Nouns
We use them all the time, but what is a noun?
A noun is a word which is used to name a person, an animal, a place, a thing, or an abstract idea. Nouns are usually the words we learn first when we are young.
Noun Gender
In English, nouns rarely change their form, even to indicate gender. The nouns 'Person' and 'People' do not refer to a specific gender, and the majority of nouns are gender-neutral. However, some nouns indicate gender, such as policeman or policewoman. Regardless of the noun, adjectives used to modify the noun do not change to reflect gender.
Common nouns which reflect gender in people:
man -- woman
gentleman -- lady
actor -- actress
waiter -- waitress
uncle -- aunt
father -- mother
policeman -- policewoman
nephew -- neice
uncle -- aunt
Common nouns which reflect gender in animals: (Shown M/F)
a buck -- a doe
a ram -- a ewe
a bull -- a cow
a stallion -- a mare
If it is necessary, the word "male" or "female" can added as an adjective to describe gender:
a female cat
a male giraffe
If the gender of the person or animal is known, we generally use the pronoun "he" or "she" to refer to it. When the gender is unknown or irrelevant, the pronoun 'he' or 'they' is generally used when speaking about people, or 'it' when speaking about animals. On occasion, for personal reasons, people will apply a gender to nouns. For example, some people may use 'She' to refer to a boat or a car.
Some nouns (especially the names of professions) are traditionally associated with men or women, so we can add 'woman', 'lady', 'female', 'man' or 'male' to the noun to demonstrate an exception.
They are in a group of male dancers.
My wife prefers to see a woman doctor.
However, the current fashion in English is to remove all references to gender when referring to jobs, and to use the word 'Person' instead. So, you may occasionally find 'new' nouns such as 'Police Person'.
Plural Nouns
Most countable nouns can be changed from singular to plural by adding "-s" or "-es" to the end of the noun. For example:
shoe -- shoes
book -- books
river -- rivers
There are other nouns which can be changed from singular to plural by changing the last letter before adding "s". Some words ending in "f" form the plural by deleting "f" and adding "ves," and words ending in "y" form the plural by deleting the "y" and adding "ies". For example:
wharf -- wharves
scarf -- scarves
city -- cities
fly -- flies
party -- parties
supply -- supplies
Nouns ending in 's' or 'ss' are usually given the ending '-es'. For example:
bus -- buses
kiss -- kisses
Some nouns are irregular in the plural:
one man -- two men
one woman -- two women
one person -- two people
one foot -- two feet
one mouse -- two mice
one goose -- two geese
one tooth -- two teeth
one wife -- two wives
one child -- two children
one knife -- two knives
one thief -- two thieves
one dwarf -- two dwarves (or dwarfs)
one potato -- two potatoes
one leaf -- two leaves
one life -- two lives
one loaf -- two loaves
one half -- two halves
A few nouns do not change form in the plural:
one moose -- two moose
one sheep -- two sheep
one aircraft -- two aircraft
Words of Greek or Latin origin which have retained their original endings generally use the plural form from the language they originate from:
one alumnus -- two alumni
one syllabus -- two syllabi
one alumna -- two alumnae
one alga -- many algae
one criterion -- many criteria
one forum -- many fora (or forums)
one thesis -- two theses
one hypothesis -- two hypotheses
one phenomenon -- two phenomena
one cactus -- two cacti (or cactuses)
one diagnosis -- two diagnoses
one oasis -- two oases
one analysis -- two analyses
Collective nouns
Some nouns are collective and never change, always indicating a plural meaning:
She gave me some information.
Michelle has a lot of clothes.
Capital letters
Certain nouns are generally capitalized, including: days of the week and months; names of holidays, cities (or states, etc.) and religions; nouns of nationality:
London
Muslim
Saturday
April
