10 Types of Nouns in English Grammar (with Examples) (2023)

We are going to be looking at the various types of nouns as well as what they are used for. This will give you the confidence in using them as well as furthering your understanding of English grammar.

What is a noun?

A noun is a word used to describe a person, place, thing, or idea. It is the most valuable part of speech in the English language. In a properly structured sentence, a noun can perform the function of the indirect object, direct object, object complement,subject complement, appositive, subject, or adjective.

Why are nouns important?

Nouns are arguably the most important part of speech in American Standard English. Nouns make up essentially all of the objects, people, and ideas that surround us in our everyday lives. Without nouns, we would not be able to communicate effectively with those around us. Nouns often answer questions such as “who”, “what”, or “when”.

Concrete Nouns

Concrete nounsare people, places, or things that we can experience with our five senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing, or smell). They are tangible, unlike ideas or thoughts, which are abstract nouns. They can be singular, plural; and proper, or improper. If you are unsure if a word is a concrete noun ask yourself the following questions: Can you touch it? Can you hold it? Can you see it? Is it tangible? Can you smell it?

Examples:

• Cake
• Dog
• Smoke
• Light
• Fire
• Book
• Umbrella
• Brother
• Aunt
• Oxygen

Sentence Examples:

1. Daniel and his brother pretended to be pirates while playing inside of their father’sboat.
2. Theteacherhanded out the textbooks to all of her high school students.
3. William and his sister loved to ride theirbikesthrough the neighborhood with theirfriendsduring the summer.

Concrete nouns can be divided intocommon nounsandproper nouns.

Common Nouns

Common nouns are the opposites of the proper nouns. It is not anything, person, or place, in particular. They do not need to be capitalized unless they are the first word of a sentence.

Examples:

• Woman
• Car
• Restaurant
• House
• Building
• Girl
• Boy
• Cousin
• Frog
• Chair

Sentence Examples:

1. Daniel loves to play football with his brother afterschool.
2. The musicprofessortaught all of her students to read notes within a month of them signing up for piano lessons.
3. Hannah and hersisterdrove to the movietheatreto meet theirfriends.

Proper Nouns

Aproper nounis any noun that refers to a specific thing, person, organization, corporation, team, or place. Proper nouns are to always be capitalized, whether or not they are used at the beginning of a sentence.

Examples:

• Nancy
• Toyota
• McDonald’s
• Walmart
• Google
• Robert
• Ford
• William
• Gucci
• Armani

Sentence Examples:

1. My mother’s favorite grocery to visit wasKrogerbecause they offer more coupons than any other grocery store.
2. Mrs. Harvey asked the children whether they preferred to useGoogleorBingas their default search engine.
3. In the fall, Amelia will begin college at theUniversity of Hampton Hill, inHampton,California.

Abstract Nouns

Abstract nounsare unlike concrete nouns. Abstract nouns refer to abstract objects such as ideas, thoughts, or concepts that can not be seen, felt, or held. They can be experienced or directed towards someone or something, however, they are not tangible. They include qualities that we cannot taste, feel, see, or smell. If you are unsure if a word is an abstract noun ask yourself the following questions: Can you touch it? Can you hold it? Can you see it? Is it tangible? Can you smell it? Is it something that is formulated in the mind or heart? Is it an emotion?

Examples:

• Love
• Hate
• Fear
• Joy
• Depression
• Sadness
• Sympathy
• Apathy
• Excitement
• Freedom

Sentence Examples:

1. Randy could no longer hide the feeling ofhatredthat he had towards his brother.
2. Bradley had a strong feeling ofexcitementwhen his sister was accepted into her dream college.
3. My best friend, Alice, always had brilliantideasfor our community volunteer programs at the county library.

Collective Nouns

Collective nounsare a specific group of nouns that refer to groups that are made up of more than one individual or item.

Examples:

• Tribe
• Family
• Team
• Class
• Jury
• Board (In reference to an assembly of people appointed as the decision-making group of an association.)
• Flock
• Bouquet
• Forrest
• Herd

Sentence Examples:

1. After a little encouragement from her sister, Lauren decided to join the school’s swimteam.
2. In science class, we watched an interesting documentary about animals that travel inherds.
3. Raya’s boyfriend bought abouquetof flowers to give to her before her date.

