8.1   Definition

8.2   Position

   8.2.1   Nouns often come after a determiner

   8.2.2   Nouns can also come after a quantifier

   8.2.3   Nouns often come after one or more adjectives

8.3   Noun phrases

8.4   Functions of a noun in a sentence

8.5   Classification

   8.5.1   A noun can be concrete or abstract

         8.5.1.1   A concrete noun is something you can touch, see, etc.

         8.5.1.2   An abstract noun refers to abstract objects, like ideas, concepts, etc.

   8.5.2   A noun can be proper or common

         8.5.2.1   A proper noun represents a unique entity, and always begins with a capital letter no matter where

                       it occurs in a sentence

         8.5.2.2   A common noun describes a class of entities
   8.5.3   A noun can be countable or uncountable

         8.5.3.1   A countable noun has both a singular and a plural form

         8.5.3.2   An uncountable noun is also called a non-count noun, or a mass noun

               8.5.3.2.1   An uncountable noun usually cannot be expressed in a plural form

               8.5.3.2.2   We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular

               8.5.3.2.3   We do not usually use the indefinite article “a” or “an” with uncountable nouns

               8.5.3.2.4   We can use “some,” “any,” “a little,” and “much” with uncountable nouns

         8.5.3.3   Nouns that can be both countable and uncountable

   8.5.4   Compound nouns

         8.5.4.1   Open or spaced – space between words

         8.5.4.2   Hyphenated – hyphen between words

         8.5.4.3   Closed or solid – no space or hyphen between words

   8.5.5   Two or more nouns together – noun as adjective 

   8.5.6   Collective nouns

         8.5.6.1   It is generally accepted that collective nouns can take either singular or plural verb form
                       depending on the context

         8.5.6.2   However, certain collective nouns customarily use plural verb form

         8.5.6.3   When people is used as a countable noun, it refers to a race

         8.5.6.4   When poultry is used as an uncountable noun, it refers to meat of domestic fowls

   8.5.7   Verbs acted as nouns (see also 5.  Verbals – Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles)

         8.5.7.1  Use of nouns vs use of gerunds

8.6   The possessive form

   8.6.1   When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or something, we usually add ‘s to a
              singular noun, whatever the final consonant

   8.6.2   Exception: when adding ‘s to a singular noun is awkward to pronounce, then we add only an                                  apostrophe ‘ (see also 8.6.5.3)

   8.6.3   For plural nouns that end in –s, the possessive form is to add an apostrophe ‘

   8.6.4   For plural nouns that do not end in –s, the possessive form is to add ‘s

   8.6.5   Possessive with names

         8.6.5.1   We very often use possessive ‘s with names

         8.6.5.2   When a name ends in –s, we usually treat it like any other singular noun, and add ‘s

         8.6.5.3   But it is possible (especially with older, classical names) to just add the apostrophe ‘ (see also                               8.6.2)

8.7   Noun endings

8.8   Singular Nouns and Plural Nouns
8.9   The Gender of Nouns

8.10  Plural or Singular noun after “No”

   8.10.1   For uncountable nouns, use singular form

   8.10.2   For smaller countable nouns, use plural form; for bigger countable items, use singular form

   8.10.3   For things that can only be singular, use singular form; for things that can be plural, use plural form

8.11   Common confusions of the use of nouns

   8.11.1   Art vs Arts

   8.11.2   Sport vs Sports

   8.11.3   Vehicles

   8.11.4   “the” + singular countable noun to refer to those things or people in general

   8.11.5   Sometimes, “a” + singular countable noun can also refer to things or people in general

8.12   List of nouns