Nouns: Part 1

8th Grade English

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A NOUN is a word that names a PERSON, PLACE, THING, OR IDEA COMMON Nouns: is a GENERAL name for a person, place, thing, or idea; usually NOT CAPITALIZED

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Examples: astronaut, planet, mission

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PROPER NOUNS: name of a particular person, place, thing, or idea; ALWAYS CAPITALIZED. Examples: Sally Ride, George Washington, Jupiter, Douglassville, Apollo 11, Brooklyn Bridge

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CONCRETE NOUNS: name things that can be SEEN, HEARD, SMELLED, TOUCHED, OR TASTED Examples: sunlight, explosion, fuel, rocks, moon, ice ABSTRACT NOUNS: names an idea, FEELING, QUALITY, OR CHARACTERISTIC Examples: exploration, excitement, lightness, courage

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EVERY NOUN IS EITHER COMMON OR PROPER AND CONCRETE OR ABSTRACT. For example, planet is common and concrete. Excitement is common and abstract.

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COLLECTIVE NOUNS: word that names a group of people or things. Example: community, audience, panel, crowd, class, government, staff, pack, herd, colony

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Try it out. Write the nouns in these sentences, identifying each as common or proper as well as abstract or concrete. Identify any collective nouns. The first astronauts squeezed food from tubes. Astronauts in the Space Shuttle Program eat from a tray with forks and spoons. They use straws to drink beverages from sealed pouches.

8th Grade English

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A SINGULAR NOUN names ONE person, place, thing, or idea. 

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A PLURAL NOUN names more than one person, place, thing, or idea. 

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One ASTRONOMER saw a STAR (singular).

The ASTRONOMERS saw many STARS (plural).

In many cases, to make a noun plural you add an –s to the end of the word. However, there are other rules that you can find on page 39 of your grammar textbook.

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Pause the video. Number your paper 1-5. Rewrite the nouns in parenthesis in their plural forms. Stars are made of hydrogen, helium, and small (quantity) of other elements. They create enormous (amount) of energy when their hydrogen atoms join together. Like human (being), stars go through a life cycle. Stars fall into (category), mainly based on their size. Many stars shrink as they age into smaller (body) known as white dwarfs.

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POSSESSIVE NOUNS show OWNERSHIP Rules for spelling possessive nouns: NOUN

RULE

POSSESSIVE

SINGULAR

Mars Planet

ADD AN APOSTROPHE AND –S

Mars’s atmosphere Planet’s color

PLURAL ENDING IN –S

Canals Rocks

ADD AN APOSTROPHE

Canals’ shape Rocks’ origin

PLURAL NOT ENDING IN –S

Women Children

ADD AN APOSTROPHE AND –S

Women’s careers Children’s games

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Pause the video. Number your paper 1-5. Write the possessive form of each noun in parenthesis. Label each possessive noun as singular or plural. (Astronomy) history dates back 5,000 years. The (Babylonians) calendar was based on their observations of the stars and planets. (Men) and (women) lives were governed by the stars. Ancient (Egypt) builders may have used the stars to guide their placement of the pyramids. The Greek philosopher Aristotle claimed that Earth was the (solar system) center.

8th Grade English

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A noun can be the subject of a sentence or it can work as a complement. A SUBJECT tells whom or what a sentence is about. Comets are made of ice, dust, and gas. What is this sentence about? Comets. Comets is the subject. A COMPLEMENT is a word that completes the meaning of the verb. Carolyn Shoemaker is an astronomer. Carolyn Shoemaker is the subject so astronomer is the complement. The complement is almost always after the verb.

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Pause the video. Identify each underlined noun as a subject or complement. Comets orbit the sun just as planets do. However, their orbits are not very predictable. A small comet gave human beings a scare in 1908. The comet destroyed a forest when it crashed into Siberia. People felt its impact hundreds of miles away.

8th Grade English

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Nouns are often found in prepositional phrases and appositives. NOUNS AS OBJECTS OF PREPOSITIONS: an object of a preposition is the NOUN OR PRONOUN that follows the PREPOSITION.  

Mount Wilson is an observatory in California. In California is the preposition, California is the object of the preposition.

A preposition is a word that shows a relationship between a noun or pronoun and some other word. Common prepositions are:           

About Above Across After Against Along Among Around As Before Behind

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Below Beneath Beside Beyond By Despite Down During Except For From In Inside Into Like Near Of Off

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On Out Over Past Through To Toward Under Until Up With Within Without

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An APPOSITIVE is a noun or pronouns that IDENTIFIES or RENAMES another noun or pronoun. Usually, commas are used before and after an appositive phrase. The Milky Way, our galaxy, is one of many. Our galaxy is the appositive phrase. Galaxy is the appositive.

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Pause the video. Number your paper 1-5. Identify each underlined noun as an object of a preposition or an appositive. Shannon Lucid, an American astronaut, was chosen for a joint American-Russian space mission. She spent a year in Russia preparing for her duties on Mir, a Russian space station. She flew to Mir on a space shuttle. Two Russians aboard Mir showered her with greetings. Lucid grew used to eating Russian foods such as borscht, a beet soup.