Nouns

What is a noun?

Definition

A word that refers to a person, place, thing, event, substance or quality.

beauty
coal
doctor
...

Common and proper nouns

There are two types or groups of nouns, namely common and proper nouns.

Common nouns name general things:

mother
classroom
dog
friendship.

Proper nouns name specific things, people or places.

The Sun
Barack Obama
the Netherlands
Jan Smit

These nouns are always written with a capital letter and they only have one form singular or plural. They are never both.

Exercises on common and proper nouns

Plural of nouns

The rules

Exercises on the plural of nouns

Countable and uncountable nouns

Countable nouns

Uncountable nouns

Exercises on countable and uncountable nouns

Always plural

Some nouns are always in the plural form. This means that if we use a verb, it will always be in the plural. These nouns are often things that exist out of two 'parts'. They are uncountable nouns: you cannot put them in the singular form. Below you can find some examples:

trousers
tights
shorts
scissors
tweezers
glasses
...

To remember!

There are two major groups of nouns: common nouns and proper nouns.
Nouns can be countable or uncountable.
Nouns can be singular (there is only one person, thing or animal) or plural (there are more than one).
Articles and adjectives can often be found in front of nouns.
Singular verbs are used with singular nouns and verbs in the plural are used with plural nouns.