What are Nouns? Definition, Types, and Examples
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Nouns identify people, things and ideas. Understanding nouns can improve writing by helping identify subjects and objects clearly. This guide explains key things about nouns.
Noun Definitions
Nouns name common things like Max the dog, Jefferson Elementary School, or a specific story book. Nouns name:
- People – teacher, friend, pilot
- Places – school, desert, office
- Things – chair, tree, book
- Ideas – love, wisdom, education
The 7 Types of Nouns
The 7 types of nouns are:
- common nouns
- proper nouns
- concrete nouns
- abstract nouns
- collective nouns
- countable nouns
- uncountable nouns
Common Nouns:
Common nouns name general nouns, like:
- People – parent, friend
- Places – city, store
- Things – car, computer
- Ideas – research, language
Example sentences:
- I saw a big dog at the animal shelter.
- Milk, bread and eggs are groceries we buy at the store.
- The house had a red door and white walls.
Proper Nouns:
Nouns name lots of different people, places, and things. Proper nouns name specific ones. They always start with a capital letter, like:
- People – John, Ms. Smith
- Places – Amazon River, Taj Mahal
- Things – Mount Everest, Empire State Building
- Ideas – Christianity, World War II
Example sentences:
- John went to the park to play with his friend Sarah.
- Mr. Smith is my teacher, he teaches math.
- We are going to visit Grandma Jane for her birthday.
Concrete Nouns
Concrete nouns are things you can:
- Touch – brick, skin
- See – painting, eyes
- Hear – drums, birds
- Taste – lemon, spice
- Smell – pine trees, smoke
Example sentences:
- Sally brought an apple, banana, and orange.
- For show and tell, Jacob showed his class his favorite toys like his LEGO blocks, action figures, and baseball.
- The teacher asked the students to name concrete nouns they saw on the playground like swings, slides, and basketballs.
Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns name ideas, feelings or conditions you can’t sense, like:
- Ideas – research, language
- Feelings – joy, frustration
- Conditions – health, childhood
Example sentences:
- Happiness is feeling happy and joyful.
- I learned patience from watching the turtle.
- Their kindness helped others in need.
Collective Nouns
Collective nouns name groups, like:
- People groups – family, team
- Animal groups – flock, herd
- Thing groups – series, pile
Example sentences:
- The Little League baseball team practiced hard for their game.
- The school performed in a musical as a chorus.
- A bunch of grackles landed in the tree.
- The library had a shelf of new chapter books.
Countable Nouns
You can count countable nouns. They have singular and plural forms, like:
- Singular – dog, idea
- Plural – dogs, ideas
Example sentences:
- Emma ate two apples for her snack.
- I saw three dogs running in the park.
- The bakery had four kinds of cookies.
Uncountable Nouns
We cannot count uncountable nouns. They have only one form, like:
- Substances – water, rice
- Ideas – music, research
Example sentences:
- Can you pass the salt for my food?
- The baker needed flour to make cookies.
- Do you have any extra luggage for the trip?
| Type of Noun | Examples |
|---|---|
| Proper Nouns (names of specific people, places, organizations) | John, Canada, Microsoft |
| Common Nouns (general people, places, things, ideas) | man, city, book, love |
| Concrete Nouns (physical objects) | table, apple, car, mountain |
| Abstract Nouns (ideas, concepts, qualities) | truth, happiness, courage, freedom |
| Collective Nouns (groups) | team, family, herd, committee |
| Countable Nouns (can be plural) | dogs, chairs, emails, dollars |
| Non-Countable Nouns (singulars, no plural) | water, air, advice, furniture |
| Possessive Nouns (show ownership) | Mary’s book, the dog’s bone, the city’s mayor |
| Compound Nouns (two words combined) | bookcase, sunflower, bathroom |
| Singular Nouns (one person, place, thing) | cat, pencil, woman, country |
| Plural Nouns (more than one) | cats, pencils, women, countries |
Making Nouns Plural
Most nouns become plural by adding -s or -es, like:
- Cat → cats
- Book → books
- Bus → buses
However, some change differently:
- Man → men
- Child → children
- Mouse → mice
These special plurals must be memorized.
