Every day, we use lots of words when we talk. Some words help us describe things, and others help us make sentences or show our feelings. Today, let’s learn about a special kind of word called a noun!
Nouns are words we use to name people, places, or things. Let’s explore each of these categories:
Your name is a noun because it tells who you are. Your friends and family have names too, like grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, and cousin. These are all nouns! People also have titles like doctor, teacher, or firefighter. All these words are nouns for people.
Think about the places you go, like your home, school, or the park. Other places include stores, libraries, and movie theaters. All these words are nouns for places.
Look around you! You might see a pencil, book, car, or toy. These are all things, and they are nouns too. Anything you can touch or see is a noun for a thing.
Let’s practice finding nouns in a sentence: “The teacher gave candy to the kids at school.” Can you find the nouns? If you said “teacher,” “candy,” “kids,” and “school,” you’re right! “Teacher” and “kids” are people, “candy” is a thing, and “school” is a place.
There are two types of nouns: common nouns and proper nouns.
Common nouns are words we use a lot, like “kid,” “school,” and “movie.” They are ordinary words for people, places, and things.
Proper nouns are special names for specific people, places, or things. Your name, like “Tom,” is a proper noun because it is specific to you. The name of your school or a movie like “Despicable Me” is also a proper noun. Proper nouns are always capitalized!
Let’s try a sentence with proper nouns: “Emma was walking down Main Street and saw her teacher Mr. Williams.” Can you find the proper nouns? They are “Emma,” “Main Street,” and “Mr. Williams.” Now, can you find the common noun? It’s “teacher!”
Remember, nouns are all around us. They help us name the people, places, and things in our world. Now that you know about nouns, you’re ready to learn even more about words and sentences. Have fun exploring!
Noun Scavenger Hunt: Go on a noun scavenger hunt around your home or classroom! Make a list of people, places, and things you find. For example, you might write down “mom” for a person, “kitchen” for a place, and “chair” for a thing. Try to find at least five nouns in each category. Share your list with a friend and see if they found any different nouns!
Noun Sorting Game: Create three boxes or areas labeled “People,” “Places,” and “Things.” Cut out pictures from magazines or draw your own pictures of different nouns. Sort the pictures into the correct boxes. Discuss with a partner why each picture belongs in its category. This will help you understand how nouns are used to name different things in our world.
Story Time with Nouns: Write a short story or draw a comic strip using at least five common nouns and three proper nouns. For example, you might write about a day at the park with your friend “Lucy” and your dog “Max.” Share your story with the class and see if they can spot all the nouns. This activity will help you practice identifying and using both common and proper nouns in sentences.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript, removing any unnecessary elements and ensuring clarity:
—
**Nouns for Kids**
Every day when we talk, we say thousands of words. In fact, the average adult says about 15,000 words each day. This video uses about 2,000 words. Some words we use describe things, while others help us make sentences or express strong feelings.
So, what is a noun? Nouns are all the words that we use for people, places, or things.
Let’s look at nouns for people. Your name is a noun; it identifies who you are. Your friends and family members also have names, which are nouns as well. In addition to everyone’s names, we all have different titles too. Titles are words like grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, cousin, friend, and nephew. So, you’re not just Eli; you’re also a brother and a son. You might be a nephew too. There are many titles that people go by, such as fireman, doctor, or mail carrier. All those titles are nouns used for people.
Now that we’ve talked about people, let’s talk about places. You live in a home and go to school. Some other places you might go to are stores, the library, movie theaters, the mall, theme parks, farms, and more. All those words are nouns too.
That leaves one more category for nouns. You write with a pencil and read books. You might have a car or a phone. You have backpacks, shoes, clothes, toys, and many more items that you use every day. All those items are also nouns; they fall into the “things” category.
There are millions and millions of nouns because there are millions and millions of people, places, and things in this world. Understanding and recognizing nouns will help you become a better reader and writer. In fact, in English, there aren’t many sentences that don’t include at least one noun.
See if you can pick out the nouns in this sentence: “The teacher gave candy to the kids at school.” If you said “teacher,” “candy,” “kids,” and “school,” then you’re right! The teacher and kids are people, candy is a thing, and school is a place.
In sentences, some of the parts of speech that come before nouns include “a” and “the.” When you see one of these words in a sentence, that is a good clue that there is probably a noun that comes after it.
Look at this sentence: “My mom gave me an apple.” Do you see the word “an” in this sentence? The word that comes after “an” is a noun. Is “apple” a person, place, or thing? An apple is a thing, isn’t it? And the word “an” helped us know that “apple” is indeed a noun.
Now that you understand that nouns are people, places, and things, there are two different types of nouns: common nouns and proper nouns. Most of the nouns we have talked about so far are examples of common nouns. The word “common” means often, which means it’s a word that we hear and use a lot. Common nouns are the ordinary words for people, places, and things. For example, you are a kid, and the noun “kid” is a common noun.
Nouns that are not ordinary or common, which means they are used less often, are called proper nouns. We use proper nouns to name something specific. The word “kid” is a common noun, but your specific name “Tom” is a proper noun. Your name is not as common as “kid,” so “Tom” is a proper noun because it is specific to you.
It works the same with places and things. “You go to a school” is a common noun we use often, but the name of your school is specific, which means it is not common. So, the name of your school is a proper noun. The word “movie” is a common noun that we use a lot as well, but the movie “Despicable Me” is a proper noun because it is the name of a specific movie.
Remember, a proper noun is a specific person, place, or thing.
Look at this group of nouns. Some of them are proper nouns, and some of them are common nouns. See if you can place the proper nouns and the common nouns into the correct column. By the way, did you notice that all the proper nouns were capitalized? That’s because proper nouns are always capitalized, while common nouns are only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence. For example, the word “kid” is not capitalized, but your name “Tom” is. “Library” is not capitalized, but “Colorado City Library” is. “Grocery store” is not capitalized, but “Walmart” is.
If you get confused between proper and common nouns, see if the person, place, or thing in a sentence is capitalized or not. That can help you know if it is a common noun or a proper noun. Remember that a proper noun is more special or specific and isn’t used as often as common nouns.
Let’s take a look at a sentence with some proper nouns in it: “Emma was walking down Main Street and saw her teacher Mr. Williams.” Did you find all three proper nouns? Well done! Here’s a bonus question: Can you find the common noun in that sentence? Did you say “teacher”? Great job!
Now that you’ve mastered nouns, you are ready to learn about the other parts of speech. Hope you had fun learning with us! Visit us at learnbrite.org for thousands of free resources and turnkey solutions for teachers and homeschoolers.
—
This version maintains the educational content while removing extraneous elements.
