essay as a noun in a sentence

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[ noun es -ey es -ey , e- sey verb e- sey ]

• a short literary composition on a particular theme or subject, usually in prose and generally analytic, speculative, or interpretative.

a picture essay.

• an effort to perform or accomplish something; attempt.
• Philately. a design for a proposed stamp differing in any way from the design of the stamp as issued.
• Obsolete. a tentative effort; trial; assay.

verb (used with object)

• to try; attempt.
• to put to the test; make trial of.
• a short literary composition dealing with a subject analytically or speculatively
• an attempt or endeavour; effort
• a test or trial
• to attempt or endeavour; try
• to test or try out
• A short piece of writing on one subject, usually presenting the author's own views. Michel de Montaigne , Francis Bacon (see also Bacon ), and Ralph Waldo Emerson are celebrated for their essays.

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Other words from.

• es·sayer noun
• prees·say verb (used without object)
• unes·sayed adjective
• well-es·sayed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of essay 1

Example Sentences

As several of my colleagues commented, the result is good enough that it could pass for an essay written by a first-year undergraduate, and even get a pretty decent grade.

GPT-3 also raises concerns about the future of essay writing in the education system.

This little essay helps focus on self-knowledge in what you’re best at, and how you should prioritize your time.

As Steven Feldstein argues in the opening essay, technonationalism plays a part in the strengthening of other autocracies too.

He’s written a collection of essays on civil engineering life titled Bridginess, and to this day he and Lauren go on “bridge dates,” where they enjoy a meal and admire the view of a nearby span.

I think a certain kind of compelling essay has a piece of that.

The current attack on the Jews,” he wrote in a 1937 essay, “targets not just this people of 15 million but mankind as such.

The impulse to interpret seems to me what makes personal essay writing compelling.

To be honest, I think a lot of good essay writing comes out of that.

Someone recently sent me an old Joan Didion essay on self-respect that appeared in Vogue.

There is more of the uplifted forefinger and the reiterated point than I should have allowed myself in an essay.

Consequently he was able to turn in a clear essay upon the subject, which, upon examination, the king found to be free from error.

It is no part of the present essay to attempt to detail the particulars of a code of social legislation.

But angels and ministers of grace defend us from ministers of religion who essay art criticism!

It is fit that the imagination, which is free to go through all things, should essay such excursions.

Related Words

• dissertation

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Writing and Grammar Skills Appendix

Using Noun Phrases and Clauses for Better Topic Sentences

Let’s take a look at two sentences:

1. The first way that Edison changed the world was by inventing electricity.

2. First, Edison changed the world by inventing electricity.

Which of these two sentences do you think is better? Why?

In your essays, you can use either way, but it’s important in writing to use variety. That means you should have different kinds of sentences to make your writing better and more interesting. If you just use “First,” “second,” “last” to separate your ideas, it sounds boring. However, the same happens if all of your body paragraph sentences start like this: “The first way is. . . ”, “the second way is. . . ”

So let’s practice other ways to write topic sentences! Is there a way we can change the sentence parts in 1. to make a similar but different sentence?

Below are several ways to make different kinds of topic sentences, depending on the kind of essay you are writing. You may want to practice by making some example sentences for your essay topic.

Note: Clauses have a subject and a verb, although they may not make a complete idea.

Example: where he was going

Phrases are a group of words, but they do not have a verb. They usually consist of nouns, gerunds, infinitives, adjectives, and prepositions.

Example: the reason behind all the commotion

Before you write an essay, practice making good topic sentences using the charts below.

For classifying information:

For processes:

For compare/contrast:

To explain causes:

To explain effects:

To give reasons:

Other Noun Clauses

It + “be” + adj. + (that) noun clause.

This formula is a very common sentence construct in English. The following adjectives are often used with the formula:

Also, “for + (someone)” and an infinitive can also be added to the formula. Take a look at how the following sentences are constructed using different parts of the formula:

• It is impossible that John got away with murder.
• It’s too bad for Amy that Bill broke up with her.
• It is nice to know that I have good friends to help me.
• It is important for students to realize how Greek influence permeates American culture.

Sentence Practice

Practice a variety of the “it is adj” formula in the following sentences.

• It is lucky__________________________________________________________________ .
• It’s a shame _______________________________________________________________ .
• 3. It is highly possible ______________________________________________________ .
• 4. It’s very possible ________________________________________________________ .
• 5. It is strange _____________________________________________________________ .

Noun clauses from question-answer responses

Another common type of noun clause are ones made from questions. They usually describe discussions of questions or report the answers to questions.

• Student A: Where does Xu live?
• Student B: I don’t know.
• Reported sentence: I don’t know where Xu lives.

The question and the answer can be combined to report someone’s answer about something using noun clauses. The most important thing to remember here is that when you make the question into a noun clause, it does NOT keep the question grammar.

These kinds of noun clauses can be the subject or object of the sentence.

Example: We do not know exactly how many people were affected by the power outage.

Example: Exactly how many people were affected by the power outage remains unknown.

This can be done for all kinds of questions, including yes / no questions. But for yes / no questions, the noun clauses look a little different. For yes / no questions, we can use either “if” or “whether” in the noun clause.

• Xu: Are we going to have a test tomorrow?
• Bill: I’m not sure.
• Bill isn’t sure if we are going to have a test tomorrow.
• Whether we have a test tomorrow (or not) depends on Mrs. D’s mood.

For questions that involve “can”, “could”, or “should”, a noun clause can be used or an infinitive.

• Xu: I have a big problem. What should I do? Please tell me! Please tell me what I should do about my problem.
• Please tell me what to do about my problem.
• I don’t know where you could find tacos in this city.
• I don’t know where to find tacos in this city.

