lesson 3

A noun is often defined as a word which names a person, place or thing.  

1. Here are some examples of nouns: boy, river, friend, Mexico, triangle, day, school, truth, university, idea, John F. Kennedy, movie, aunt, vacation, eye, dream, flag, teacher, class, grammar.

1. John F. Kennedy is a noun because it is the name of a person;
2. Mexico is a noun because it is the name of a place; 
3. Boy is a noun because it is the name of a thing.

• Some grammar books divide nouns into 2 groups - proper nouns and common nouns.
• Proper nouns are nouns which begin with a capital letter because it is the name of a specific or particular person place or thing. 
•  Some examples of proper nouns are: Mexico, John F. Kennedy, Atlantic Ocean, February, Monday, New York City, Susan, Maple Street, Burger King. 
• If you see a word beginning with a capital letter in in the middle of a sentence, it is probably a proper noun.  
• Most nouns are common nouns and do not begin with a capital letter.
• Many nouns have a special plural form if there is more than one. 
•  For example, we say one book but two books.  Plurals are usually formed by adding an -s (books) or -es (boxes) 
• but some plurals are formed in different ways (child - children, person - people, mouse - mice, sheep - sheep).