Page Contents
PART TWO
So you’ve mastered proper and common nouns from our What Is A Noun? PART ONE, now let’s get more technical.
Love it or hate it, understanding the technical terms for words types and writing devices etc. or part and parcel of the current National Curriculum. If it these terms have left you or your little learner scratching your heads, then you’re in the right place. Let us clear the hazy fog as we further explore nouns with What’s a Noun? PART TWO.
First a quick recap on our PART ONE nouns. Well, what are nouns?
Nouns… words that describes a person, place or thing.
The first nouns your little learner will likely learn are:
- Common: A Common Noun refers to things in general e.g.
dog, bird, house, shoes, party
- Proper: A Proper Noun refers to a particular person or place or thing and begins with a capital letter e.g.
Peter, Amy, Europe, Tuesday, May
So what more is there to know?
- Concrete noun
- Abstract noun
- Collective nouns
- Count nouns
- Mass nouns
- Compound nouns
What is a concrete noun?
Just like concrete on a building site, Concrete Nouns are actual physical ‘things’. They are tangible and can be experienced with any of our 5 senses. They can be singular (one) or plural (more than one). If you ever get stumped, just ask yourself, can I…
- touch or hold it?
- eat or taste it?
- see it?
- hear it?
- smell it?
E.g. cat, cushion, street, scent, school, Mrs Brown
But… aren’t they just the same as Proper and Common Nouns again? YES. But, it is the overarching name given to these physical nouns. Concrete nouns can then be separated into the Common and Proper Noun categories.
What is an abstract noun?
Think of Abstract Nouns as being the opposite of Concrete Nouns, that is they are not concrete; not tangible; not experienced by our 5 senses. They can however, be experienced inwardly as an emotion, idea, or can be a concept.
E.g. love, freedom, dream, trust
What are collective nouns?
Collective Nouns are the names given to a group of nouns when together.
E.g. a flock of sheep, a pack of wolves, an army of frogs
What are count nouns?
Count or Countable Nouns are an overarching term for the majority of nouns you will come across. They are nouns that can be singular (so often preceded with ‘a’ or ‘an’), but are able to also be a plural and/or can be counted if needed.
E.g. a cow / some cows / 5 cows, a child / many children / 3 children
What are Mass nouns?
Mass Nouns are the opposite to Count Nouns and cannot be used as a plural. They are nouns that cannot be counted.
E.g. water, snow, intelligence, music
Activity to Identify Nouns
We’ve lots of exciting ideas to add here for you, so do please keep checking back for updates.
For now…
Inference Images: Noun hunt!
Baffled by the Vocabulary used?
You can find some other SPAG terms over in our Literacy Dictionary here on Parents’ Homework Hub. In addition to this, I would also recommend a handy reference guide like Oxford Primary Grammar Punctuation and Spelling Dictionary.