Noun clause practice

Put together the following conversations into one sentence using a noun clause.

Example:   A: Who are you taking to the dance? B: I don’t know yet.

Answer: I don’t know yet who I am taking to the dance.

• A: Where did John go? B: I have no idea.                                                                                             __________________________________________________________________________
• A: William lost his job. B: That’s a shame.                                                                                           __________________________________________________________________________
• A: Who is that girl over there? B: It’s obvious!                                                                                     __________________________________________________________________________
• A: Yuxin got roses from her boyfriend! B: That’s so nice!                                                                   __________________________________________________________________________
• A: How can I get to the bus station? B: *gives directions*                                                                 __________________________________________________________________________
• A: It’s snowing. Should I go home or stay here at work until it stops? B: That’s up to you to decide. _________________________________________________________________________
• A: Would your sister like to come to my party? B: I’ll find out tonight.                                              __________________________________________________________________________
• A: Does the copy machine need more paper? B: I’ll let you know.                                                    __________________________________________________________________________
• A: Anna loves her new job. B: That’s clear.                                                                                          __________________________________________________________________________
• A: How do you use a microwave? B: I don’t know…                                                                            __________________________________________________________________________

It’s All Greek to Me! Copyright © 2018 by Charity Davenport is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Effective Noun Finder to Make Your Writing Grammatically Correct

Powerful Noun Finder

Our noun finder is an online tool that is used for identifying nouns in sentences as well as other parts of speech used in English grammar. In addition to serving as a parts of speech checker, it informs the user whether the nouns and other parts of speech are being used as they should be. If not, it provides suggestions on how to correct the errors. Using nouns and the other parts of speech in a grammatically correct way isn’t just important to students. Business people, writers, bloggers, journalists and anybody else who communicates via the written word must be able to provide grammatically correct text. A tool for noun verb detection that points out grammar mistakes and advises how to fix them is invaluable to anybody who writes.

Nouns That Can Be Checked With Our Noun Detector

Nouns are one of the first parts of speech we are taught when learning English grammar. A noun is a word used to identify people, places and things. The following are the 10 types of nouns used in English grammar:

• Common nouns. Common nouns are the names of people, places or things that are non-specific. Example: “I took my dog for a walk.” (dog is a thing), “I rowed across the lake.” (lake is a place).
• Proper noun. A proper noun is a specific name for a person, place or thing. Example: “George and I went to the party.” (George is a person), “I visited Miami during my vacation.” (Miami is a place), “I bought my television from Walmart.” (Walmart names a thing).
• Concrete nouns. A concrete noun is something that can be perceived through at least one of the five senses ( sight, smell, sound, taste, touch). Example: “Mary ate the pie.” (pie can be seen, tasted, smelled and touched)
• Abstract nouns. Abstract nouns refer to intangible ideas such as emotions, character traits and social concepts. Example: “It was my anger that caused me to punch the wall.”
• Collective nouns. Collective nouns describe a group of people or things. Depending on how it is used a collective noun can be singular or plural. Example: “Our team practices daily.” (team as singular), “The teams competed against each other.” (team as plural)
• Compound nouns. Nouns that are formed from two or more words are known as compound nouns. Sometimes the compound noun uses a space between two words such as ice cream. A compound word may be made up of two nouns (basketball) , a noun and a verb (sunrise) or an adjective and a noun (highway) .
• Countable nouns. Countable nouns are things/people that can be counted no matter how high the number. Example: “There are 6 chairs at the table” (number + chairs). “I had an apple for breakfast.” (indefinite article “ an ” + apple )
• Uncountable nouns. Sometimes known as a mass noun, an uncountable noun is something that can’t be counted. Salt, advice and garbage are examples of uncountable nouns.
• Possessive nouns. Possessive nouns are nouns that show possession or ownership and are often formed by adding an apostrophe s to a common or proper noun. Example: “ George’s car ran out of gas.”  “The girl’s bike was stolen.”
• Plural nouns. Plural nouns are nouns that refer to more than one person, place or thing. They are most commonly formed by adding “s”, “ies”, or “es” to the end of a common noun. Example: dogs, boys, tables .  

There are numerous rules that apply to using the different types of nouns which is why our noun detector tool is so useful. Verbs may need to be changed depending on the type of noun being used and a verb noun agreement checker can keep you from making grammatical errors in sentences. You may think you don’t need a proper noun checker or a common noun checker when proofreading but that just scrapes the surface of noun usage. Do you know how to recognize a dependent clause? Many people don’t but our noun clause identifier does. It identifies all the nouns in your text as well as noun phrases and informs you if they are being used correctly. In addition the noun phrase tester provides suggestions on how to fix incorrect noun usage.

Tips and Tricks for Using Our Proper Noun Checker Correctly

There are numerous rules for the proper use of nouns in English grammar and most people don’t remember all of them. The following are 7 tips/secrets to help you use nouns correctly in your paper and other text.

• To test whether a word is a countable noun or uncountable noun put test it by putting “a”, “an” or a number before the word. If “a”, “an” or a number can be used it’s a countable noun. If not then it is an uncountable noun.
• If a noun is plural or already ends in an “s” just add an apostrophe after the “s” to show possession. Ex: “Where is the boys’ restroom?” 
• Take a break before proofreading: You need some time to distance yourself from your text before proofreading for proper noun usage. When you proofread too soon your eyes sometimes see what your mind expects to see and not what is actually there.
• Two possessive nouns joined by the word “and” denote plural while two nouns joined by the word “and”  and only one is possessive denotes singular. Ex: “John’s and Peter’s fathers are going to the meeting.”(plural 2 fathers”)  “John and Peter’s father is going to the meeting.”(singular, 1 father)
• Read your text out loud: When you read your text out loud you will often catch mistakes that you miss when just reading to yourself.
• Keep a dictionary and grammar book handy: It can be time consuming but having a dictionary and grammar rule book at your fingertips allows you to check words and phrases you are unsure of, especially for non-native English speakers.
• Use our online noun identifier: Use our writing tool to find nouns in a sentence online quickly and ensure proper usage. Our parts of speech finder online identifies the different parts of a sentence, indicates incorrect usage and makes suggestions on how to fix errors in your text

Proofreading and editing text for noun misuse and other grammatical errors on your own is a time consuming process. It can take hours and you still may overlook some mistakes. Our noun clause finder can show you any noun misuse and other mistakes in a matter of seconds and make suggestions on how to correct your mistakes, shaving hours off the editing process, while improving the final text you submit. Our tool does not get tired so it will always find the issues that it is programmed to find.

