Noun Notes Singular and Plural Nouns • Nouns can be singular or plural, depending upon whether they name one person, place, thing, or idea or more than one. • Singular- boy, body, watch, wife, ox Plural Rules • To form the plural of most nouns, add –s -Example- boy → boys, football →footballs • For nouns ending in –s, -ch, -sh, -x, or –zz, add –es to form the plural. -Examples: watch → watches, fox →foxes • For nouns ending in –y preceded by a consonant, change the –y to –i and add –es -Examples: lady →ladies, body → bodies  For most nouns ending in –f or –fe, change the –f to a –v and add –es. – Examples: knife → knives, calf → calves • Other nouns have irregular plurals – Example: woman → women • Some nouns do not change form from singular to plural – Example: sheep → sheep Possessive Nouns • The possessive form can show possession, ownership, or the general relationship between two nouns. • Add an apostrophe and –s to form the possessive of a singular noun, even one that already ends in –s – Example: a baby’s bottle, the business’s payroll • Use an apostrophe alone to form the possessive of a plural noun that ends in –s – Example: the babies’ bottles, the businesses’ payroll

• Add an apostrophe and –s to form the possessive of a plural noun that does not end in –s – the women’s decision, the children’s toys, the sheep’s wool

Proper and Common Nouns • A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, thing, or idea -Examples: Lebron James, Mexico, Statue of Liberty, Christianity • A common noun is the general name of a person, place, thing, or idea -Examples: athlete, country, statue, religion

Abstract and Concrete Nouns • A concrete noun names an object that occupies space or that can be recognized by any of the senses. - Examples: orange, cough, smoke, petal • An abstract noun names an idea, quality, or characteristic. - - humor, poverty, motion, sadness Collective Nouns • A collective noun names a group -Examples: family, (the) public, team, community, flock • A collective noun is sometimes considered singular and sometimes considered plural. • You consider a collective noun singular when you talk about a group as a whole. -Example: The audience shouts its approval. • You consider a collective noun plural when you talk about the individual members of the group. -Example: The audience have arrived in small groups.