Possessive Nouns
To show ownership, add an apostrophe + s (‘s), like:
- The girl’s toy –
- The students’ grades
- The manager’s office
How Nouns Are Used
Nouns can be used as:
Subjects
Subjects do an action or are described:
- Amanda loves coffee.
- This chair is soft.
Objects
Objects receive an action. There are direct and indirect objects.
Direct Objects
Direct objects answer who? or what? about the verb:
- Amanda loves coffee.
- I feel the soft chair.
Indirect Objects
Indirect objects name who or what an action is done for/to:
- Amanda bought her friend coffee.
- I made my daughter dinner.
Complements
Complements describe or add to details about nouns.
Subject Complements
Subject complements describe the subject:
- Her daughter became an engineer.
- His speech felt serious.
Object Complements
Object complements describe direct objects:
- She considers him very smart.
- We painted the bricks green.
Nouns can even act as verbs or adjectives! For example:
- She googled hiking trails. (noun used as verb)
- We visited mountain towns. (noun used as adjective)
Nouns as appositives
You can use a noun to rename or describe another noun that comes before it in a sentence. These are called appositives. They provide extra details about a noun. For example:
- The dog, Sparky, is friendly and loves to play fetch.
- The boy, my friend Tom, likes to go to the park after school.
- Our school, Jefferson Elementary, is close to where we live.
Appositives allow you to neatly insert facts to paint a picture for readers. They turn boring sentences into snapshots that make you imagine the scene.
Nouns as Modifiers
You can use a noun to modify another noun, no preposition required. For instance:
- The computer monitor glowed in the dim room.
- The canyon walls towered above us.
Nouns like “computer” and “canyon” act as adjective descriptors clarifying which monitor and which walls. This construct streams together nouns for efficient reading flow.
Noun Phrases
A noun phrase features a noun plus modifiers like adjectives and prepositional phrases. They efficiently cram details together, as shown below:
- The old house with peeling blue paint
- The pet store specializing in tropical fish
With just a few words, these phrases create snapshots in readers’ minds. Noun phrases also work well in bullet pointed lists.
The Takeaway
Nouns aren’t one-trick ponies only meant for labeling things. With appositives, modifier usage and noun phrases, you can leverage nouns to add descriptive flair. Work these structures into your writing to create punchy, economical prose. Your readers will love the wordplay.
List of the first 100 nouns
1. Ability
2. Absence
3. Accident
4. Account
5. Act
6. Addition
7. Adjustment
8. Advertisement
9. Advice
10. Affair
11. Age
12. Agent
13. Agreement
14. Air
15. Aluminum
16. Amusement
17. Anger
18. Animal
19. Answer
20. Ant
21. Ape
22. Apparel
23. Apple
24. Apples
25. Approval
26. Argument
27. Arithmetic
28. Arm
29. Army
30. Art
31. Attack
32. Attempt
33. Attention
34. Attraction
35. Aunt
36. Authority
37. Babies
38. Baby
39. Back
40. Bacon
41. Bag
42. Bait
43. Balance
44. Ball
45. Balloon
46. Banana
47. Band
48. Base
49. Basket
50. Bath
51. Battle
52. Beach
53. Bean
54. Bear
55. Beast
56. Beat
57. Beauty
58. Bed
59. Bedroom
60. Beef
61. Beer
62. Beet
63. Behavior
64. Bell
65. Berry
66. Bike
67. Bird
68. Birth
69. Bit
70. Bite
71. Blood
72. Blow
73. Board
74. Boat
75. Body
76. Bomb
77. Bone
78. Book
79. Boot
80. Border
81. Bottle
82. Bottom
83. Box
84. Boy
85. Brain
86. Brake
87. Branch
88. Brass
89. Bread
90. Breakfast
91. Breath
92. Brick
93. Bridge
94. Brief
95. Brother
96. Bucket
97. Building
98. Bulb
99. Bundle
