Nouns

Brijbox English · Learn the idea

Rule: Ask: does this word name someone, somewhere, something or an idea?

Pattern: Ask what the word names: a person, place, animal, thing or idea.

A noun names a person, place, animal, thing or idea.

Some nouns name things you can see or touch. Others name ideas or feelings, such as kindness or joy.

Look at these examples

The teacher smiled.

Teacher is a noun. It names a person.

A rabbit hid in the garden.

Rabbit names an animal. Garden names a place. Both are nouns.

Kindness matters.

Kindness is a noun too. It names an idea, even though we cannot hold it.

Watch out

A noun can name something you cannot touch, such as courage. Look at its job in the whole sentence.

Your turn

Say or write your answers. An adult can read the questions aloud.

1. A bird sang.

Which word names an animal? sang / bird / A

2. We visited the library.

Which word names a place? library / visited / We

3. The cup fell.

Which word is a noun? The / fell / cup

4. Her courage helped us.

Which noun names an idea? helped / courage / Her

Sentence workshop

Try each task before looking at the grown-up guide. Say your answer or write on paper.

Build a sentence.

A ___ carried a ___ into the ___.

Fill the gaps with an animal, a thing and a place. Say the whole sentence.

Explain: What does each of your three nouns name?

Test the rule.

Kindness helped the team.

Someone says, “Kindness cannot be a noun because I cannot touch it.” Explain what they have missed.

Explain: Can a noun name an idea?

Make your own sentences

Describe a place you know in two sentences. Include a person or animal, a place and a thing. Underline the nouns when you read your sentences back.

Grown-up guide

Accept spoken sentences or adult scribing. Ask what each noun names; spotting a word by its position alone is not enough.

Practice answers

1. bird. Bird names the animal. It is a noun. Sang tells us what the bird did.

2. library. Library names a place, so it is a noun.

3. cup. Cup names a thing. Fell tells us what happened to it.

4. courage. Courage is a noun naming an idea. Nouns do not have to name things we can touch.

Sentence workshop examples

A fox carried a basket into the garden. Fox names an animal, basket a thing and garden a place. Other choices work if they do those jobs.

Kindness is a noun. It names an idea. Nouns name ideas as well as physical things. Team is a noun too; it names a group of people.

Check the child’s own writing

One possible example: A dog ran across the garden. Its ball landed beside the gate.

Try another day

In a book tomorrow, find two nouns you can touch and one you cannot.

These are starter lessons. Use the child’s explanation and independent sentences to choose what to revisit. Finishing a page is not a mastery result.