Additional Features of Our Noun Checker

Our noun/pronoun agreement fixer isn’t limited to performing only a single task. Sure, it works great as a possessive noun checker or for identifying and correcting noun misuse and other grammatical errors but it also does much more.

• Additional functions include a spelling checker, punctuation checker and dictionary checker.
• It can also determine whether you are writing in active or passive voice and make suggestions to improve your text so that you use the appropriate voice to deliver your message. On top of all that it examines the tone of your text and word usage. 
• The tool is easy to use. Just copy and paste your text into the provided field and click the button to initiate text analysis. Within a short time you will receive a report that identifies any errors in your text, as well as suggested adjustments and corrections. You dont have to follow the suggestions that the tool makes, you can always make adjustments as you see fit to follow your own writing style. Of course, always run your text through our powerful tool once more once you have made your changes to avoid any errors.
• It is fast and accurate, and as an added bonus your own grammar skills will improve as you learn how to identify mistakes as well as correct them. You will never have to ask yourself how to find my predicate noun again because our writing tool will do it for you and teach you how in the process.

Our noun detector/corrector is fast, easy to use and accessible online 24/7. It provides accurate results quickly and is free to use. With its many features it is the perfect tool to help you edit your academic papers or any other text.

Try our noun finder on your next writing assignment to transform your text from good to great.

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Semicolons, colons, and dashes

What this handout is about.

This handout explains the most common uses of three kinds of punctuation: semicolons (;), colons (:), and dashes (—). After reading the handout, you will be better able to decide when to use these forms of punctuation in your own writing.

The semicolon looks like a comma with a period above it, and this can be a good way to remember what it does. A semicolon creates more separation between thoughts than a comma does but less than a period does. Here are the two most common uses of the semicolon:

1. To help separate items in a list, when some of those items already contain commas.

Let’s look at an example, as that is the easiest way to understand this use of the semicolon. Suppose I want to list three items that I bought at the grocery store:

apples grapes pears

In a sentence, I would separate these items with commas:

I bought apples, grapes, and pears.

Now suppose that the three items I want to list are described in phrases that already contain some commas:

shiny, ripe apples small, sweet, juicy grapes firm pears

If I use commas to separate these items, my sentence looks like this:

I bought shiny, ripe apples, small, sweet, juicy grapes, and firm pears.

That middle part is a bit confusing—it doesn’t give the reader many visual cues about how many items are in the list, or about which words should be grouped together. Here is where the semicolon can help. The commas between items can be “bumped up” a notch and turned into semicolons, so that readers can easily tell how many items are in the list and which words go together:

I bought shiny, ripe apples; small, sweet, juicy grapes; and firm pears.

2. To join two sentences.

An independent clause is a group of words that can stand on its own (independently)—it is a complete sentence. Semicolons can be used between two independent clauses. The semicolon keeps the clauses somewhat separate, like a period would do, so we can easily tell which ideas belong to which clause. But it also suggests that there may be a close relationship between the two clauses—closer than you would expect if there were a period between them. Let’s look at a few examples. Here are a few fine independent clauses, standing on their own as complete sentences:

I went to the grocery store today. I bought a ton of fruit. Apples, grapes, and pears were on sale.

Now—where could semicolons fit in here? They could be used to join two (but not all three) of the independent clauses together. So either of these pairs of sentences would be okay:

I went to the grocery store today; I bought a ton of fruit. Apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale.

I went to the grocery store today. I bought a ton of fruit; apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale.

I could NOT do this:

I went to the grocery store today; I bought a ton of fruit; apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale.

But why would I want to use a semicolon here, anyway? One reason might have to do with style: the three short sentences sound kind of choppy or abrupt. A stronger reason might be if I wanted to emphasize a relationship between two of the sentences. If I connect “I bought a ton of fruit” and “Apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale” more closely, readers may realize that the reason why I bought so much fruit is that there was a great sale on it.

Colons follow independent clauses (clauses that could stand alone as sentences) and can be used to present an explanation, draw attention to something, or join ideas together.

Common uses of colons

1. To announce, introduce, or direct attention to a list, a noun or noun phrase, a quotation, or an example/explanation. You can use a colon to draw attention to many things in your writing. The categories listed below often overlap, so don’t worry too much about whether your intended use of the colon fits one category perfectly.

Lists/series example:

We covered many of the fundamentals in our writing class: grammar, punctuation, style, and voice.

Noun/noun phrase example:

My roommate gave me the things I needed most: companionship and quiet.

Quotation example:

Shakespeare said it best: “To thine own self be true.”

Example/explanation example:

Many graduate students discover that there is a dark side to academia: late nights, high stress, and a crippling addiction to caffeinated beverages.

2. To join sentences. You can use a colon to connect two sentences when the second sentence summarizes, sharpens, or explains the first. Both sentences should be complete, and their content should be very closely related. Note that if you use colons this way too often, it can break up the flow of your writing. So don’t get carried away with your colons!

