Identifying Types of Nouns – JSS1 English Lesson Note (Third Term)

A noun is a word that names a person, place, animal, thing, idea or quality. Nouns fall into types, and the main ones at JSS1 are proper, common, collective and abstract nouns. To identify the type, ask what the noun names: a particular name, a general name, a group, or something we cannot see or touch.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

• define a noun;
• name the main types of nouns and give an example of each;
• identify the nouns in given sentences;
• state the type of a given noun.

What are the types of nouns?

How do you identify the type of a noun?

1. Find the nouns by asking who or what is named in the sentence.
2. If the noun is a particular name with a capital letter, it is a proper noun.
3. If it names a group as one unit, it is a collective noun.
4. If it names a feeling, idea or quality, it is an abstract noun.
5. If it is a general name for a person, place, animal or thing, it is a common noun.

Worked example

In the sentence “The team showed courage in Ibadan”, the nouns are team (collective), courage (abstract) and Ibadan (proper).

Exercise 1: identifying nouns

Identify the nouns in the following sentences. Do not count numbers such as 1989 and two thousand, because they are numerals. Then answer question 4.

1. No one understands why whales sometimes strand themselves.
2. Since 1989, people in a group called Project Jonah have used an inflatable pontoon to rescue stranded whales and other marine mammals.
3. More than two thousand marine mammals have been helped in recent times.
4. Name the proper noun in sentence 2.

Exercise 2: stating the types of nouns

Use the sentences below to answer the questions after them.

1. Which of the animals do you think has the worst reputation?
2. I believe the skunk is the animal that most people want to avoid.
3. The skunk can easily protect itself from others.
4. It can spray those nearby with a bad-smelling liquid.
5. This is a repellent that drives away predators.
6. The Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre performs plays about Hispanic life in the United States.
7. Over the past twenty years, this group has grown into a famous Hispanic theatre group.

1. Name the abstract noun in sentence 1.
2. Pick out the common nouns in sentence 2.
3. Name the noun in sentence 4 that names a substance.
4. Name the two proper nouns in sentence 6.
5. Name the collective noun in sentence 7.

Evaluation

1. State the type of the noun Ibadan.
2. Pick out the collective noun in: “A flock of birds flew over the farm.”
3. Pick out the abstract noun in: “Honesty is important to Amina.”
4. Pick out the proper noun in: “Amina bought a book.”
5. State the type of the noun kindness.

Assignment

Pick out the nouns in the sentence below and state the type of each: “The choir sang with joy at the church in Abuja.”

Answer key for teachers

Exercise 1

Numerals (1989, two thousand) are not counted as nouns.

1. whales
2. people, group, Project Jonah, pontoon, whales, mammals
3. mammals, times
4. Project Jonah

Exercise 2

1. reputation
2. skunk, animal, people
3. liquid
4. Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, United States
5. group

Evaluation

1. proper noun
2. flock
3. honesty
4. Amina
5. abstract noun

Assignment

• choir: collective noun
• joy: abstract noun
• church: common noun
• Abuja: proper noun