Nouns in the English Language

Common Nouns

Nouns are divided into common nouns and proper nouns.
Common nouns are words for people, animals, places,
or things.
These are words for people. They are common nouns:

actor lawyer aunt judge baby man baker nurse cook police officer dentist singer doctor soldier giant teacher

These are words for animals. They are common nouns:

eagle   zebra  deer  bird crocodile   bear

These are words for places. They are common nouns:

airport   market    cave  mountain  playground  farm  restaurant

These are words for things. They are common nouns:

bag  kite  box   ladder  bread  lamp

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns are names for particular people, places or
things. They always begin with a capital letter.

Here are some more names of people:

Ali Baba  Florence Nightingale  Derek Jeter Patrick  Harry Potter

The names of countries and their people are also
proper nouns:

America  Americans   Korea  Koreans  Egypt  Egyptians  Malaysia  Malaysians

The names of towns, cities, buildings and landmarks
are proper nouns:

the Great Wall of China  Brooklyn Bridge  the Statue of Liberty  the Eiffel Tower  Pike’s Peak  Sydney  Tokyo  

The days of the week and months of the year are proper
nouns:

Sunday  Monday  Tuesday, January 
February  March

The names of mountains, seas, rivers and lakes are
proper nouns:

Lake Michigan  the Alps  the Himalayas  the Dead Sea  the Pacific Ocean

The names of festivals, some special events and holidays
are proper nouns, too:

Mother’s Day  Memorial Day  April Fool’s Day  Labor Day  Thanksgiving Day  Independence Day

Singular Nouns

Nouns can be singular or plural. When you are talking
about one person, animal, place, or thing, use a singular
noun:

an airplane   a letter  a bicycle  a map  a boy  a photograph

Plural Nouns

When you are talking about two or more people,
animals, places, or things, use plural nouns.
Most nouns are made plural by adding -s at the end:

bird birds/broom brooms/camel camels/desk desks/doll dolls/egg eggs

Some plural nouns end in -es:

beach beaches/branch branches/box boxes/bush bushes/dish dishes/dress dresses

Some plural nouns end in -ies:

baby babies/cherry cherries/diary diaries/dictionary dictionaries/fairy fairies/family families

What if there is a vowel before the y?
In that case, add -s to form the plural:

chimney chimneys/cowboy cowboys/day days/donkey donkeys/jersey jerseys/kidney kidneys/monkey monkeys

If a noun ends in -f, you often change f to v, and add -es:

Singular: calf Plural: calves/Singular: loaf Plural: loaves/Singular: elf Plural: elves/Singular: shelf Plural: shelves/ Singular: half Plural: halves/

Singular: thief Plural: thieves/ Singular: leaf Plural: leaves

/ Singular: wolf Plural: wolves

With some words that end in -fe, you change f to v, and add -s:

knife knives/life lives/wife wives

But you only add -s to giraffe to form the plural.

If a noun ends in -o, you just add -s to form the plural:

a hippo hippos/a video videos/a zoo zoos

But with some nouns that end in -o, you add -es to form
the plural:

a tomato tomatoes/a potato potatoes/a hero heroes

With some nouns that end in -o, you can add
either -s or -es to form the plural:

a mango mangoes mangos/a mosquito mosquitoes mosquitos
a zero zeroes zeros/a buffalo buffaloes buffalos

Some plural nouns don’t follow the -s rule. They don’t end in -s, -es, -ies or -ves. Instead, the word changes form:

child children/man men/ox oxen/tooth teeth/woman women/mouse mice

Note:

The plural of the mouse that you use with your computer is either mice or mouses.

Some plural nouns are the same as the singular noun:

bison bison/deer dee/sheep  sheep/fish   fish

Some plural nouns are the same as the singular noun:

bison bison/deer dee/sheep  sheep/fish   fish

Note:

You can use fishes as the plural of fish when you are talking about
different kinds of fish: all the fishes of the Pacific Ocean.

Some nouns are always plural:

pants/scissors/pajamas/sneakers/shorts/slippers/trousers/stockings/

sandals

Some nouns are always plural:

pants/scissors/pajamas/sneakers/shorts/slippers/trousers/stockings/

sandals

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns are words for groups of people,
animals or things.
These are nouns for groups of people:

an audience/ a gang/a band /a group/a choir/ a team/a class/ a family/ an orchestra

Here are more collective nouns that are used for groups
of people, animals or things.:

a bunch of keys/a class of pupils/a collection of books/a deck of cards
a fleet of ships/a flock of sheep/a gaggle of geese/a gang of robbers
a herd of cattle/a litter of cubs/a pod of whales/a pack of wolves
a pride of lions/a set of stamps/a swarm of bees/a troupe of actors

a school of fish

Here are more collective nouns that are used for groups
of people, animals or things:

a bunch of keys/a class of pupils/a collection of books/a deck of cards
a fleet of ships/a flock of sheep/a gaggle of geese/a gang of robbers
a herd of cattle/a litter of cubs/a pod of whales/a pack of wolves
a pride of lions/a set of stamps/a swarm of bees/a troupe of actors

a school of fish

Masculine and Feminine Nouns

Masculine nouns are words for men and boys, and
male animals.
Feminine nouns are words for women and girls, and
female animals:

boy girl/man woman/prince princess/steward stewardess/waiter waitress

king  queen/rooster  hen/lion  lioness

Many nouns are used for both males and females. We call these nouns common-gender nouns:

accountants parents  artists managers designers pupils engineers singers
lawyers teachers

Words for things that are neither male nor female are
called neuter nouns:

ball forest building gymnasium broom playground cake rock computer sky
card socks floor wind

• Download This English Worksheet: “Nouns in the English language explained with an exercise”.
  

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