Example: Life is like a puzzle: half the fun is in trying to work it out.

3. To express time, in titles, and as part of other writing conventions. Colons appear in several standard or conventional places in writing. Here are a few examples:

• With numbers. Colons are used to separate units of time (4:45:00 expresses four hours, forty-five minutes, and zero seconds); ratios (2:1), and Bible verses and chapters (Matthew 2:24).
• In bibliography entries. Many citation styles use a colon to separate information in bibliography entries.

Example: Kurlansky, M. (2002). Salt: A world history. New York, NY: Walker and Co.

• With subtitles. Colons are used to separate titles from subtitles.

Example: Everest: The Last Frontier

• After the salutation in a formal business letter. A colon can be used immediately after the greeting in a formal letter (less-formal letters tend to use a comma in this location).

Example: To Whom It May Concern: Please accept my application for the position advertised in the News and Observer.

Common colon mistakes

1. Using a colon between a verb and its object or complement

Example (incorrect):The very best peaches are: those that are grown in the great state of Georgia.

To correct this, simply remove the colon.

2. Using a colon between a preposition and its object

Example (incorrect): My favorite cake is made of: carrots, flour, butter, eggs, and cream cheese icing.

3. Using a colon after “such as,” “including,” “especially,” and similar phrases. This violates the rule that the material preceding the colon must be a complete thought. Look, for example, at the following sentence:

Example (incorrect): There are many different types of paper, including: college ruled, wide ruled, and plain copy paper.

You can see that “There are many different types of paper, including” is not a complete sentence. The colon should simply be removed.

How to check for mistakes

Ask yourself a question: does the material preceding the colon stand on its own? One way to tell if the colon has been properly used is to look only at the words that come in front of the colon. Do they make a complete thought? If not, you may be using the colon improperly. Check above to see if you have made one of the most common mistakes.

Should you capitalize the first letter after a colon?

Different citation styles (such as MLA, APA, Chicago, and AMA) have slightly different rules regarding whether to capitalize the first letter after a colon. If it is important that you follow one of these styles precisely, be sure to use the appropriate manual to look up the rule.

Here’s our suggestion: generally, the first word following the colon should be lower-cased if the words after the colon form a dependent clause (that is, if they could not stand on their own as a complete sentence). If the following phrase is a complete (independent) clause, you may choose to capitalize it or not. Whichever approach you choose, be sure to be consistent throughout your paper.

Example with an independent clause, showing two different approaches to capitalization: The commercials had one message: The geeks shall inherit the earth. (correct) The commercials had one message: the geeks shall inherit the earth. (correct)

Example with a dependent clause (which is not capitalized): There are three perfect times to smile: when I’m with friends, when I’m alone, and when I’m with my dog. (correct)

The first thing to know when talking about dashes is that they are almost never required by the laws of grammar and punctuation. Overusing dashes can break up the flow of your writing, making it choppy or even difficult to follow, so don’t overdo it.

It’s also important to distinguish between dashes and hyphens. Hyphens are shorter lines (-); they are most often used to show connections between words that are working as a unit (for example, you might see adjectives like “well-intentioned”) or to spell certain words (like “e-mail”).

With that background information in mind, let’s take a look at some ways to put dashes to work in your writing.

1. To set off material for emphasis. Think of dashes as the opposite of parentheses. Where parentheses indicate that the reader should put less emphasis on the enclosed material, dashes indicate that the reader should pay more attention to the material between the dashes. Dashes add drama—parentheses whisper. Dashes can be used for emphasis in several ways: A single dash can emphasize material at the beginning or end of a sentence.

Example: After eighty years of dreaming, the elderly man realized it was time to finally revisit the land of his youth—Ireland.

Example: “The Office”—a harmless television program or a dangerously subversive guide to delinquency in the workplace?

Two dashes can emphasize material in the middle of a sentence. Some style and grammar guides even permit you to write a complete sentence within the dashes.

Example: Everything I saw in my new neighborhood—from the graceful elm trees to the stately brick buildings—reminded me of my alma mater.

Example (complete sentence): The students—they were each over the age of eighteen—lined up in the streets to vote for the presidential candidates.

Two dashes can emphasize a modifier. Words or phrases that describe a noun can be set off with dashes if you wish to emphasize them.

Example: The fairgrounds—cold and wet in the October rain—were deserted.

Example: Nettie—her chin held high—walked out into the storm.

2. To indicate sentence introductions or conclusions. You can sometimes use a dash to help readers see that certain words are meant as an introduction or conclusion to your sentence.

Example: Books, paper, pencils—many students lacked even the simplest tools for learning in nineteenth-century America.

Example: To improve their health, Americans should critically examine the foods that they eat—fast food, fatty fried foods, junk food, and sugary snacks.

3. To mark “bonus phrases.” Phrases that add information or clarify but are not necessary to the meaning of a sentence are ordinarily set off with commas. But when the phrase itself already contains one or more commas, dashes can help readers understand the sentence.

Slightly confusing example with commas: Even the simplest tasks, washing, dressing, and going to work, were nearly impossible after I broke my leg.

Better example with dashes: Even the simplest tasks—washing, dressing, and going to work—were nearly impossible after I broke my leg.

4. To break up dialogue. In written dialogue, if a speaker suddenly or abruptly stops speaking, hesitates in speech, or is cut off by another speaker, a dash can indicate the pause or interruption.

Example: “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” denied the politician.

Example: Mimi began to explain herself, saying, “I was thinking—” “I don’t care what you were thinking,” Rodolpho interrupted.

