On the last day of July, our class started its season of demo teaching. This is a wise way to enhance our capabilities in speaking in front of people and also our training ground. Of course, every beginning starts with the basics. As we start this semester, Ms. Claire already handed us the outline and gave everyone in our class the lessons to be discussed.
So on the 31st, we had our 1st batch of demo teaching which, as what I’ve said before, started with one of the basics of the English language… NOUNS.
To properly start off, let’s begin with the common lesson under nouns.
Giving the meaning of Proper Nouns, it simply specifies the names of people, places, and things.
People’s names
· Tyler Knott Gregson
· Alexander
· Sally
· Mr. Burnand
· Aunt Georgina
· Mrs. Heussaff
· Uncle Erwan
The names of countries and their capital cities
· China | Beijing
· Japan | Tokyo
· Great Britain | London
· Italy | Rome
| I am longing to go to Norway to see the northern lights.
| Skylark just discovered a new café called Barkin’ Blends, wherein you can also play with dogs.
As to the Common Nouns, it specifies the names of people, places, or things in GENERAL.
Persons | children teacher, scientist, mailman, woman, parent, doctor, girl
Animals | lion, ants, tigers, cheetah, sheep, elephants, birds, mice
Places | street, hills, beach, metropolis, city, mountain, river, province
Things | trains, battleship, tree, lichen, music, radio, plant, milk
Ideas | love, ideology, loyalty, fulfillment, patriotism, religion, peace
From my classmate’s discussion, every proper noun has an equivalent common noun, but it doesn’t mean that every common noun has a proper noun. Also, Common Nouns only begin with a capital letter if it is placed at the beginning of a sentence while in Proper Nouns, obviously, always start with a capital letter.
Take note peeps:
There are times when a word can either be used as a common noun or proper noun and you might get confused as to when you should use the capitalized form. For example, let’s say, father. This can either be a common and proper noun. To get this straight, if common nouns are used as a title or name, that’s the time to make it capitalized, as it takes the place of actual names.
Now that we’ve already defined what are the proper and common uses of specifying nouns, let’s move on to classifying its purpose. You may question a ‘word’ like, “What is its role?” “Does it have a purpose?” “Is this word used in a singular or plural form?” “What can be an alternative to make it singular/plural?” These questions will be answered if you keep on scrolling down (lol).
In this section, you will learn if a word deserves to be counted or not.
Let me introduce to you, Countable and Uncountable Nouns! (*applause)
Countable Nouns are said to be referring to the things that can be counted and with the use of a/an, the, numbers, some/many (if the word is in plural form), many, few/a few, and how many? They can either be singular or plural.
a/an | a pen
the | the page
numbers | three babies
some/any (if the word is in plural form) | There are some pastel shirts in the cabinet.
many | There are many YouTubers at the event.
few/a few | There are few seats.
how many? | How many babies do you want?
Uncountable Nouns are said to be referring to immaterial concepts like love, life, etc. Also, these nouns are referring to stuff or liquid that cannot be counted like water, sugar, and salt (etc.). These words are always in singular form. It can be used with some/any, much, little/a little, and how much.
some/any | There is some blood in the tube. | There isn’t any chocolates on the tray. Note: a/an or numbers can’t be used before these words.
much | There isn’t much salt in my fries.
little/a little | They know a little French.
how much | How much do you need?
Let’s give way to an important part of Uncountable words, the Partitives. Uncountable nouns can be quantified by using partitives, as to refer to a part of a whole. Here are some examples:
o A glass of water
o A piece of cheese
o A loaf of bread
o A cup of coffee
o An item of news
o A bar of soap
To the nouns that are perceived by the senses and name it as something you can see, hear, touch, smell or taste, it falls under Concrete Noun. These include people, animals, places, and objects.
People | speech pathologist, lady, Tiarra
Animals | puppy, fish, tiger
Places | Notre Dame, beach
Objects | cupcake, keys, fruit, tea
To the nouns that we cannot hear, smell, touch, or taste, or should I say intangible things, it falls under Abstract Noun. They are usually actions, events, ideas, states of mind, feelings.
Actions and events | childhood, October, Friday, war
Ideas | energy, freedom, luck
Conditions | cancer, flu, cold
Feelings | anger, doubt
Let’s proceed to classify what a ‘word/noun’ is. Knowing its stand in a given sentence. This was further discussed in Material Noun. It is the name given to the material substance or things made up of an alloy. Nouns in this class are almost materials like cloth, air, metal, gold, salt, iron, silver, etc.
Sample sentences:
Cotton dresses are very cheap and comfortable.
I bought a gold ring for my mother’s birthday.
Calcium is a good mineral for health.
Plastic is made up of many molecules of ethylene.
Material Noun has 4 categories namely, Material nouns from nature, from animals, from plants, and man-made.
Material nouns from nature | water, silver, iron, sand, rock, rain, salt, air, gold, copper, coal, sunlight, earth, etc.
Material nouns from animals | egg, honey, silk, wool, meat, milk, leather, etc.
Material nouns from plants | cotton, oil, jute, medicine, rubber, food, wood, coffee, tea, perfume, etc.
Man-made material nouns | acid, asphalt, cement, chalk, cheese, ebony, felt, paraffin, alcohol, etc.
Of course, we still have rules in using these nouns. In general, articles such as a, an or the, are not used with material nouns if those are uncountable like:
· Honey is wholesome food and beneficial to health.
