit (they're considered to be singular) and sometimes counted separately (they're considered to be plural). <emphasis>Army, herd</emphasis>, and <emphasis>family</emphasis> are all collective nouns.</p> <p>In a sentence, a noun will act either as a subject or some type of complement (predicate nominative, direct or indirect object of a verb, or object of a preposition).</p> <div class="npsb"> <p><emphasis>The sunset was beautiful</emphasis>.</p> </div> <p>(The subject of this sentence is <emphasis>sunset</emphasis>.)</p> <div class="npsb"> <p><emphasis>Cathy is a police officer</emphasis>.</p> </div> <p>(Here <emphasis>police officer</emphasis> is a predicate nominative, completing the verb <emphasis>is</emphasis>.)</p> <div class="npsb"> <p><emphasis>Michael recently bought a new car</emphasis>.</p> </div> <p>(<emphasis>Car</emphasis> is the direct object of <emphasis>bought</emphasis>.)</p> <p><emphasis>George gave Lucy his keys</emphasis>.</p> <p>(<emphasis>Lucy</emphasis> is the indirect object of the verb <emphasis>gave; keys</emphasis> is its direct object.)</p> <div class="npsb"> <p><emphasis>Jon and Allison went into the restaurant</emphasis>.</p> </div> <p>(<emphasis>Restaurant</emphasis> is the object of the preposition <emphasis>into</emphasis>.)</p> <div class="npsb"> <h2></h2> <p>Try the interactive quizzes on nouns at these Web sites:</p> <table width="100%" frame="none"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2" align="center"> <colspec colnum="1" colname="col1" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <colspec colnum="2" colname="col2" colwidth="50%" colsep="0" rowsep="0" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>tinyurl.com/wt344</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>tinyurl.com/y8nsue</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>tinyurl.com/y899fu</p></td> <td><p>tinyurl.com/smgeo</p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> </div> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-the-big-eight/" title="Parts of Speech: the Big Eight">Parts of Speech: the Big Eight</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-the-big-eight/pithy-pronouncements-on-pronouns.htm" title="Pithy Pronouncements on Pronouns">Pithy Pronouncements on Pronouns</a> </li></ul></div></div> <div id="coda"> <div id="rel"><div class="n5">Related Articles</div><ul> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-the-big-eight/step-right-up-and-name-your-noun.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Step Right Up and Name Your Noun - Grammar and Style </a></li> <li><a href="http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/nounterm.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> noun - definition and examples of noun - types of nouns </a></li> <li><a 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href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-the-big-eight/show-me-the-action-and-the-being-verbs.htm">Show Me the Action (and the Being): Verbs</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-the-big-eight/admirable-advice-about-adverbs.htm">Admirable Advice about Adverbs</a></li> </ul><ul class="col2"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-the-big-eight/whats-your-position-on-prepositions.htm">What's Your Position on Prepositions?</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-the-big-eight/who-put-the-junction-in-conjunction.htm">Who Put the Junction in Conjunction?</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-the-big-eight/heavens-to-betsy-and-other-interjections.htm">Heavens to Betsy! and Other Interjections</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-the-big-eight/checkpoint-6.htm">Checkpoint</a></li> </ul></ul></div> </div> <script>if(zSbL<1)zSbL=3;zSB(2);zSbL=0</script> </div> <div id="widgets"><script type="text/javascript">if(z336>0){w('<div id="adB">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,280,'1','bb',3);w('</div>')}if(z155>0){w('<div id="adP">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,155,'1','ps',4);w('</div>')}</script> <div id="pg" class="pane"><div class="n3">Shopping</div><div class="cntnr"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-grammar-and-style-book-2nd-edition"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/grammar/Cover.jpg"></a><h4><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-grammar-and-style-book-2nd-edition">THE EVERYTHING GRAMMAR AND STYLE BOOK</a></h4><p><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-grammar-and-style-book-2nd-edition">By Susan Thurman</a></p><div id="fp"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-grammar-and-style-book-2nd-edition">Buy This Book</a></div></div></div> <div id="toc" class="pane"><div class="n3">Grammar and Style Sections</div><ul><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/whats-in-a-word/">What's in a Word?</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/cracking-the-code-of-punctuation/">Cracking the Code of Punctuation</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/more-fun-with-punctuation/">More Fun with Punctuation</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/punctuation-pairs/">Punctuation Pairs</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/wrapping-it-all-up/">Wrapping It All Up</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/parts-of-speech-the-big-eight/">Parts of Speech: the Big Eight</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/more-pieces-of-the-puzzle/">More Pieces of the Puzzle</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/lets-have-a-few-words/">Let's Have a Few Words</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/pertinent-points-about-pesky-pronouns/">Pertinent Points about Pesky Pronouns</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/figuring-out-some-finicky-forms/">Figuring Out Some Finicky Forms</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/keeping-it-coherent/">Keeping It Coherent</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/shaping-strong-sentences/">Shaping Strong Sentences</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/in-plain-english-please/">In Plain English, Please</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/putting-pen-to-paper/">Putting Pen to Paper</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/the-final-dress-rehearsal/">The Final Dress Rehearsal</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/maximizing-your-means-of-expression/">Maximizing Your Means of Expression</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/getting-personal/">Getting Personal</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/literary-terms-you-need-to-know/">Literary Terms You Need to Know</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/latin-alive-and-kicking/">Latin: Alive and Kicking!</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/foreign-languages-in-everyday-american-english/">Foreign Languages in Everyday American English</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/appendix-a-999-of-the-most-commonly-misspelled-words/">999 of the Most Commonly Misspelled Words</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/appendix-b-root-words-prefixes-and-suffixes/">Root Words, Prefixes, and Suffixes</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/appendix-c-suggested-substitutes-for-wordy-phrases/">Suggested Substitutes for Wordy Phrases</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/grammar/appendix-d-checkpoint-answers/">Checkpoint Answers</a></li> </ul></div></div> <script type="text/javascript">zCi();validateForms();</script> <div id="abf" style="padding-right:0"><ol class="crumbtrail"><li class="home"><a 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