Nouns

Nouns and pronouns

Nouns

It helps us identify people, places or things.

It also helps us identify ideas, emotions, activities and qualities.

Regular plural nouns

Regular nouns - The plural is formed by ading an -s to the end of the word. This is the case for most nouns.

song-songs

shirt-shirts

perfume-perfumes

Irregular plural nouns

If words end in -sh, -ch, -s, -z and -x, we add -es at the end.

box-boxes

church-churches.

If words end in consonant + y, we change the y for -ies.

baby-babies

Irregular plural nouns

When a word ends on -o, we have different scenarios:

Some have -es added at the end of the word

echo-echoes / potato-potatoes

hero-heroes / tomato-tomatoes

Others have only -s added at the end of the word:

kangaroo-kangaroos / photo-photos

piano-pianos / video-videos

In other cases, we can add either -s or -es at the end of the word, being -es the most common one:

tornado-tornados/tornadoes / mosquito-mosquitos/mosquitoes

volcano-volcanos/volcanoes

Irregular plural nouns

Some nouns that end in -f or -fe change to -ves on the plural form.

calf-calves

leaf-leaves

shelf-shelves

knife-knives

Other words just get a -s added at the end

cliff-cliffs

roof-roofs

belief-beliefs

Irregular plural nouns

Some nouns have the same singular and plural:

deer / fish

offspring / sheep

There are other irregular plural forms:

woman-women / tooth-teeth

goose-geese / mouse-mice

foot-feet

Nouns that English borrowed from other languages have foregin plurals

formula-formulae

cactus-cacti

vertebra-vertebrae

Other types of nouns

• Proper - common nouns

• Abstract- concrete nouns

• Countable - uncountable nouns

• Compound nouns

• Collective nouns

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Proper and common nouns

Proper nouns:

They name specific people, places, things or ideas.

They always start with capital letter.

Common nouns:

They name generic people, places, things or ideas.

For example:

William Shakespeare - writer

Paris - city

Neptune - planet

Spanish - language

Abstract and concrete nouns

Concrete nouns:

Are the nouns we can see, hear, feel, smell or taste (sense with our five senses).

Houses - Birds

Grass - Flowers

Apples

Abstract nouns

Things we can't feel with our senses

Love - Knowledge

Imagination - Dreams

Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns: We can count them.

They have singular and plural form

A pencil - 10 pencils

An apple - two apples

Uncountable nouns: Nouns we can't count.

There is only one form (no plurals).

Milk

Weather

Sugar

Grass

Rice

Compound nouns

Nouns composed by two or more words.