Nouns are one of the four major word classes.
Types of nouns
A noun refers to a person, animal or thing. Some examples are:
Nouns referring to people
boy | woman | student | Linda |
girl | teacher | president | Leon |
man | father | Ronald |
Nouns referring to animals and things
bookshelf | tree | Washington | name |
notebook | lion | idea | city |
picture | cat | like |
Most nouns are common nouns, referring to classes or categories of people, animals and things.
Proper nouns are the names of specific people, animals and things. They are written with a capital letter at the start.
Concrete nouns refer to material objects which we can see or touch.
Abstract nouns refer to things which are not material objects, such as ideas, feelings and situations.
Identifying nouns
It is not always possible to identify a noun by its form. However, some word endings can show that the word is probably a noun.
ending | examples |
-age | hostage, language, sausage |
-ance/-ence | indulgence, importance, difference |
-er/-or | player, driver, actor |
-hood | childhood, motherhood, fatherhood |
-ism | socialism, capitalism, nationalism |
-ist | artist, pessimist, pianist |
-itude | attitude, altitude, solitude |
-ity/-ty | identity, quantity, cruelty |
-ment | excitement, argument, government |
-ness | happiness, business, darkness |
-ship | friendship, championship, relationship |
-tion/-sion | station, nation, extension |
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