homework which noun

• More from M-W
• To save this word, you'll need to log in. Log In

Definition of homework

Examples of homework in a sentence, word history.

1662, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Dictionary Entries Near homework

Cite this entry.

“Homework.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/homework. Accessed 9 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of homework, more from merriam-webster on homework.

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for homework

Nglish: Translation of homework for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of homework for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about homework

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Can you solve 4 words at once?

Word of the day.

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), plural and possessive names: a guide, the difference between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.', why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word, what's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism', popular in wordplay, 8 words with fascinating histories, 8 words for lesser-known musical instruments, birds say the darndest things, 10 words from taylor swift songs (merriam's version), 10 scrabble words without any vowels, games & quizzes.

Words and phrases

Personal account.

• Access or purchase personal subscriptions
• Get our newsletter
• Save searches
• Set display preferences

Institutional access

Sign in with library card

Sign in with username / password

Recommend to your librarian

Institutional account management

Sign in as administrator on Oxford Academic

homework noun

• Hide all quotations

What does the noun homework mean?

There are three meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun homework . See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

How common is the noun homework ?

How is the noun homework pronounced, british english, u.s. english, where does the noun homework come from.

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun homework is in the mid 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for homework is from 1653, in the writing of Edmund Chillenden, parliamentarian army officer and General Baptist leader.

homework is formed within English, by compounding.

Etymons: home n. 1 , work n.

Nearby entries

• homeward-bounder, n. 1837–
• homeward-bound pennant, n. 1853–
• homewardly, adv. 1797–
• homewards, adv. & adj. Old English–
• homeware, n. 1782–
• home waters, n. 1838–
• home wear, n. 1836–
• home-whining, n. a1657
• home wind, n. 1732–
• home-woe, n. 1838–
• homework, n. 1653–
• homework club, n. 1900–
• homework diary, n. 1973–
• homeworker, n. 1843–
• homeworking, n. 1844–
• home-working, adj. 1850–
• home worship, n. 1849–
• homewort, n. Old English–
• home-wreck, n. 1845–
• home-wrecker, n. 1878–
• home-wrecking, n. 1878–

Thank you for visiting Oxford English Dictionary

To continue reading, please sign in below or purchase a subscription. After purchasing, please sign in below to access the content.

Meaning & use

Pronunciation, compounds & derived words, entry history for homework, n..

homework, n. was revised in September 2011.

homework, n. was last modified in June 2024.

oed.com is a living text, updated every three months. Modifications may include:

• further revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into homework, n. in June 2024.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

A Supplement to the New English Dictionary (1933)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View homework in OED Second Edition

Please submit your feedback for homework, n.

Please include your email address if you are happy to be contacted about your feedback. OUP will not use this email address for any other purpose.

Citation details

Factsheet for homework, n., browse entry.

• Reading Comprehension Worksheets
• Inferences Worksheets
• Context Clues Worksheets
• Theme Worksheets
• Main Idea Worksheets
• Reading Games
• Summary Worksheets
• Online Tests
• Figurative Language Worksheets
• Short Stories with Questions
• Nonfiction Passages
• Genre Worksheets

BECOME A MEMBER!

Noun worksheets, lessons, and tests.

Understanding the parts of speech is fundamental to learning more advanced concepts like sentence structure , grammar, and punctuation. That's why so many language arts units start with the parts of speech. And, if you are starting a unit on the parts of speech, one of the better places to begin is by studying nouns .

Nouns are words that refer to people, places, and things. Most grade school students can tell you this. But the study of nouns gets a little more complex. There are many types of nouns such as common and proper, singular and plural, and abstract and concrete. It is helpful to know these distinctions when studying language. Over the years I've created a catalog of noun worksheets and activities that work well in the classroom. These include multiple-choice tests, practice activities suitable for homework or classroom activities, as well as online noun activities that give students instant feedback and save teachers' time. I've posted all of these activities to this page and made them freely accessible to teachers, parents, and students. May we all one day have a better understanding of what we are saying.