· Water boils only at 100°C temperature.
On the other hand, articles may be used with material nouns if those are countable such as:
· I would like to eat a Dutch cheese.
· It is a very healthy wine.
Use of ‘the’ and ‘some’ can also be done in the following way:
· The honey in the bottle is mine.
· I saw there is some milk in the glass.
After knowing the stand of a noun in a sentence, giving importance to its gender is truly appreciated. Gender-specific Nouns got your back. It refers specifically to a male or a female. When a noun’s meaning makes its gender masculine or feminine, it is considered to be a gender-specific noun. Gender-specific nouns will give you four types: Masculine Gender, Feminine Gender, Common Gender and Neuter Gender.
Masculine Gender denotes a MALE SEX. These are words for men, boys and male animals. Dad | bull | drake | ram | boar
Feminine Gender denotes a FEMALE SEX. These are words for women, girls and female animals. actress | waitress | vixen | bitch | sow
Common Gender denotes either a male or a female. soldier | student | cat | whale
Neuter Gender denotes a lifeless thing. It denotes a thing that is neither male nor female. book | pen | room | tree
Note these words, peeps.
Masculine Feminine Father Mother Son Daughter Man Woman Emperor Empress Bachelor Spinster
Animal Masculine Feminine Goose Gander Goose Fox Fox Vixen Pig Boar Sow Horse Stallion Mare Donkey Jack Jenny
Masculine Feminine Boy Girl Dog Bitch King Queen Monk Nun Drake Duck
These fingers of mine are tired of typing already and so do you in reading.
Have a break. Have a
There’s more to go. Don’t procrastinate. Read these all NOW!
By adding a syllable (-ess, -ine, -trix, -a, etc.) Author | Authoress Heir | Heiress Shepherd | Shepherdess Poet | Poetess Lion | Lioness Executor | Executrix Testator | Testatrix
By adding –ess after dropping the vowel of the masculine ending Actor | Actress Duke | Duchess Waiter | Waitress Negro | Negress Abbot | Abbess
By a suffix or prefix Man-servant | Maid-servant Grand-father | Grand-mother Land-lord | Land-lady Bull-calf | Cow-calf Pea-cok | Pea-hen
Note: Objects without life are often personified that is spoken of as if they were living beings. We then regard them as males or females.
· Masculine gender is applied to object remarkable for strength and violence.
The Sun | Summer | Winter | Death| The sun sheds his beams in rich and poor alike.
· Feminine gender is sometimes applied to objects remarkable for beauty, gentleness, and gracefulness.
The Moon | The Earth | Spring | Nature | The moon has hidden her face behind a cloud.
Now, we’re down to identifying a noun’s singular and plural form. This is to note that not all nouns are to be made in plural form just by adding –s. We’re almost done so please keep on reading.
Regular Nouns and their Plurality
These nouns’ plurality are usually formed just by adding –s and –es at the end of the word. student | students successor | successors pass | passes
A. Nouns ending in ch, s, sh, x, or z match | matches miss | misses marsh | marshes fox | foxes buzz | buzzes
B. Nouns ending in ce, ge, se, or ze lace | laces cage | cages house | houses glaze | glazes
C. Nouns ending in y (preceded by a consonant) story | stories city | cities
(preceded by a vowel) toy | toys key | keys
D. Nouns ending in o (preceded by a consonant) potato | potatoes veto | vetoes photo | photos memo | memos
(preceded by a vowel) folio | folios video | videos
There are nouns ending in –o which are either added by –s or –es
avocado | avocados/avocadoes
motto | mottos/mottoes
Most other nouns ending in o, particularly those Spanish and Italian origin, can form the plural by simply adding –s.
soprano |sopranos
sombrero | sombreros
Nouns ending in –oo
zoo | zoos
tattoo | tattoos
E. Nouns ending in f, fe, or ff ‘f’ to ‘v’ transition sheaf | sheaves self | selves
‘fe’ to ‘ves’ transition life | lives wife | wives
‘f’, just by adding –s surf | surfs
There are nouns ending in –f which are either added by –s or –es
dwarf | dwarfs/dwarves
staff | staffs/staves
Irregular Nouns and their Plurality
Add or change to –en child | children ox | oxen
-oo- to –ee- transition foot | feet goose | geese
-ouse to –ice transition mouse | mice louse | lice
-us to –i transition cactus | cacti focus | foci/focuses fungus | fungi/funguses stimulus | stimuli
-is to –es transition analysis | analyses crisis | crises thesis | theses oasis | oases ellipsis | ellipses
-ix/-ex to –ces transition appendix | appendices index | indexes/indeces matrix | matrixes/matrices
-eau to –eaux/-eaus transition beau | beaux bureau | bureaux/bureaus tableau | tableaux/tableaus
-um, -ium, -us, -on to –a transition stratum | strata bacterium | bacteria genus | genera phenomenon | phenomena
-a to –ae transition antenna | antennae/antennas formula | formulae/formulas vertebra | vertebrae vita | vitae
There are nouns that forms their plurality without changing or adding any affix to them.
Plurality form of hyphenated nouns fathers-in-law runners-up
Numbers and Letters’ Plurality form
3’s b’s %’s
THERE YOU HAVE IT! Thank you for giving me the patience that I deserve as you continue reading this post. Lemme have a break and see you on my next blog. Ciao!