We hope that this handout has helped you better understand colons, semicolons, and dashes! For more information about punctuation, be sure to check out our handout on commas .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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General Education

If you’re wondering about proper nouns, and how to identify them, look no further. You are, in fact, a proper noun yourself! Proper nouns identify specific people, places, and things . Using proper nouns correctly clarifies your writing, and ensures that readers know exactly what you’re talking about. We all use proper nouns already, so making sure you have the ability to identify them and include them in your writing will make your writing and reading comprehension skills stronger.

What Is a Noun?

A noun is a person, place, thing, animal, or idea . Basically, anything that needs to be identified can be done so with a noun. Nouns are one of the main parts of speech, and can be enhanced by adjectives. Some examples of common nouns are things like table, dog, city, love, movie, ocean, book. A proper noun is a noun that references a specific person, place, thing, animal or idea . Everything around you is a noun, and so learning to identify common and proper nouns is important for your writing. Let’s explore the difference!

What Is a Proper Noun? How Is It Different?

What is a proper noun? Here's a simple proper noun definition: Proper nouns are nouns that identify a specific, usually one-of-a-kind noun . Proper nouns are always capitalized, no matter where they fall in a sentence. This helps you tell the difference between them. Every noun can be classified as common or proper. Additionally, most proper nouns do not have the word “the” in front of them in a sentence, the way common nouns do. “The” is a pointing word, and with a proper noun, the word has already been made specific, and there is no need to point.

For example I can say, “Please walk the dog.” or “Please walk Buddy.” Note that “Please walk Buddy” doesn’t have a “the” in the sentence since I’ve already identified the specific dog that needs walking. One exception is when you’re referring to a kingdom or a republic. So you would say the United Kingdom, even though the United Kingdom is a proper noun and the name of a specific country.

Let’s look at our common noun examples of nouns above. A common noun is city. A proper noun is New York City. You could say this dog is a good boy, or Buddy is a good boy. Book is a common noun, while The Great Gatsby is a proper noun. The difference is that nouns like city, book, and dog could be referring to multiple different things, places, or animals . Saying “book” is perfectly fine in a sentence, but you will want to specify further if you plan on talking about that book in depth. In that case, saying “book” will be confusing. On the other hand, it is perfectly acceptable to say ‘“I packed a book for vacation.”

Not all common nouns have proper noun counterparts, such as abstract nouns like love. Using proper nouns isn’t always necessary, but can help readers and listeners identify something more closely, or know that they should pay attention to a certain noun over others. Again, the difference between common and proper nouns depends on the specificity of the noun . There are lots of options for nouns and it’s up to you to decide when to use proper or common nouns. Proper nouns are used for specific things, so simply capitalizing a common noun won’t make it a proper noun.

Proper Noun Examples

Below is a list of some proper noun examples, as well as note whether they represent a person, place, or thing.

Now let's use some of them in a sentence so you can see how they differ from common nouns.

In the example above, the common and proper nouns are different but the sentence is the same . In this case, you can see that the sentence doesn’t change in meaning when you change the noun. In the following sentences, some are the same regardless of whether or not a proper or common noun is used, and the meaning is the same. In others, the sentences are slightly different to show how a proper noun can change the meaning of the sentence . Take time to consider this when looking at the rest of the examples, and note which ones are common and which are proper nouns.

Proper Noun Quiz

Identify all of the proper noun examples in this paragraph:

The Great Gatsby is one of the most famous works of American literature. In this career-defining novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a wealthy man named Jay Gatsby throws elaborate parties to attempt to get the attention, and win back the affection of his past love, Daisy. Daisy is one of the social elites of East Egg, a fictional town in Long Island, New York, and hails from an old family. Gatsby, on the other hand, is newly wealthy and not from a reputable family. Though this book is filled with flashy cars and wild parties, through narrator Nick Carraway’s perspective. we see the pain of loss and the death of the American dream.

Quiz Answers

All proper nouns are in red. 

The Great Gatsby is one of the most famous works of American literature. In this career-defining novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald , a wealthy man named Jay Gatsby throws elaborate parties to attempt to get the attention, and win back the affection of his past love, Daisy . Daisy is one of the social elites of East Egg , a fictional town in Long Island, New York , and hails from an old family. Gatsby , on the other hand, is newly wealthy and not from a reputable family. Though this book is filled with flashy cars and wild parties, through narrator Nick Carraway ’s perspective we see the pain of loss and the death of the American dream.

Proper nouns are incredibly important in the English language, which makes identifying and using them correctly all the more important. If you’re unsure about whether something is a proper noun or not, ask yourself if that person, place, or thing is one of a kind. Remember, proper noun examples are always capitalized, which should make picking them out in sentences even easier. There’s always room to improve on grammar knowledge, so pay attention to how you’re using those nouns and don’t be afraid to play with sentences to get the hang of things.

What's Next?

Looking for information about writing? Check out our guides on literary elements , sonnets , and similes vs metaphors .

Wondering about the role grammar plays on the SATs? Read up on The 12 SAT Grammar Rules You Must Know and The Complete Prep Guide for SAT Writing .

Carrie holds a Bachelors in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College, and is currently pursuing an MFA. She worked in book publishing for several years, and believes that books can open up new worlds. She loves reading, the outdoors, and learning about new things.

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• 40 Useful Words and Phrases for Top-Notch Essays

To be truly brilliant, an essay needs to utilise the right language. You could make a great point, but if it’s not intelligently articulated, you almost needn’t have bothered.

Developing the language skills to build an argument and to write persuasively is crucial if you’re to write outstanding essays every time. In this article, we’re going to equip you with the words and phrases you need to write a top-notch essay, along with examples of how to utilise them.

It’s by no means an exhaustive list, and there will often be other ways of using the words and phrases we describe that we won’t have room to include, but there should be more than enough below to help you make an instant improvement to your essay-writing skills.

