Nouns (Parts of speech)

Noun /naʊn/
a word that refers to a person (such as Ann or doctor), a place (such as Paris or city) or a thing, a quality or an activity (such as plant, sorrow or tennis)
(Oxford Learner's Dictionary)

A noun is a part of speech that denotes a person, animal, place, thing, or idea. The English word noun has its roots in the Latin word nomen, which means “name.” Every language has words that are nouns. As you read the following explanations, think about some words that might fit into each category.

Person – A term for a person, whether proper name, gender, title, or class, is a noun.
Animal – A term for an animal, whether proper name, species, gender, or class is a noun.
Place – A term for a place, whether proper name, physical location, or general locale is a noun.
Thing – A term for a thing, whether it exists now, will exist, or existed in the past is a noun.
Idea – A term for an idea, be it a real, workable idea or a fantasy that might never come to fruition is a noun.


Noun Examples
When we first start to learn the parts of speech, trying to identify different words can seem like a challenge. This process gets easier with practice. Here are some noun examples to help you get started. The nouns in each sentence have been italicized.

Person – He is the person to know.
Person – Lucy started to talk.
Person – Plato was an influential Greek philosopher.
Person – Clara admires her grandaunt.
Person – My mother looks a lot like my grandmother, and I look very much like them.


Animal – The dog barked at them.
Animal – Elephants never forget.
Animal – Sophie is my favorite horse.


Place – The cafe is close.
Place – Let’s go to the beach.
Place – Look over there.
Place – Come here.
Place – Oxford and Cambridge are two famous universities in England.
Place – Look! There’s the Monas.


Thing – Sue Threw the ball to Jim who caught it.
Thing – Please close the door and lock it.
Thing – Use words properly to be understood.
Thing – The lamp sits on a table next to the sofa.
Thing – Money doesn’t grow on trees.


Idea – Follow the rules.
Idea – The theory of relativity is an important concept.
Idea – Love is a wonderful emotion.

How Nouns Function
Nouns have several important functions. While it’s impossible to list them all here, we’ll go over the most important jobs nouns are tasked with.

Nouns are subjects. Every sentence has a subject, which is a noun that tells us what that sentence is all about. John swung the baseball bat.
Nouns are direct objects. These nouns receive action from verbs. John swung the baseball bat.
Nouns are indirect objects. These nouns receive the direct object. Brad threw John the ball.
Nouns are objects of prepositions. These nouns follow the prepositions in prepositional phrases. John swung the baseball bat at Greg.
Nouns are predicate nominatives. These nouns follow linking verbs and rename the subject. John is a baseball player.
Nouns are object complements. These nouns complete the direct object. They named their dog Max.

Using nouns correctly in English is relatively simple, with standard rules and only a few exceptions. Use these pages to learn about the English grammar rules for gender, plurals, countable and uncountable nouns, compound nouns, capitalization, nationalities, and forming the possessive.

NOUNS IN ENGLISH
Gendered nouns
Singular and plural nouns including irregular plural nouns
Countable and uncountable nouns
Definite pronouns
Indefinite pronouns
Compound nouns
Capitalization rules for nouns
Nationalities in English
Forming the possessive