100. Burn
List of 200 commonly used nouns
- time
- person
- year
- way
- day
- thing
- man
- world
- life
- hand
- part
- child
- eye
- woman
- place
- work
- week
- case
- point
- number
- group
- problem
- fact
- money
- month
- idea
- word
- question
- house
- family
- book
- night
- job
- line
- area
- water
- room
- business
- reason
- head
- home
- school
- end
- country
- state
- friend
- hour
- body
- father
- power
- mind
- game
- party
- information
- back
- level
- parent
- face
- office
- others
- door
- health
- member
- car
- experience
- death
- research
- guy
- air
- moment
- teacher
- education
- force
- example
- age
- interest
- form
- president
- class
- study
- issue
- service
- reason
- town
- top
- course
- material
- data
- program
- kind
- matter
- movement
- system
- wife
- plant
- village
- piece
- history
- law
- side
- road
- mother
- city
- name
- team
- art
- test
- chance
- cause
- policy
- food
- process
- price
- war
- love
- term
- type
- society
- nature
- truth
- building
- control
- window
- result
- subject
- base
- sense
- answer
- tree
- earth
- voice
- field
- right
- effort
- language
- situation
- measure
- act
- story
- boy
- value
- development
- product
- model
- paper
- project
- choice
- baby
- cost
- picture
- difference
- leader
- staff
- bed
- ground
- computer
- report
- figure
- industry
- space
- letter
- table
- heart
- girl
- change
- rule
- event
- plan
- center
- theory
- view
- employee
- relationship
- organization
- direction
- phone
- ability
- science
- property
- purpose
- media
- card
- unit
- object
- public
- risk
- quality
- source
- cell
- weight
- daughter
- security
- culture
- star
- art
- nation
- record
- court
- stock
- bank
For the top 1500 most commonly used nouns.
Test on Nouns
1. Which is a common noun?
A. John
B. Mexico
C. Ms. Thompson
D. Friendship
2. Which noun names something you can see or touch?
A. Respect
B. Beach
C. Idea
D. Courage
3. Which word is a proper noun?
A. River
B. Desert
C. Aunt
D. Pacific Ocean
4. Which word is a possessive noun?
A. Trees
B. Ocean’s
C. Cloudy
D. Fast
5. Which word is an abstract noun?
A. Vacation
B. Zoo
C. Truth
D. House
6. Which noun shows ownership?
A. Janet
B. The cat’s toy
C. Brightly
D. Cheese
7. Which is plural?
A. Deer
B. Teeth
C. Child
D. Foot
8. Which shows correct capitalization?
A. uncle sam’s hat
B. Aunt Linda’s gift
C. florida’s beaches
D. the queen’s palace
9. A noun can be singular or _________.
A. Capitalized
B. Common
C. Plural
D. Concrete
10. A noun that means more than one is called ________.
A. Singular
B. Abstract
C. Plural
D. Proper
Answer key for the English test on nouns:
- D. Friendship
- B. Beach
- D. Pacific Ocean
- B. Ocean’s
- C. Truth
- B. The cat’s toy
- A. Deer or B. Teeth
- B. Aunt Linda’s gift
- C. Plural
- C. Plural
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Nouns
- What is the difference between compound nouns and proper nouns?
Compound are made by putting two naming words together to describe something new. Like sunset, it’s made from sun and set. Or bookbag, which is a bag for books. Proper nouns use capital letters to name something specific. For example, “boy” is a normal noun while “Jack” is a special noun talking about one boy.
- When do I use apostrophes (‘) with nouns?
Use apostrophes in nouns to show who ownership. To make a single noun show possession, add “‘s.” For example, “the dog’s bone.” For plural nouns already ending in s, just add an apostrophe, like “the birds’ nests.”
- Do nouns have boy or girl gender?
In English, most nouns do NOT have an actual gender or boy/girl category. Calling a table “she” or “he” would be incorrect.
