A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. Every sentence must have a noun as its subject.
| Examples: | The bear sleeps. | |
| Toronto is a city. |
A proper noun is the name of a person, place or thing. Proper nouns should always be capitalized.
| Examples: | Toronto | |
| Mr. Brown | ||
| Sally |
A common noun is any noun that is not a proper noun. Common nouns are not capitalized.
| Examples: | the city | |
| a leader | ||
| this woman |
The plural form of a noun indicates more than one. The plural form is usually formed by adding an s or es.
| Examples: | one week, two weeks | |
| a house, many houses | ||
| one box, two boxes |
Nouns that end in a consonant followed by a y are made plural by dropping the y and adding ies.
| Example: | one country, two countries |
Nouns that end in a vowel followed by a y are made plural by adding s.
| Example: | one toy, two toys |
Nouns that end in f or fe drop the f or fe and add ves.
| Example: | one leaf, two leaves |
Certain irregular nouns have special plural forms.
| Examples: | one foot, two feet | |
| a mouse, many mice |
To find the plural form of a noun that you are unsure of, check the Gage Canadian Dictionary.
The possessive form of a noun indicates ownership or modifies another noun. The possessive form is usually formed by adding 's to the end of a noun.
| Examples: | the player's equipment | |
| the woman's job | ||
| Canada's government |