Noun Worksheets

Noun powerpoint lessons.

Here are some multiple-choice tests to help evaluate how well your students understand nouns .

Nouns and Capitalization Common Core State Standards

23 comments, muji n"goya.

I like your site very educative and Professional. I am a homeschool parent, I have found the site very beneficial to my children. 5/5

Karen Livingston

This website is a LIFESAVE right now especially when I have to do both virtual and face to face teaching. Thank you SOO much!

Thank you for all these! Full of powerpoint slides and worksheets. May God bless you and your work!

thank you.. i love this website

Great website!!!! Loads of worksheets…. Wish it had a worksheet generator, so that it was unending.. This website has been useful for SEN. Thank you so much

Do you have anything exclusively on pronouns? Do not worry I have seen and used the Ninja sheet:)

Pronoun Worksheets and Activities All Parts of Speech Activities

Thanks for visiting!

Do you have the answer to the worksheets? Would help a lot, thank you

I apologize, browsing so fast I didn’t pay attention to the answer key at the end of each set of lessons. Thank you, the lessons and questions are excellent.

Evelyn kittridge

This exercise is not so good as I thought. It is full of mistakes and quality of the exercises are also not very good. Please recognise these mistakes and improve the exercises.

Hello. I’m sorry that your experience using these materials was negative. If you report the errors as you notice them, I will correct them. Best wishes.

Please report the mistakes as you encounter them and I will fix them. I’m just a single person and could use your expertise to improve this site and these resources.

I am so impressed with the way you answered this person’s comment. I really appreciate all of your hard work and although I as well do not always agree with some of the material, I find that when it comes to grammar there are many differences of opinion. Again I thank you for sharing all of your hard work. It is a very valuable resource.

Teresa Howard

A couple of the documents on this page need to be reformatted. They are skewed.

I love your website.

Thank you for saying this.

The problem with having editable .rtf files is that they appear differently depending on which device / program you are using to open them.

They are great if you want to make a change to a file, but other than that, I highly recommend using the .PDF files.

PDF files are formatted for print and will display in a uniform manner despite the device / program on which you open them.

So, I’m sorry that the .RTF files are not displaying properly for you on your current device. I encourage you to try the .PDF files.

Best wishes!

SO useful! Thanks!

This is so helpful!! My son has been struggling with parts of speech. This will really help us out!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for this site!

Reinforces and reflects my current lessons. Interesting and self explanatory. Thank you so much! Worth your weight in gold! This helps on several grade levels.

Very useful ,Thank you

Thanks so much for providing these worksheets. I am reviewing language skills with my computer class and these worksheets have been very helpful for the students.

I am happy to hear it. I’ll be making a bunch more in the coming months. Follow this page on Facebook for updates. Best wishes!

Very useful site. Thank you so much.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Author's Purpose Worksheets
• Characterization Worksheets
• Conflict Worksheets
• Fact and Opinion Worksheets
• Figurative Language Activities
• Figurative Language Poems with Questions
• Genre Activities
• Irony Worksheets
• Making Predictions
• Mood Worksheets
• Nonfiction Passages and Functional Texts
• Parts of Speech Worksheets
• Poetic Devices
• Point of View Worksheets
• School Project Ideas
• Setting Worksheets
• Simile and Metaphor Worksheets
• Story Structure Worksheets
• Text Structure Worksheets
• Tone Worksheets
• ALL PAGES AND WORKSHEETS

Is homework a noun or a verb?

Homework is a noun. Ex:

I am doing my homework .

Go do your homework .

You have homework tonight.

It is a noun because it is a thing YEY.

The word homework is a noun ; a word for a form of study or preparation; a word for a thing.

Example: I hate this stupid homework. ( homework is the noun and stupid is the adjective that describes the homework)

No, the word 'homework' is a noun , a word for a thing.

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence.

I do have some homework but it is almost finished. (the pronoun 'it' takes the place of the noun 'homework' in the second part of the sentence)

The word 'task' is a noun and a verb.