If you’re interested in developing your language and persuasive skills, Oxford Royale offers summer courses at its Oxford Summer School , Cambridge Summer School , London Summer School , San Francisco Summer School and Yale Summer School . You can study courses to learn english , prepare for careers in law , medicine , business , engineering and leadership.

General explaining

Let’s start by looking at language for general explanations of complex points.

1. In order to

Usage: “In order to” can be used to introduce an explanation for the purpose of an argument. Example: “In order to understand X, we need first to understand Y.”

2. In other words

Usage: Use “in other words” when you want to express something in a different way (more simply), to make it easier to understand, or to emphasise or expand on a point. Example: “Frogs are amphibians. In other words, they live on the land and in the water.”

3. To put it another way

Usage: This phrase is another way of saying “in other words”, and can be used in particularly complex points, when you feel that an alternative way of wording a problem may help the reader achieve a better understanding of its significance. Example: “Plants rely on photosynthesis. To put it another way, they will die without the sun.”

4. That is to say

Usage: “That is” and “that is to say” can be used to add further detail to your explanation, or to be more precise. Example: “Whales are mammals. That is to say, they must breathe air.”

5. To that end

Usage: Use “to that end” or “to this end” in a similar way to “in order to” or “so”. Example: “Zoologists have long sought to understand how animals communicate with each other. To that end, a new study has been launched that looks at elephant sounds and their possible meanings.”

Adding additional information to support a point

Students often make the mistake of using synonyms of “and” each time they want to add further information in support of a point they’re making, or to build an argument . Here are some cleverer ways of doing this.

6. Moreover

Usage: Employ “moreover” at the start of a sentence to add extra information in support of a point you’re making. Example: “Moreover, the results of a recent piece of research provide compelling evidence in support of…”

7. Furthermore

Usage:This is also generally used at the start of a sentence, to add extra information. Example: “Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that…”

8. What’s more

Usage: This is used in the same way as “moreover” and “furthermore”. Example: “What’s more, this isn’t the only evidence that supports this hypothesis.”

9. Likewise

Usage: Use “likewise” when you want to talk about something that agrees with what you’ve just mentioned. Example: “Scholar A believes X. Likewise, Scholar B argues compellingly in favour of this point of view.”

10. Similarly

Usage: Use “similarly” in the same way as “likewise”. Example: “Audiences at the time reacted with shock to Beethoven’s new work, because it was very different to what they were used to. Similarly, we have a tendency to react with surprise to the unfamiliar.”

11. Another key thing to remember

Usage: Use the phrase “another key point to remember” or “another key fact to remember” to introduce additional facts without using the word “also”. Example: “As a Romantic, Blake was a proponent of a closer relationship between humans and nature. Another key point to remember is that Blake was writing during the Industrial Revolution, which had a major impact on the world around him.”

12. As well as

Usage: Use “as well as” instead of “also” or “and”. Example: “Scholar A argued that this was due to X, as well as Y.”

13. Not only… but also

Usage: This wording is used to add an extra piece of information, often something that’s in some way more surprising or unexpected than the first piece of information. Example: “Not only did Edmund Hillary have the honour of being the first to reach the summit of Everest, but he was also appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.”

14. Coupled with

Usage: Used when considering two or more arguments at a time. Example: “Coupled with the literary evidence, the statistics paint a compelling view of…”

15. Firstly, secondly, thirdly…

Usage: This can be used to structure an argument, presenting facts clearly one after the other. Example: “There are many points in support of this view. Firstly, X. Secondly, Y. And thirdly, Z.

16. Not to mention/to say nothing of

Usage: “Not to mention” and “to say nothing of” can be used to add extra information with a bit of emphasis. Example: “The war caused unprecedented suffering to millions of people, not to mention its impact on the country’s economy.”

Words and phrases for demonstrating contrast

When you’re developing an argument, you will often need to present contrasting or opposing opinions or evidence – “it could show this, but it could also show this”, or “X says this, but Y disagrees”. This section covers words you can use instead of the “but” in these examples, to make your writing sound more intelligent and interesting.

17. However

Usage: Use “however” to introduce a point that disagrees with what you’ve just said. Example: “Scholar A thinks this. However, Scholar B reached a different conclusion.”

18. On the other hand

Usage: Usage of this phrase includes introducing a contrasting interpretation of the same piece of evidence, a different piece of evidence that suggests something else, or an opposing opinion. Example: “The historical evidence appears to suggest a clear-cut situation. On the other hand, the archaeological evidence presents a somewhat less straightforward picture of what happened that day.”

19. Having said that

Usage: Used in a similar manner to “on the other hand” or “but”. Example: “The historians are unanimous in telling us X, an agreement that suggests that this version of events must be an accurate account. Having said that, the archaeology tells a different story.”

20. By contrast/in comparison

Usage: Use “by contrast” or “in comparison” when you’re comparing and contrasting pieces of evidence. Example: “Scholar A’s opinion, then, is based on insufficient evidence. By contrast, Scholar B’s opinion seems more plausible.”

21. Then again

Usage: Use this to cast doubt on an assertion. Example: “Writer A asserts that this was the reason for what happened. Then again, it’s possible that he was being paid to say this.”

22. That said

Usage: This is used in the same way as “then again”. Example: “The evidence ostensibly appears to point to this conclusion. That said, much of the evidence is unreliable at best.”

Usage: Use this when you want to introduce a contrasting idea. Example: “Much of scholarship has focused on this evidence. Yet not everyone agrees that this is the most important aspect of the situation.”

Adding a proviso or acknowledging reservations

Sometimes, you may need to acknowledge a shortfalling in a piece of evidence, or add a proviso. Here are some ways of doing so.

24. Despite this

Usage: Use “despite this” or “in spite of this” when you want to outline a point that stands regardless of a shortfalling in the evidence. Example: “The sample size was small, but the results were important despite this.”

