Active Grammar 1 - Nigel Turton 2007
Unit 2 Nouns
• What is a noun?
• Proper nouns
• Countable nouns?
• Uncountable nouns
• Singular and plural forms
● What is a noun?
(book, cat, sister, school)
What are Sally and her mother talking about?
The next day Sally gives her mother a piece of paper.
THINGS I WOULD LIKE
a watch
a box of paints
a new bag for school
a kite
a book about cats
a kitten
There are lots of naming words in Sally's list.
Naming words are called nouns.
a watch
a box of paints
a new bag for school
a kite
a book about cats
a kitten
The names of all the things you use and play with are nouns.
These nouns are the names of animals.
You use nouns for people too. Some nouns tell us what people do.
You use these nouns to talk about the people in your family. Here is a photograph of Sally and her family.
These nouns are the names of places.
Grammar Help
A noun that begins with a small letter is called a common noun.
PRACTICE
1 Each sentence below contains two or three nouns. Circle them.
a I am reading a book about elephants.
b We're going to the beach to fly my kite.
c My teacher has a computer on her desk.
2 Look at the nouns in each group. They belong to the same set. Write two more nouns for each set.
a kite doll ball jigsaw ...
b sister grandfather mother ...
c lion horse cow elephant ...
3 One of the words in each group is NOT a noun. Which is it? Circle it.
a book bicycle singer go classroom
b balloon computer write television pencil
● Proper nouns
(Jill, Monday, London)
Three days before her birthday party, Sally writes down the names of her friends. They are all coming to her party.
For a person's name, you use a special type of noun. It is called a proper noun.
Here are some more proper nouns. They are the names of countries and cities.
The names of days and months are proper nouns too.
December is the last month of the year. Here are all the twelve months of the year:
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.
PRACTICE
1 Put the nouns below into the correct box.
France sister Nina March pencil Beijing
2 Match each proper noun with a common noun by drawing a line.
● Countable nouns
(a balloon, two balloons)
Sally's birthday party is on Saturday and there is lots of shopping to do. This is the shopping list.
When you count things, you say how many.
Words like balloon, spoon and egg are called countable nouns.
In a supermarket there are lots of things you can count.
● Uncountable nouns
(bread, jam, milk)
On the shopping list there are some things that you cannot count.
SHOPPING LIST
sausages juice
eggs water
rice lemonade
bread milk
jam sugar
apples honey
oranges party hats
bananas balloons
biscuits candles
Words like milk, bread and jam are uncountable nouns.
Uncountable nouns are names of something you cannot count.
Here are some more uncountable nouns.
Sally is getting some things to drink.
With uncountable nouns you can use words like bottle and carton. You can count bottles and cartons.
PRACTICE
1 Put the nouns into the correct box.
biscuit water sugar pencil flour hat milk
COUNTABLE
toothbrush
UNCOUNTABLE
...
2 Match each word in Box A with a word from Box B. Make phrases like this:
e.g. a tube of toothpaste
a ...
b ...
c ...
BOX A (COUNTABLE)
tube
bag
tin
sheet
BOX В (UNCOUNTABLE)
paper
toothpaste
flour
soup
● Singular and plural forms
(a kitten, three kittens)
On the wall outside the supermarket there is a notice. What is it about?
Home Wanted
Three kittens need a good home.
Only six weeks old.
Purrrrfect pets.
Please ring: 68473870
Most countable nouns have two forms. They are either singular or plural.
When you are talking about just one person,
place or thing, you use the singular form.
Three kittens need a good home.
REM|NDER
Home is a singular form.
When you ore talking about more than one person, place or thing, you use the plural form.
Three kittens need a good home.
Only six weeks old.
Purrrrfect pets.
REM|NDER
Kittens, weeks and pets are plural forms.
To make a plural form, you usually add -s at the end of a noun:
PRACTICE
1 Someone is having a garage sale. Say whether each noun in the notice is singular or plural.
Make four sentences like this:
e.g. 'Bicycles' is plural.
a ...
b ...
c ...
d ...
GARAGE SALE
two bicycles (nearly new)
books (hardbacks and paperbacks)
a large refrigerator
cups, plates and bowls
six cotton shirts
a washing machine
WHEN? Sunday 4th June, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
WHERE? 15 Orchard Gardens
2 What can you see in your classroom? Make four sentences like this:
e.g. I can see one whiteboard.
a ...
b ...
c ...
d ...