Noun: Play on player!

Think of a noun as the ultimate player who gives his three Latin lovers; Clause, Verb, and Preposition their reasons to live.  When they blow up his phone, inbox him, or plaster his Facebook wall with endless proposals, the noun finds a way to satisfy all three of them at the same time.  Whew! 

To all of you wannabe players, listen and learn:  The word noun comes from the Latin word, nōmen, which means “name,” which is exactly what this player does.  Whether his companion is a person, place, thing, event, substance, quality, quantity, or idea, the noun will adjust. If Clause says, “Keep it simple,” the noun responds with a basic clause: “I will.”  When Verb is in the mood for action, the noun plans an evening filled with action and adventure.   Sometimes, the noun will allow his pretty Preposition to stand in front of him and detail the before, after and in-between.  The noun gives his devoted divas their identity and makes them feel secure.  Because of his loyalty, they all look into his eyes and say, “You complete me.” 

The noun can be classified as common and proper; countable and uncountable; collective; concrete and abstract.  Play on player!

     A common noun names people, places, things, or ideas that are not specific.  The common noun is never capitalized unless it starts a sentence.

     A proper noun names specific people, places, things, or ideas.  And, because he knows who his daddy is, a proper noun always begins with a capital letter.  Marilyn, Toyota Corolla, Atlantic Ocean, World Wide Web. 

     Word of caution.  Before you write the common noun off as … well, common, bear in mind; just like the noun and his three Latin lovers, the proper noun will crumble without the common noun to help him keep it together.

     It's all about the presentation:  These next three noun types, while similar in function and form, have different grammatical presentations than other nouns. 

•  Countable nouns are common nouns that; can take a plural (e.g., s or es as in dogs or dishes); can combine with numerals or quantifiers (e.g., one, two, several, every, most as in two girls or several ways); and can take an indefinite article (a or an as in a woman or an apple).
• Non-countable nouns (or mass nouns) come pre-formed and ready to go.  These strong individuals resist extra help.  They refuse to take on a plural (e.g., people, laughter, and helium).  They snub number words or quantifiers.  They give articles the cold-shoulder.
• Collective nouns are nouns that refer to groups consisting of more than one individual or entity.  Examples include committee, family, they, and herd).

     The sense you were born with:

•  Concrete nouns refer to entities that at least one of the five senses can identify.  In other words, you can touch, smell, taste, hear, or see a concrete noun.  (e.g., I felt the room shake during the earthquake. -or- She witnessed the accident).
• Abstract nouns, refer to ideas or concepts (e.g., justice or love).   In English, many abstract nouns are formed by adding noun-forming suffixes (-ness, -ity, -ion) to adjectives or verbs. Examples are happiness (from the adjective happy), circulation (from the verb circulate) and serenity (from the adjective serene).   
• Some nouns have multiple senses that include both concrete and abstract properties.  (e.g., art, is an important element of human culture and can also refer to a specific work of art.  Compare these two statements:  Without art, we are all the same.  Michelangelo's art, such as the Statue of David reflects his love of male beauty.  

  Need more help?

If you have specific homework or editing questions, please feel free to post in the comment box.  I will get back with an answer within 24 hours or less.