• The noun 'task' is a word for a piece of work to be assigned or done; a word for a thing.
• The verb 'task' means to assign a piece of work; a word for an action.

Each volunteer will be assigned a task . (noun)

I can task the purchasing manager to finding the unit. (verb)

The word homework is a noun, a common, abstract, compound noun; a word for a form of study or preparation, a word for a thing.

Anonymous ∙

alliteration

Add your answer:

What is a objective noun?

An 'object noun' is a noun that functions as the object of a verb or a preposition.Examples:The dog ate my homework. (the noun 'homework is the direct object of the verb 'ate')I gave the teacher flowers. (the noun 'teacher' is the indirect object of the verb 'gave'; the direct object is the noun 'flowers')The teacher gave me an A for effort. (the noun 'effort' is the object of the preposition 'for')

Is finish a possessive adjective?

No, the word 'finish' is a noun (finish, finishes) and a verb (finish, finishes, finishing, finished).Examples:The finish on her table is in perfect condition. (noun)I can finish my homework after work. (verb)A possessive adjective is a pronoun that is placed before a noun to describe that noun as belonging to someone or something.The possessive adjectives are: my, your, our, his, her, their, its.Examples:The finish on her table is in perfect condition. (noun)I can finish my homework after work. (verb)

What is the plural form of the word homework?

The collective noun for the noun 'homework' is a slew of homework.

Is does followed by singular verb?

No.Does is a singular verb, it is the third person singular form of do. Use does with third person singular pronouns - he she it - or singular noun subjects eg:He does his homework every night.The boy does his homework every night.

Can proxy be used as a verb?

My dog tried to take my Homework by using proxy.

Is homework a action verb?

No, homework is not a verb. The word homework is a noun, an uncountable, common, compound, abstract noun, a word for a thing.

Is 'did' a noun?

No, did is the past tense for the verb do. Example use:I do want to go to the movie.I did go to the movie.No, the word 'did' is the past tense of the verb to do.Examples:When are you going to do your homework?I already did my homework. (Honest!)

What part of speech is copies?

Copy can be a verb or a noun. Verb: Please copy the homework assignment from the board. Noun: You must provide a copy of your license.

What is the noun form of debate?

The word debate is both a noun and a verb; for example: Noun: Frank will participate in the debate with Springfield High. Verb: They will debate the positives and the negatives of homework. Noun forms for the verb to debate are debater and debatement.

Is the contraction who've a noun pronoun or verb?

The contraction who've is a short form for the pronoun who and the verbhave. The contraction functions as a subject and verb (or auxiliary verb) in a sentnece. Example:Students who have handed in their essay will have no homework this weekend.ORStudents who've handed in their essay will have no homework this weekend.

Is help a verb?

Yes, help is used as a verb and also as a noun.I help my kids with their homework whenever I can. (verb)I offered help when my neighbor's car wouldn't start. (noun)

What is the collective for homework?

Is scold a verb.

It can be one - "If you don't do your homework, your teacher will scold you."However, it can also be a noun - "He is a horrible scold."

What is the French 'devoir' in English?

noun: "les devoirs" means "homework." Verb devoir means: Should or must

Top Categories

• 1.1 Etymology
• 1.2 Pronunciation
• 1.3.1 Usage notes
• 1.3.2 Hypernyms
• 1.3.3 Coordinate terms
• 1.3.4 Derived terms
• 1.3.5 Translations
• 1.4 See also
• 1.5 References
• 1.6 Anagrams

From home +‎ work .

