Nouns · Grade 1

A noun is a word that names a person, a place, a thing or an idea: teacher, Cairo, table, happiness. Most sentences have at least one. There are four main kinds of noun, and each one tells you something different.

Key facts

• Common nouns name any person, place or thing: girl, city, pencil. They start with a small letter.
• Proper nouns name a particular person, place, day or month: Amira, London, Monday, July. They always start with a capital letter.
• Collective nouns name a group: a team of players, a flock of birds, a herd of elephants, a swarm of bees.
• Abstract nouns name ideas, feelings and qualities you can't see or touch: courage, friendship, fear, honesty.
• A quick test: a noun can usually follow the, a or my: the table, a team, my fear.

Worked examples

Other years

• Nouns · Kindergarten
• Nouns · Grade 2
• Nouns · Grade 3
• Nouns · Grade 4
• Nouns · Grade 5
• Nouns · Grade 6