Nouns and noun phrases

For grown-ups: this lesson in words

Years 3 to 6 · English

Nouns and noun phrases: I can spot nouns, build noun phrases and find the head noun.

1. A noun is a naming word. It names a person, an animal, a place or a thing.

   In this sentence, dog, ball and park are nouns.

   Dog is an animal, ball is a thing and park is a place. You could point to each one.

   Picture: The sentence "The dog chased a ball in the park.", with "dog" labelled noun, "ball" labelled noun and "park" labelled noun.

2. Nouns can be common or proper. Watch where each word goes.

   Dog and shop are common nouns. They name any dog or any shop.

   Mei and London are proper nouns. They name one special person and one special place.

   Friday is a proper noun too. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter.

   Picture: Sorting into 2 groups: Common noun, Proper noun. Common noun: dog, shop. Proper noun: Mei (child), London (map), Friday (calendar).

3. Your turn: Tap the proper noun in this sentence.

   Picture: The sentence "The cat sat next to Kofi."

   Tap the right word.

   Answer

   The answer: Kofi

   Kofi is the proper noun. It names one special person, so it has a capital letter. Cat is a common noun.

   Picture: The sentence "The cat sat next to Kofi.", with "cat" labelled noun and "Kofi" labelled proper noun.

Words to know

noun:

A naming word for a person, an animal, a place, a thing or an idea.

proper noun:

The name of one special person, place or day. It starts with a capital letter.

abstract noun:

A noun for a feeling or an idea you cannot see or touch, like joy.

adjective:

A word that describes a noun, like fluffy or red.

noun phrase:

A group of words built around one noun.

head noun:

The noun a noun phrase is about.