Pronunciation

• ( Received Pronunciation ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈhəʊmˌwɜːk/
• ( General American ) IPA ( key ) : /ˈhoʊmˌwɝk/

homework ( usually uncountable , plural homeworks )

• 2013 July 1, Peter Wilby , “Finland's education ambassador spreads the word”, in The Guardian ‎ [1] , archived from the original on 2022-10-15 : Even 15-year-olds do no more than 30 minutes' homework a night.
• 2023 January 12, Kevin Roose, “Don't Ban ChatGPT in Schools. Teach With It.”, in The New York Times ‎ [2] , archived from the original on 2023-01-17 : And I'm sympathetic to teachers who feel that they have enough to worry about, without adding A.I.-generated homework to the mix.
• 2024 May 15, 'Industry Insider', “Labour's plan for the railway”, in RAIL , number 1009 , page 68 : Under the proposals, an assurance is given that GBR (in the words of the plan) will not be marking its own homework .
• 2012 April 10, John Hudson, “North Korea Has a Clumsy Way of Soothing Concerns About Its Rocket Launch”, in The Atlantic ‎ [3] , archived from the original on 2022-01-22 : Since the whole world is watching this launch, they probably should've done some homework on their talking points.
• 2017 May 9, “Mindful sex is better sex, says B.C. researcher promoting new workbook”, in CBC News ‎ [4] , archived from the original on 2022-11-22 : Four years after her first sexual health book came out, Dr. Lori Brotto is giving her readers a little bit of homework for the bedroom.
• 2022 July 18, Donald Mcrae , quoting Michael Yormark, “Roc Nation's Michael Yormark on Romelu Lukaku: 'You have to play to his strengths... I don't think that happened'”, in The Guardian ‎ [5] , archived from the original on 2022-12-26 : I didn't even know who he was until I did my homework and realised he was a premier footballer for Bayern.
• 2023 August 7, Suzanne Wrack , “England beat Nigeria on penalties to reach Women’s World Cup quarter-finals”, in The Guardian ‎ [6] : Nigeria had done their homework and were well organised. Halimatu Ayinde was exceptional in her marking of James, who had scored twice and provided three assists as she ran the show against China.
• 1989 , Eileen Boris, Cynthia R. Daniels, Homework: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on Paid Labor at Home , University of Illinois Press , →ISBN , page 241 : Hatch perceived homework to be one tool—along with various workfare schemes and private sector training programs—that would take women off welfare and make poor women "independent."
• 1933 , James T. Farrell , Gas-House McGinty , page 186 : My wife and I want a kid, and we do plenty of homework , but goddamn it, Dutch, I just can't connect.
• ( BDSM ) Tasks assigned by a dominant for a submissive to perform when they are physically away from their dominant or otherwise free.

Usage notes

• ( exercises assigned by a teacher ) The term homework generally implies that the work is mandatory and worth marks; exercises that are optional are usually referred to as practice problems , review problems , extra practice , exercises , etc.
• ( exercises assigned by a teacher ) Work of a larger scale than homework (which involves a series of relatively simple exercises) is usually referred to as an assignment or project .

Coordinate terms

Derived terms.

• bit of homework
• do one's homework
• homework club
• homework diary
• piece of homework
• the dog ate my homework