25. With this in mind

Usage: Use this when you want your reader to consider a point in the knowledge of something else. Example: “We’ve seen that the methods used in the 19th century study did not always live up to the rigorous standards expected in scientific research today, which makes it difficult to draw definite conclusions. With this in mind, let’s look at a more recent study to see how the results compare.”

26. Provided that

Usage: This means “on condition that”. You can also say “providing that” or just “providing” to mean the same thing. Example: “We may use this as evidence to support our argument, provided that we bear in mind the limitations of the methods used to obtain it.”

27. In view of/in light of

Usage: These phrases are used when something has shed light on something else. Example: “In light of the evidence from the 2013 study, we have a better understanding of…”

28. Nonetheless

Usage: This is similar to “despite this”. Example: “The study had its limitations, but it was nonetheless groundbreaking for its day.”

29. Nevertheless

Usage: This is the same as “nonetheless”. Example: “The study was flawed, but it was important nevertheless.”

30. Notwithstanding

Usage: This is another way of saying “nonetheless”. Example: “Notwithstanding the limitations of the methodology used, it was an important study in the development of how we view the workings of the human mind.”

Giving examples

Good essays always back up points with examples, but it’s going to get boring if you use the expression “for example” every time. Here are a couple of other ways of saying the same thing.

31. For instance

Example: “Some birds migrate to avoid harsher winter climates. Swallows, for instance, leave the UK in early winter and fly south…”

32. To give an illustration

Example: “To give an illustration of what I mean, let’s look at the case of…”

Signifying importance

When you want to demonstrate that a point is particularly important, there are several ways of highlighting it as such.

33. Significantly

Usage: Used to introduce a point that is loaded with meaning that might not be immediately apparent. Example: “Significantly, Tacitus omits to tell us the kind of gossip prevalent in Suetonius’ accounts of the same period.”

34. Notably

Usage: This can be used to mean “significantly” (as above), and it can also be used interchangeably with “in particular” (the example below demonstrates the first of these ways of using it). Example: “Actual figures are notably absent from Scholar A’s analysis.”

35. Importantly

Usage: Use “importantly” interchangeably with “significantly”. Example: “Importantly, Scholar A was being employed by X when he wrote this work, and was presumably therefore under pressure to portray the situation more favourably than he perhaps might otherwise have done.”

Summarising

You’ve almost made it to the end of the essay, but your work isn’t over yet. You need to end by wrapping up everything you’ve talked about, showing that you’ve considered the arguments on both sides and reached the most likely conclusion. Here are some words and phrases to help you.

36. In conclusion

Usage: Typically used to introduce the concluding paragraph or sentence of an essay, summarising what you’ve discussed in a broad overview. Example: “In conclusion, the evidence points almost exclusively to Argument A.”

37. Above all

Usage: Used to signify what you believe to be the most significant point, and the main takeaway from the essay. Example: “Above all, it seems pertinent to remember that…”

38. Persuasive

Usage: This is a useful word to use when summarising which argument you find most convincing. Example: “Scholar A’s point – that Constanze Mozart was motivated by financial gain – seems to me to be the most persuasive argument for her actions following Mozart’s death.”

39. Compelling

Usage: Use in the same way as “persuasive” above. Example: “The most compelling argument is presented by Scholar A.”

40. All things considered

Usage: This means “taking everything into account”. Example: “All things considered, it seems reasonable to assume that…”

How many of these words and phrases will you get into your next essay? And are any of your favourite essay terms missing from our list? Let us know in the comments below, or get in touch here to find out more about courses that can help you with your essays.

At Oxford Royale Academy, we offer a number of  summer school courses for young people who are keen to improve their essay writing skills. Click here to apply for one of our courses today, including law , business , medicine  and engineering .

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• Knowledge Base
• Nouns and pronouns

What Is a Noun? | Definition, Types & Examples

A noun is a word that represents a person, thing, concept, or place. Most sentences contain at least one noun or pronoun . For example, the sentences below contain anywhere from one to three nouns.

June is my favourite month .

Nouns are one of the main types of words in English, along with other parts of speech such as verbs. They are often, but not always, preceded by an article (‘the’, ‘a’, or ‘an’) or other determiner.

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Table of contents

How are nouns used in sentences, nouns vs pronouns, common vs proper nouns, countable vs uncountable nouns, concrete vs abstract nouns.

• Collective nouns

Other types of nouns

Frequently asked questions about nouns.

A complete sentence usually consists of at least a subject and a verb . The subject describes some person or thing, and the verb describes an action carried out by the subject.

In most cases, the subject is a noun or a pronoun. So the most basic role for a noun is to act as the subject for a verb that follows it.

David went out.

Nouns and pronouns can also play the role of object in a sentence. An object usually comes after the verb and represents something or someone that is affected by the action described. Objects can be direct or indirect:

• The direct object is someone or something that is directly acted upon by the verb.
• The indirect object is someone or something that receives the direct object.

Please give Jeremy some bread .

Noun phrases

When analysing sentence structure, it’s common to refer to noun phrases . A noun phrase is a noun or pronoun in combination with all the words that belong with it in the sentence, such as any articles, adjectives, or other determiners that modify the noun.

A noun phrase can consist of the noun or pronoun alone or of a much longer series of words (always including at least one noun or pronoun).

The boa constrictor is a well-known species of snake .

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Pronouns are a much smaller set of words (such as ‘I’, ‘she’, and ‘they’) that are used in a similar way to nouns. They are primarily used to stand in for a noun that has already been mentioned or to refer to yourself and other people.

Like nouns, pronouns can function as the head of a noun phrase and as the subject or object of a verb. You can have a complete sentence consisting of just a pronoun and a verb (e.g., ‘He walks.’), just as you could with a noun (‘Jack walks.’).

