Teacher Yvette
Added2009-03-18 19:18:00
Understanding Nouns
 What Are Nouns? Nouns are words that name persons, places and things. Some nouns name persons: James Adams Principal sister Some nouns name things: school Denver forest Some nouns name things: magnet jeans cactus Other nouns name things that cannot see: frienship thought Saturtday Using Nouns as Subjects: Nouns may be used as simple subjects. You have learned that every sentence has a subject and a predicate. You know that the simple subject tells whom or what the sentence is about. Nouns name persons and things. Noun tell whom or what. Therefore, nouns may be used as simple subjects. Linda hung a poster in our room. There are three nouns in the sentence. Only one tells who or what did something. The noun Linda tells who or what did something. Linda is the simple subject. Can you find the noun that is the simple subject of this sentence? This sentence has two nouns in the complete subject: girl and room. However, the noun that tells who or what did something is girl. Girl is the simple subject of the sentence. Common Nouns and Proper Nouns: A common noun is a general name for persons, places or things. a proper noun names a particular person, place or thing. Proper nouns begin with capital letters. Classification Many nouns are common nouns. They can be used to name any member of a group. For example, girl can stand for any girl. City can stand for any city. Girl and city are common nouns. Some nouns are proper nouns. That is, only one person, place, or thing has that name. Nancy Chang names one particular girl. Seattle names a particular city. Nancy Chang and Seattle are proper nouns. Proper nouns begin with capital letters. Many proper nouns are made up of two or more words. For example, Nancy Chang has two words. When a proper noun has more than one word, capitalize all the important words. You do not have to capitalize all the important words. You do not have to capitalize of, on, or the. Notice where capital letters are used in these proper names. the White House the Bill of Rights Exercise A: Tell the nouns in each sentence below. 1. Alice visited her cousins. 2. This plum has a sweet taste. 3.The panda is a rare animal. Exercise B: Tell the simple subject of each sentence. 1. The Indians of the Northeast lived in longhouses. 2. Don looked for the last piece of the puzzle. 3. Our phone at home isn't working. Exercise C: Tell whether it is a common noun or proper noun. 1. automobile 2. abraham lincoln 3. newspaper 4. the united states 5. friend |