Translations

• English compound terms
• English 2-syllable words
• English terms with IPA pronunciation
• English terms with audio pronunciation
• English lemmas
• English nouns
• English uncountable nouns
• English countable nouns
• English terms with usage examples
• English terms with quotations
• English terms with rare senses
• English slang
• English euphemisms
• English endocentric compounds
• en:Education
• Pages with entries
• Pages with 1 entry
• Entries with translation boxes
• Terms with Afrikaans translations
• Terms with Albanian translations
• Terms with Arabic translations
• Terms with Gulf Arabic translations
• Terms with Armenian translations
• Terms with Azerbaijani translations
• Terms with Bashkir translations
• Terms with Basque translations
• Terms with Belarusian translations
• Terms with Bulgarian translations
• Terms with Burmese translations
• Terms with Catalan translations
• Terms with Cantonese translations
• Terms with Mandarin translations
• Terms with Cornish translations
• Terms with Czech translations
• Terms with Danish translations
• Terms with Dutch translations
• Terms with Esperanto translations
• Terms with Faroese translations
• Terms with Finnish translations
• Terms with French translations
• Terms with Galician translations
• Terms with Georgian translations
• Terms with German translations
• Terms with Greek translations
• Terms with Haitian Creole translations
• Terms with Hebrew translations
• Terms with Hindi translations
• Terms with Hungarian translations
• Terms with Icelandic translations
• Terms with Indonesian translations
• Terms with Irish translations
• Terms with Italian translations
• Terms with Japanese translations
• Terms with Kazakh translations
• Terms with Korean translations
• Terms with Kyrgyz translations
• Terms with Lao translations
• Terms with Latin translations
• Terms with Lithuanian translations
• Terms with Macedonian translations
• Terms with Malay translations
• Terms with Maltese translations
• Terms with Maori translations
• Terms with Mongolian translations
• Terms with Navajo translations
• Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations
• Terms with Persian translations
• Terms with Polish translations
• Terms with Portuguese translations
• Terms with Romanian translations
• Terms with Russian translations
• Terms with Scottish Gaelic translations
• Terms with Serbo-Croatian translations
• Terms with Slovak translations
• Terms with Slovene translations
• Terms with Spanish translations
• Terms with Swedish translations
• Terms with Tagalog translations
• Terms with Tajik translations
• Terms with Thai translations
• Terms with Turkish translations
• Terms with Ukrainian translations
• Terms with Urdu translations
• Terms with Uyghur translations
• Terms with Uzbek translations
• Terms with Vietnamese translations
• Terms with Welsh translations
• Terms with Yiddish translations

Navigation menu

• Dictionaries home
• American English
• Collocations
• German-English
• Grammar home
• Practical English Usage
• Learn & Practise Grammar (Beta)
• Word Lists home
• My Word Lists
• Recent additions
• Resources home
• Text Checker

Definition of homework noun from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

• acquire/get/lack experience/training/(an) education
• receive/provide somebody with training
• develop/design/plan a curriculum/course/program/syllabus
• give/go to/attend a class/lesson/lecture/seminar
• hold/run/conduct a class/seminar/workshop
• moderate/lead/facilitate a discussion
• sign up for/take a course/classes/lessons
• go to/start preschool/kindergarten/nursery school
• be in the first, second, etc. grade (at school)
• study/take/drop history/chemistry/German, etc.
• finish/drop out of/quit school
• graduate from high school/college
• be the victim/target of bullying/teasing
• skip/cut/ ( informal ) ditch class/school
• cheat on an exam/a test
• get/be given a detention (for doing something)
• be expelled from/be suspended from school
• do your homework/a project on something
• work on/write/do/submit an essay/a dissertation/a thesis/an assignment/a paper
• finish/complete your dissertation/thesis/studies
• hand in/turn in your homework/essay/assignment/paper
• study/prepare/review/ ( informal ) cram for a test/an exam
• take/ ( formal ) sit for a test/an exam
• grade homework/a test
• do well on/ ( informal ) ace a test/an exam
• pass/fail/ ( informal ) flunk a test/an exam/a class/a course/a subject
• apply to/get into/go to/start college
• leave/graduate from college (with a degree in computer science)/law school
• study for/work towards a law degree/a degree in physics
• major/minor in biology/philosophy
• earn/receive/be awarded/get/have/hold a master's degree/a bachelor's degree/a Ph.D. in economics

Definitions on the go

Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.

Explore topics

• Telephone, telegraph

• Daily Crossword
• Word Puzzle
• Word Finder
• Word of the Day
• Synonym of the Day
• Word of the Year
• Language stories
• All featured
• Gender and sexuality
• All pop culture
• Writing hub
• Grammar essentials
• Commonly confused
• All writing tips
• Pop culture
• Writing tips

Advertisement

[ hohm -wurk ]

• schoolwork assigned to be done outside the classroom ( distinguished from classwork ).
• a single assignment of such schoolwork: Homeworks are due at the beginning of class.
• paid work done at home , as piecework.

to do one's homework for the next committee meeting.

/ ˈhəʊmˌwɜːk /

• school work done out of lessons, esp at home
• any preparatory study
• work done at home for pay

Word History and Origins

Origin of homework 1

Idioms and Phrases

Example sentences.

