Essay

Nouns are "naming words. " They identify—or name—the following:
• People (teacher, Jimmy, brother, clerk)
• Places (town, lake, Phoenix)
• Things (flower, car, desk, pants)
• Ideas (freedom,liberty)
• Qualities (honesty, kindness)
• Emotions (sadness, happiness)
• Actions (competition, agreement, singing)
Common and Proper Nouns
A common noun names something general. Many commonnouns name concrete things (singer, hill, water, theater). But some common nouns are abstract nouns (love, courage, joy, and negotiation).

A proper noun names something specific (Beyoncé, GrandCanyon, Sprite, McDonald's). Proper nouns are capitalized; common nouns are not capitalized. Compare the common and proper nouns listed below.
Common Nouns Proper Nouns
person President Barack Obamastate North Dakota
building Taj Mahal
river Nile River
airplane Enola Gay
e-reader Kindle
Here are some more examples of proper nouns.
people Cindy, Marilyn Monroe, Duke Ellington
groupsRussians, New Yorkers, Cherokees, Canadians, Vietnamese
languages Latin, Gaelic, German, Hindi, Arabic
religions, religious books Taoism, Baptist, Islam, Judaism, Upanishads, Bible, Koran (or Quran)organizations American Kennel Club, Independent Party, American Association of University Women, National Council of Teachers of English
places Yosemite National Park, Mexico City, Orange County,British Columbia, Bunker Hill, Sunset Boulevard, Highway 99, London Bridge, Tampa International Airport
institutions, agencies, businesses North High School, Harvard University, UCLA Harbor Hospital,Pacific Bell, U.S. Department of State
ships, aircraft Spirit of St. Louis
Singular and Plural Nouns
Most nouns are regular, which means that their plural forms end in –s. But some nouns are irregularin how they form plurals.

Regular Nouns
You can form the plural of most regular nouns by adding –s to the singular noun, as in the examples below.
Singular Plural
dog dogs
house houses...