Compound Nouns

The majority of Englishcompound nounsinclude phrases that are composed of a noun modified by adjectives or another noun. They ordinarily are made up of more than two other words that can be constructed by joining two words at one time. Combining “mother”, “in”, and “law”, for example, can result in the compound “mother-in-law”.

Examples (Hyphenated)

• Daughter-in-law
• Long-term
• Merry-go-round
• Mother-in-law
• Up-to-date
• Check-in
• Sign-up
• Forty-seven
• Two-fold
• Non-toxic

Examples (Not Hyphenated)

• Toothpaste
• Ice cream
• Sunflower
• Backdrop
• Blueberry
• Airport
• Cartwheel
• Firefly
• Airplane
• Paycheck

Sentence Examples:

1. The unbelieving judgesoverestimatedthe skills of the young competitor in the gymnastics competition.
2. The infamous legend of John Henry follows the stirring story of a Black man who worked on therailroadand was able to build the tracks faster than a machine.
3. Today, Genny’s grandfather turnedseventy-nineyears old, and they celebrated with a family gathering.

Possessive Nouns

Apossessive nounis a noun that names who or what owns or has possession of something. In most cases, for singular nouns to show that possession, we add an apostrophe and the letter “s”. When making a pronoun possessive, however, you will not need to add the apostrophe.

Examples (Regular Nouns)

• Lucy’s
• The boy’s
• The Teacher’s
• Samantha’s
• Drew’s
• The store’s
• The team’s
• My mother’s
• Her brother’s
• Our child’s

Examples (Possessive Pronouns)

• Hers
• His
• Theirs
• Mine
• Ours
• Everyone’s
• My
• Your

Sentence Examples:

1. Ruby’sfavorite subject in school was history, so she enjoyed weekend trips to the historical museums.
2. The smiling parents were proud oftheirchildren because they knew that they had donetheirbest.
3. Mr. Lancaster made sure to remembereveryone’snames at the beginning of the school year.

Regular Plural Nouns

Learn how to formregular plural nounsin English with examples.

• Most singular nouns are made plural by adding -s to the end of the singular form.
• When a noun ends in a sibilant sound – /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ or /dʒ/ – the plural is formed by adding -es, or -s if the singular already ends in -e.
• The plural form of some nouns that end in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ is made by changing the ending to -V(es).
• When a noun ends in “o” preceded by a consonant, the plural in many cases is spelled by adding -es.
• Nouns that end in ‘o’ preceded by a vowel are made plural by adding -s.
• When the ‘y’ follows a consonant, changing ‘y’ to ‘i’ and adding -es.
• When the ‘y’ follows a vowel, the plural is formed by retaining the ‘y’ and adding -s.

Irregular Plural Nouns

Learn the difference between plural and singular nouns; and different ways to formIrregular Plural Nounsin English.

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are simply nouns that have the ability to become plural and/or be counted.Singularly, they will most likely be preceded by the words “a” or “an”. The vast majority of nouns in the English language fall into the classification of countable nouns.

Examples:

• Animals
• People
• Houses
• Toys
• Pebbles
• Windows
• Years
• Clothes
• Cars
• Flowers

Sentence Examples:

1. The elderly farmer’s son decided to take care ofcows, chickens, goats, and sheepthat his father left behind.
2. Khalil and Yara, a recently married couple, decided to search for newly renovatedhousesin four differentneighborhoods.
3. It took eightyearsfor Fatima to earn her doctorate degree.

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nounsare simply nouns that do not have the ability to become plural and/or be counted.

Countable and Uncountable nounsvary from language to language. In some languages, there are no countable nouns. In addition, some nouns that are uncountable in English may be countable in other languages.

Examples:

• Furniture
• Milk
• Water
• Rain
• Light
• Stress
• Anger
• Sand
• Music
• Love

Sentence Examples:

1. My cousin helped me move thefurnitureinto my new apartment.
2. Louis spilledjuiceon my new sofa, yesterday.
3. The screaming children only added to their mother’sstress.

Different Types of Nouns | Infographic

10 Types of Nouns in English with Examples