Now, they log on to Zoom from their bedrooms, surrounded by unfinished homework assignments and tattered stuffed animals, waiting to be assigned calls, texts and emails by the trained therapists who oversee the program.

Yow started her homework and saw Frese had gone 35-22 with two winning seasons at Ball State, which hadn’t had a winning record in its previous nine seasons.

Do some homework before investing in a diamond, and that lifelong commitment.

Another poster included an image of their losses over what appeared to be online math homework.

As we countdown to Inauguration Day, I've been doing my homework—and looking to the past for inspiration.

“I can help my children with their homework and sometimes we text in English at my job,” Santos says.

Scheunemann, meanwhile, had no idea who Spencer was, and did some homework.

She jumped at the chance to watch RT, or jumped at the chance to skip calculus homework.

And we encourage parent-student “contracts,” for class attendance, homework submission and even extra-curriculum activities.

Adicéam did his homework, spending 50 days collecting pieces, many with unexpected stories behind them.

Much of this homework is done by a very bad light and the boy's eyes suffer much.

For homework we have prepared alphabets where the letters are printed in type-writing order.

His parents were always getting angry with him for losing his clothes, or his toys, or his homework.

Only at the time when he was going to Beauregard School, with his homework.

And once a week or twice a week she was sending her homework or something to him.

Related Words

• arrangement
• construction
• establishment
• preparedness
• qualification

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Definition of 'homework'

It seems that your browser is blocking this video content.

To access it, add this site to the exceptions or modify your security settings, then refresh this page.

homework in British English

Homework in american english, examples of 'homework' in a sentence homework, cobuild collocations homework, trends of homework.

View usage for: All Years Last 10 years Last 50 years Last 100 years Last 300 years

Browse alphabetically homework

• homeward journey
• homework assignment
• homework club
• homework diary
• All ENGLISH words that begin with 'H'

Related terms of homework

• do homework
• school homework
• homework exercise
• View more related words

Wordle Helper

Scrabble Tools

Quick word challenge

Quiz Review

Score: 0 / 5

• Access the entire site, including the Easy Learning Grammar , and our language quizzes.
• Customize your language settings. (Unregistered users can only access the International English interface for some pages.)
• Submit new words and phrases to the dictionary.
• Benefit from an increased character limit in our Translator tool.
• Receive our weekly newsletter with the latest news, exclusive content, and offers.
• Be the first to enjoy new tools and features.
• It is easy and completely free !

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Definition of homework – Learner’s Dictionary

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

• Go upstairs and do your homework.
• For your homework, please do exercise 3 on page 24.
• When I finish my homework, can I watch TV?
• Get on with your homework.
• She was trying to duck out of doing her homework.

(Definition of homework from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Translations of homework

Get a quick, free translation!

Word of the Day

to deal successfully with a difficult situation or a problem

Nobody blames you: phrases for offering reassurance

Learn more with +Plus

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
• English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
• English–Dutch Dutch–English
• English–French French–English
• English–German German–English
• English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
• English–Italian Italian–English
• English–Japanese Japanese–English
• English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
• English–Polish Polish–English
• English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
• English–Spanish Spanish–English
• English–Swedish Swedish–English
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists
• do your homework
• Translations
• All translations

To add homework to a word list please sign up or log in.

Add homework to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{message}}

Something went wrong.

There was a problem sending your report.

What Is a Noun? Definition, Types, and Examples

Nouns are everywhere in our writing. But what are all the types of nouns you come across, and how do you use them?

A noun is a word that names something, such as a person, place, thing, or idea. In a sentence, nouns can play the role of subject , direct object , indirect object , subject complement , object complement , appositive , or modifier .

Some noun examples include:

• Taylor Swift
• Kuala Lumpur

Here’s a tip: Want to make sure your writing shines? Grammarly can check your spelling and save you from grammar and punctuation mistakes. It even proofreads your text, so your work is extra polished wherever you write.

