The Noun

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A noun is a word used for naming anything. 

Man                           Book       

Woman                     School

Boy                            Fox

Girl                            Song

Lion                           Glass

Box                            Actor

Kinds of nouns

1.The proper noun:

A proper noun is a name for one particular person, place or event, as distinct from any other.

New York

The revolution

The American   

The red sea

The Atlantic ocean

The Mississippi river

2. The common noun :

A common noun is a name which is common to any person or thing of the kind.

Lake                          Theatre

Hospital                     Magazine

Dictionary                  Garden

River                          Museum

3.The material noun :

A material noun is the name of particular kinds of matter.

Water                        Milk

Gold                         Silver

4.The collective noun :

A collective noun is the noun of a group of persons or things as one complete individual whole.

Examples :

Jury ( a group of judges)

Fleet( a group of warships)

Army( a group of soldiers )

Empire (a group of nations under one ruler ship)

Flock (a group of sheep)

5. Compound nouns :

School master                Ice-cream

Shopkeeper                    Apple-tree

Gunpowder                    Seashore

Moonlight                       Tea-time

Housemaid                     Stream-engine

Postcard                         Night-train

Newspaper                     Sand-storm

Nouns can be singular or plural : a singular noun denotes one object.  A plural noun denotes more than one object.

Formation of the plural:

 A/ By adding (s) to the singular noun this applies to most nouns except some cases that will be explained later on :

Singular	Plural
Book Map Rose Cat Hand	Books Maps Roses Cats Hands

B/ By adding (ES) to the singular for words ending in :

                 - sh - ch - x - z -

Examples : CH + ES

Singular	Plural
Branch Bench Church Match	Branches Benches Churches Matches

… SH + ES

Brush                                 Brushes                                        

Bush                                  Bushes

…X + ES

Box                                    Boxes

Tax                                     Taxes

…S + ES

Mass                                  Masses                                                                          

Dress                                  Dresses

Gas                                    Gases

Glass                                  Glasses

…Z + ES

Fez                                      Fezes

Topaz                                 Topazes

C- by changing (Y) preceded by a consonant to (IES)

Examples :

Lady                                 Ladies

Story                                Stories

Fly                                   Flies

Army                               Armies

But if (Y) preceded by a vowel, the plural is by adding (S) only.

Valley                               Valleys

Boy                                   Boys

Key                                   Keys

Day                                   Days

toy                                    Toys

D- By changing the (F) or (FE) to (VES)

Leaf                                  Leaves

Wife                                 Wives

Knife                                Knives

Thief                                Thieves

wolf                                  Wolves

E- Irregular plurals

Examples :

Man                               Men

Woman                        Women

Tooth                           Teeth

Foot                             Feet

Ox                                Oxen

Child                            Children

Deer                             Deer

Sheep                           Sheep

Duck                            Duck

Noun cases :

The noun has four cases :

1-    Subjective case.

     2- Objective case.

     3- Possessive .

     4- Vocative case.

1- Subjective case :

-      It  denotes the subject of the verb .

Examples :

Ladies gossip                                   The heat is unbearable

Readers read                                    The sky is clear

Birds fly                                           The sea is rough

Friends cooperate                             The rain is heavy

The air is fresh                                 The dog is faithful

The sun is shining                            The snake is dangerous

2- Objective case:

Teachers teach students.

Doctors treat patients.

Girls pick flowers.

John likes music.

We speak English.

The poet composed an elegy.

3- Possessive :

      - It denotes ownership. For singular nouns we use (S)

Examples:

The boy’s ball                             The actor’s movement                                              

The artist’s touch                        The tiger’s strength

The cat’s paw                             The monkey’s look

The writer’s mind                        The girl’s bag

The singer’s voice                       The soldier’s gun

For singular nouns ending in (S), use the apostrophe only .

Hercules’ power

Moses’ law

For plural nouns ending in (S), use the apostrophe only .

Examples :

The soldiers’ camps.

The players’ room.

The nations’ hopes.

The dogs’ life.

The eagles’ nest .

The teachers’ room.

The doctors’ office .

For plural nouns not ending in (S), use (S).

Examples :

The men’s society

The women’s suffering

The children’s nurse

4- Vocative case :

       A noun is in the vocative case, when it is used for the sake of address.

Examples :

Son, you must be careful.

I’m very sorry, grandpa.

Let us forget that, my friend.

Don’t make such a fuss, Nina.

Now can you do this exercise?

State the case of the nouns in the following sentences :

1. You opened my eyes.

2. My friend has just arrived.

3. Please, tell your brother another story.

4. Are you coming with us, Mark.

5. I expect many guests.

Use each of the following nouns in suitable sentences :

Address                                          Music

Words                                            Train

Library                                            Heart

* Write 5 sentences on each of following pattern :

A. subject (noun)   + verb

B. subject  + verb + complement (object)

Express by using the possessive form.

Examples :

The house of my uncle . My uncle’s house.

1. The cat of his wife.

2. The book of her father

3. The room of the teachers.

4. The toys of the boys.

5. The gun of my friend.