Module 1

Question 1

What is a noun?

Answer 1

A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Question 2

What is a concrete noun?

Answer 2

Concrete nouns name people, places, or things that you can touch, see, hear, smell, or taste.

Examples:

Person – man, Mrs. Jones, doctor, Maddie
Place – river, Paris, mountains, home
Thing – dog, book, sports car

Question 3

What is an Abstract noun?

Answer 3

Abstract nouns name ideas or emotions. They are intangible, which means you cannot touch, see, hear, smell, or taste them using your five senses.

Examples:

Idea – love, intelligence, justice
Emotion – happiness, anger, excitement

Question 4

What is a Common noun?

Answer 4

Common nouns name any person, place, thing, or idea.

Question 5

What is a Proper noun?

Answer 5

Proper nouns are the names of individual people, places, things, or ideas. Proper nouns should always be capitalized.

Common Proper

boy James

river Mississippi River

car Ford

Question 6

What is Singular?

Answer 6

Singular means only one.

The basic rule is to add s to make a noun plural.

There are many irregular nouns that add es. There are several rules to remember when spelling plural nouns. The rules are based on the letters at the end of the word. They are easiest to remember in categories.

Question 7

Most most plural nouns add?

Answer 7

Add s to form the plural.

Examples:

cat ⇒ cats
truck ⇒ trucks
book ⇒ books

Question 8

What needs to be added to make plural Nouns that end in s, sh, x, ch, or z?

Answer 8

Add es to form the plural.

Hint:

It is too hard to pronounce the words without the e. Try it – buss, brushs, foxs… you sound like a snake.

Examples

bus ⇒ buses
brush ⇒ brushes
fox ⇒ foxes

Question 9

What needs to be added to make plural Nouns ending in f or fe?

Answer 9

Some nouns ending in fe and some nouns ending in f just add s. Some nouns that end in fe or f change the for fe to v and add es.

Hint:

Check a dictionary if you are unsure which rule a noun follows.

Examples:

roof ⇒ roofs
safe ⇒ safes
shelf ⇒ shelves
wife ⇒ wives

Question 10

What needs to be added to make plural Nouns that end in vowel + y

Answer 10

Add s to form the plural.

donkey ⇒ donkeys
monkey ⇒ monkeys

Question 11

What needs to be added to make plural Nouns that end in vowel + o

Answer 11

Add s to form the plural.

oreo ⇒ oreos

Question 12

What needs to be added to make plural Nouns that end in consonant + y?

Answer 12

Change the y to i and add es to form the plural.

family ⇒ families
trophy ⇒ trophies

Question 13

What is a consonant?

Answer 13

The word consonant is also used to refer to a letter of an alphabet that denotes a consonant sound. The 21 consonant letters in the English alphabet are B, C, D, F, G, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, Q, R, S, T, V, X, Z, and usually W and Y. The letter Y stands for the consonant /j/ in yoke, the vowel /ɪ/ in myth, the vowel /i/ in funny, and the diphthong /aɪ/ in my.

Question 14

What needs to be added to make plural Nouns that end in consonant + o?

Answer 14

Easy rule:
Usually add es _except for musical terms.

Complicated rule:_

Some nouns that end in consonant o add es. Many can be spelled either way. Look in the dictionary if you want to be sure.

These nouns always add es: potato, tomato, hero, echo, banjo, embargo, veto, torpedo.

Here are the preferred spellings of some plural nouns: buffaloes, dominoes, mosquitoes, volcanoes, tornadoes, ghettos, mangos, mottos, cargos, halos, mementos.

Question 15

Define a compound noun.

Answer 15

A compound noun is a noun made up of two or more words. Each word makes up part of the meaning of the noun.

A single word: Haircut, Dropcloth

Two words: Rain forest, Ice cream

Hyphenated: Self-esteem, Brother-in-law

When making a compound noun plural, if the noun is one word, add s to the end. If it is two words or hyphenated, add s to the part that is plural, not the whole noun.

one director general … two directors general (there are two directors, not two generals)
one mother-in-law … two mothers-in-law (there are two mothers, not two laws)

Question 16

Define Collective.

Answer 16

Collective comes from the same root as collection. A collective noun names a group, like a collection of something.

team, choir, jury, committee, herd, pod

Beware of plurals! Students can be a group, but that doesn’t make the word collective. It is plural.

Question 17

Define a Possessive noun.

Answer 17

Possessive comes from the same root as possession, something you own. Possessive nouns show ownership.

Don’t let the rules confuse you. They are very basic.

Rule 1: add ‘s to words to show possession.

Dog’s collar
(dog+’s)sister’s backpack
(sister+’s)car’s engine
(car+’s)

Rule 2 - the exception: If you have added an s to a word to make it plural, (cat ⇒ cats), adding ‘s will sound ridiculous (cats’s). In that case, add only the apostrophe.

Dogs’ collars
(dog+s+’)sisters’ backpacks
(sister+s+’)cars’ engines
(car+s+’)