Your writing, at its best Grammarly helps you communicate confidently Write with Grammarly

Types of nouns

Nouns form a large proportion of English vocabulary, and they come in a wide variety of types.

Nouns can name a person:

Albert Einstein

the president

Nouns can name a place:

Mount Vesuvius

Nouns can name things:

Things might include intangible things, such as concepts, activities, or processes. Some might even be hypothetical or imaginary things.

The Elder Wand

Proper nouns vs. common nouns

One important distinction to be made is whether a noun is a proper noun or a common noun . A proper noun is a specific name of a person, place, or thing and is always capitalized.

Does Tina have much homework to do this evening?

Tina is the name of a specific person.

I would like to visit Old Faithful.

Old Faithful is the specific name of a geological phenomenon.

The opposite of a proper noun is a common noun, sometimes known as a generic noun. A common noun is the generic name of an item in a class or group and is not capitalized unless appearing at the beginning of a sentence or in a title.

The girl crossed the river .

Girl is a common noun; we do not learn the identity of the girl by reading this sentence, though we know the action she takes. River is also a common noun in this sentence.

Types of common nouns

Common or generic nouns can be broken down into three subtypes: concrete nouns , abstract nouns , and collective nouns . A concrete noun is something that is perceived by the senses; something that is physical or real.

I heard the doorbell .

My keyboard is sticky.

Doorbell and keyboard name real things that can be sensed.

Conversely, an abstract noun is something that cannot be perceived by the senses.

We can’t imagine the courage it took to do that.

Courage is an abstract noun. Courage can’t be seen, heard, or sensed in any other way, but we know it exists.

A collective noun denotes a group or collection of people or things.

That pack of lies is disgraceful.

Pack as used here is a collective noun. Collective nouns take a singular verb, as they refer to the collection of people or things they identify as one entity—in this case, the singular verb is .

A pride of lions roamed the savanna.

Pride is also a collective noun.

Nouns and number

All nouns are either singular or plural in number. A singular noun refers to one person, place, thing, or idea and requires a singular verb, while a plural noun refers to more than one person, place, thing, or idea and requires a plural verb.

Forming plural nouns

Many English plural nouns can be formed by adding -s or -es to the singular form, although there are also many exceptions.

These two cats are both black.

Note the plural verb are .

house→houses

Countable nouns vs. uncountable nouns

Concrete and abstract common nouns can be further classified as either countable or uncountable. Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted, even if the resulting number would be extraordinarily high (like the number of humans in the world). Countable nouns can be singular or plural and can be used with numbers and modifiers like a/an , the , some , any , a few , and many .

Here is a cat .

Here are a few cats .

Here are eight cats .

Uncountable nouns, or mass nouns , are nouns that are impossible to count, whether because they name intangible concepts (e.g., information , animal husbandry , wealth ), collections of things that are considered as wholes (e.g., jewelry , equipment , the working class ), or homogeneous physical substances (e.g., milk , sand , air ). Although most of these nouns are singular in form, because they refer to things that can’t be isolated and counted on their own, they are never used with the singular indefinite article a or an . Singular concrete uncountable nouns can often be expressed in countable units by adding a countable noun like piece (with of ). On their own, uncountable nouns can be modified by the definite article, the , or indefinite adjectives like some .

They’d love to rent some property around here.

They’d love to rent a piece of property around here.

Students don’t seem to have much homework these days.

Could you help me move the furniture into the other room?

Nouns and the possessive case

The possessive case shows the relationship of a noun to other words in a sentence. That relationship can be ownership, possession, occupancy, a personal relationship, or another kind of association. The possessive of a singular noun is formed by adding an apostrophe and the letter s .

The cat’s toy was missing.

The cat possesses the toy, and we denote this by use of -’ s at the end of cat .

Casey’s sister is a geologist.

Here, the possessive case indicates the relationship between Casey and their sister.

The novel’s release made quite a splash.

In the above example, the possessive case is denoting that novel is in the role of object in relationship to release ; someone released the novel.

The possessive of a plural noun that ends in – s or – es is formed by adding just an apostrophe.

