Overview

A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. Words like friend, library, encyclopedia, and justice are nouns. There are two basic types of nouns: proper nouns and common nouns. A proper noun names a specific person, place, thing, or idea. Ms. Sanchez, Main Street, and Friday are proper nouns. A common noun names any person place, thing, or idea. Neighbor, school, book, and pride are common nouns. A common noun is either concrete or abstract. A concrete noun names something you can see or touch, like table. An abstract noun names something you cannot see or touch, like personality.

You can distinguish nouns in other ways, too. A compound noun is made up of two or more words, such as hometown, fish fry, and merry-go-round. A possessive noun names who or what has or owns something. A collective noun names a group of individuals. Crowd, herd, and team are collective nouns.

An appositive is a noun placed next to another noun to identify it or add information about it. An appositive phrase is a group of words that includes an appositive and other words that describe the appositive.