Unit One: Nouns
Stop for a moment and look around the room where you are sitting. Everything that you can see or touch is a noun. Take a few seconds and see how many things or people you can name in the room.
Anything that you can name is a noun. Anything with a name is a noun.
Every person is a noun, and every name is a noun. Your teacher is a noun. You are a noun. Your mother is a noun. Your friends are nouns.
Every idea is a noun: love, joy, anger, peace, happiness—these are all nouns. They are the names of emotions and ideas. You can’t touch them, but you have surely felt them or talked about them.
What is a noun?
Nouns are naming words. We use them to name who or what we are talking about.
How do you find the word that is playing the noun in the sentence?
Just look for the name of any person, place, thing, or idea.
Now, let me give you a quick way to find the words playing the part of the noun in a sentence. You can always find the word that is playing the part of the noun by putting the words “the” or "a" or “an” in front of a word that appears to be a noun, and if those two words make sense together, then you have found a noun. The only time that this test doesn’t work is with a name. Remember, however, that names are nouns.
Example: John ate ice cream last night.
Now there are three nouns in this sentence: “John”, "ice cream”, and “night”.
Now, I know that “John” is a noun because it is a name, but let’s see if “ice cream” and “night” are nouns.
If I put “the” in front of each word, those two words should make sense together.
Let’s try it: “the ice cream.” Since those two words make sense together, “ice cream” is a noun.
Is “night” a noun? Let’s put “the” in front of “night”: “the night”—those words make sense together, so “night” is a noun.
Nouns are naming words. We use them to say who or what we are talking about.
Let me summarize:
Every person, place, thing, or idea is a noun. Anything that you can see, touch, think about, or talk about is a noun.
You can find the noun in a sentence by putting “the” in front of any word that appears to be a noun. If those two words make sense together, then you have found a noun.
Anything that you can name is a noun. Anything with a name is a noun.
Every person is a noun, and every name is a noun. Your teacher is a noun. You are a noun. Your mother is a noun. Your friends are nouns.
Every idea is a noun: love, joy, anger, peace, happiness—these are all nouns. They are the names of emotions and ideas. You can’t touch them, but you have surely felt them or talked about them.
What is a noun?
Nouns are naming words. We use them to name who or what we are talking about.
How do you find the word that is playing the noun in the sentence?
Just look for the name of any person, place, thing, or idea.
Now, let me give you a quick way to find the words playing the part of the noun in a sentence. You can always find the word that is playing the part of the noun by putting the words “the” or "a" or “an” in front of a word that appears to be a noun, and if those two words make sense together, then you have found a noun. The only time that this test doesn’t work is with a name. Remember, however, that names are nouns.
Example: John ate ice cream last night.
Now there are three nouns in this sentence: “John”, "ice cream”, and “night”.
Now, I know that “John” is a noun because it is a name, but let’s see if “ice cream” and “night” are nouns.
If I put “the” in front of each word, those two words should make sense together.
Let’s try it: “the ice cream.” Since those two words make sense together, “ice cream” is a noun.
Is “night” a noun? Let’s put “the” in front of “night”: “the night”—those words make sense together, so “night” is a noun.
Nouns are naming words. We use them to say who or what we are talking about.
Let me summarize:
Every person, place, thing, or idea is a noun. Anything that you can see, touch, think about, or talk about is a noun.
You can find the noun in a sentence by putting “the” in front of any word that appears to be a noun. If those two words make sense together, then you have found a noun.