My nieces’ prom outfits were exquisite.

The possessive of an irregular plural noun is formed by adding – ’s .

The children’s drawings were hung on the walls.

When a singular noun ends in the letter s or z , the general rule of adding – ’s often applies.

I have been invited to my boss’s house for dinner.

Ms. Sanchez’s coat is still hanging on the back of her chair.

This is a matter of a style, however, and some style guides call for leaving off the s after the apostrophe.

Brussels’ cathedrals attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

Whichever style an organization or writer chooses should be used consistently.

Functions of nouns

Nouns take on different roles based on their relationships to the rest of the words in a sentence.

Nouns as subjects

Every sentence must have a subject , and that subject will always be a noun or pronoun . The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing that is doing or being or experiencing whatever is described by the verb of the sentence.

Maria played the piece beautifully.

The noun Maria is the subject of this sentence; it tells us who is performing the action described by the sentence’s verb ( played ).

Nouns as objects

Nouns can also be objects of a transitive verb in a sentence. An object can be either a direct object (a noun that receives the action described by the verb) or an indirect object (a noun that receives direct object).

Cleo passed the salt .

Cleo passed Otto the salt .

In both of the above sentences, the noun salt is the direct object of the verb passed ; the salt is what Cleo passed. In the second sentence, there is also an indirect object: the noun Otto . Otto is the person to whom Cleo passed the salt; Otto is the recipient of the salt. A good way to identify an indirect object in a sentence is to ask yourself to whom/what or for whom/what something is being done.

Nouns as subject and object complements

Another role nouns sometimes perform in a sentence is that of a subject complement . A subject complement normally follows a linking verb such as be , become , or seem and gives more information about the subject of the sentence. Mary is a teacher .

In this sentence, the noun teacher is being used as a subject complement. A teacher is what Mary is.

A related function of nouns is to act as an object complement , which provides more information about the direct object of a sentence with a transitive verb.

I now pronounce you husbands .

Husbands is a noun used as an object complement in this sentence. Verbs that denote making, naming, or creating are often followed by nouns behaving as object complements.

Nouns as appositives

A noun used as an appositive immediately follows another noun in order to further define or identify it. You can also say that the second noun is in apposition to the first noun.

My brother, Michael , is six years old.

Michael is an appositive here, further identifying the noun phrase my brother . Appositives can be restrictive or nonrestrictive ; in the above example, we can see from the fact that it is set off between commas that Michael is nonrestrictive—that is, it could be left out of the sentence without leaving out essential information about who is six years old. In other words, we can surmise that Michael is the writer’s only brother; telling us his name is extra information about him. Here is a version of the same sentence where the appositive is used restrictively, without being set off by commas:

My brother Michael is six years old.

In this case, the appositive Michael is providing information that is essential for narrowing down which brother the writer is telling us about. We can infer that they have multiple brothers, and understand that it is the one named Michael who is six years old.

Nouns as modifiers

Sometimes, nouns can be used to modify other nouns, functioning like adjectives. When they do this, they are often called attributive nouns. .

He is a speed demon.

Speed is normally a noun, but here it is acting as an adjective to modify demon .

What are nouns?

Nouns refer to a person, place, thing, or idea. They serve as the subjects, direct objects, and indirect objects in a sentence, along with other roles.

What are some examples of nouns?

Nouns can be living things ( Keanu Reeves or cat ), places ( beach or Detroit ), things ( ruler or PlayStation 5 ), or ideas ( nihilism or the theory of evolution ).

What are the different types of nouns?

Common nouns refer to general things (like parks), and proper nouns refer to a specific thing (like Yellowstone National Park). Nouns can also be plural or singular, depending on how many there are, countable or uncountable, and possessive or not possessive.

How do you identify a noun in a sentence?

Nouns often have articles ( the , a , or an ) before them in a sentence, but not always. Sometimes you’ll see adjectives like red or some before nouns. Aside from the first word in a sentence, if a word is capitalized, then it’s most likely a proper noun, such as a person’s name.