Noun Definition & Meaning (Video Noun Examples & Types of Nouns)

A noun is one of the eight parts of speech in English. Each part of speech has a role to play in building coherent sentences.

Noun definition and meaning:

• Nouns are words that label a person, place, or thing.

Types of nouns:             

• Person: John woke up late.
• Place: I want to go to New York.
• Thing: The car drove fast.

Along with verbs, they make up the core of any sentence. The verb is the action, and the nouns either do the action (the subject) or have the action done to them (the object).

Noun examples:

• Subject: You hit the ball. You does the action.
• Object: The ball hit Jon. Jon has the action done to him.
• Notice that the subject sits to the left side and the object to the right side of the verb “hit” in the sentences above.
• To find the subject, ask who or what does the action.
• To find the verb, look for the action word.

Proper nouns name specific people, places, or things:

• Person: Abraham Lincoln was president during the Civil War.
• Place: Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean.
• Thing: Do you want to visit the Statue of Liberty?

Common nouns don’t name specific people, places, or things:

• Person: The mailman dropped off a yellow package.
• Place: Lilly walked to school.
• Thing: Please power up the computer.

The articles (a, an, and the) often come before common nouns, making them easy to find:

• The: The boy played with the ball and bat.
• A: A bird flew overhead.
• An: An apple would taste good right now.

Thing