Unlike nouns, some pronouns (mainly the personal pronouns ) change their forms depending on the grammatical context they’re used in. For example, the first-person pronoun is ‘I’ when it’s used as a subject and ‘me’ when it’s used as an object, whereas a noun like ‘dog’ would look the same in both cases.

Have you ever met them before?

That is beside the point.

An important distinction is made between two types of nouns, common nouns and proper nouns.

• Common nouns are more general. A common noun refers to a class of person, place, thing, or concept, but not to someone or something specific.
• Proper nouns are the names of specific people, places, things, or concepts. They are always capitalised to distinguish them from common nouns.

Another important distinction is between countable and uncountable nouns :

• Countable nouns (also called count nouns ) refer to things that can be counted. They can be preceded by an indefinite article or a number, and they can be pluralised. Most nouns are countable (e.g., ‘fact(s)’).
• Uncountable nouns (also called noncount nouns or mass nouns ) refer to things that can’t be counted. They should never be preceded by an indefinite article or a number, and they cannot be pluralised (e.g., ‘information’).

A common mistake in English is treating uncountable nouns as if they were countable by pluralising them or using an indefinite article. The solution to these problems is usually to rephrase using a related term or phrase that is countable.

• My previous two researches indicated that …
• My previous two studies indicated that …
• It’s important to account for bias in a research .
• It’s important to account for bias in research.
• It’s important to account for bias in a research project.

A distinction is often made between concrete nouns and abstract nouns.

• Concrete nouns refer to physical objects, places, or individuals: things or people that can be observed with the senses, such as ‘apple’, ‘hill’, ‘zebra’, and ‘Dorothy’.
• Abstract nouns refer to concepts, ideas, feelings, and processes that can’t be physically located, such as ‘grammar’, ‘justice’, ‘sadness’, and ‘relaxation’.

There’s no grammatical difference between concrete and abstract nouns – it’s just a distinction that’s made to point out the different kinds of things nouns can refer to.

A collective noun is a word used to refer to a group of people or things, such as ‘team’, ‘band’, or ‘herd’. A collective noun can also be a proper noun – for example, the name of a specific company or band.

A collective noun may appear to be singular (e.g., ‘team’) or plural (e.g., ‘The Beatles’) in form, and there’s some disagreement about whether they should be treated as singular or plural grammatically. The following applies for US vs. UK English .

• In US English , it’s standard to treat collective nouns as singular, regardless of whether they look plural or not.
• In UK English , the same words may be treated as plural or singular depending on the context – for example, treated as plural when you’re emphasising the individual members of the group, singular when you’re emphasising the overall collective.

A gaggle of geese is the most threatening thing you’re likely to encounter at the park.

There are many nouns in English (more than any other part of speech), and accordingly many ways of forming nouns and using them. Some other important types of nouns are:

• Possessive nouns
• Attributive nouns
• Appositive nouns
• Generic nouns

A possessive noun is a noun that’s followed by an apostrophe (’) and the letter ‘s’ to indicate possession (e.g., ‘my father’s house’).

To indicate possession with a plural noun that ends in ‘s’, you just add the apostrophe after the ‘s’, and don’t add an extra ‘s’ (e.g., ‘my parents’ house’).

A gerund is a noun that is identical to the present participle (the ‘-ing’ form) of a verb. These are typically nouns that describe the same activity as the verb they were formed from, such as ‘driving’, formed from the present participle of ‘drive’.

Attributive nouns are nouns that are used like adjectives, to modify another noun. For example, ‘company’ is an attributive noun in the phrase ‘company policy’.

Even though attributive nouns work similarly to adjectives, they’re still classed as nouns. This is because they don’t fulfill all the requirements of adjectives. For example, they have to appear before the noun – it wouldn’t make sense to say ‘a policy that is company’.

An appositive noun (or appositive noun phrase) is a noun that comes after another noun to provide additional information about it.

If the appositive provides essential information (i.e., it wouldn’t be clear who or what you are referring to without it), it’s written without any extra punctuation. If it provides extra information that is not essential, it’s surrounded by commas .

A generic noun is a noun that is used to refer to a whole class of things (or people, places, etc.). They can be plural or singular, and they may appear with a definite article, an indefinite article, or no article.

The same noun may be used generically in some contexts and not others. For example, it would be equally possible to use the nouns in the sentences below in a non-generic way (e.g., ‘the people I know best are my brothers’; ‘my father operated a printing press’).

A noun is a word that represents a person, thing, concept, or place (e.g., ‘John’, ‘house’, ‘affinity’, ‘river’). Most sentences contain at least one noun or pronoun .

Nouns are often, but not always, preceded by an article (‘the’, ‘a’, or ‘an’) and/or another determiner such as an adjective.

There are many ways to categorize nouns into various types, and the same noun can fall into multiple categories or even change types depending on context.

Some of the main types of nouns are:

• Common nouns and proper nouns
• Countable and uncountable nouns
• Concrete and abstract nouns

Pronouns are words like ‘I’, ‘she’, and ‘they’ that are used in a similar way to nouns . They stand in for a noun that has already been mentioned or refer to yourself and other people.

Pronouns can function just like nouns as the head of a noun phrase and as the subject or object of a verb. However, pronouns change their forms (e.g., from ‘I’ to ‘me’) depending on the grammatical context they’re used in, whereas nouns usually don’t.

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• Abstract Noun | Definition, Examples & Worksheet
• Appositive | Examples, Definition & Punctuation
• Concrete Noun | Definition, Examples & Worksheet
• Demonstrative Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples
• Emphatic Pronouns | Examples, Definition & List
• First-Person Pronouns | List & Explanation
• Gerund | Definition, Form & Examples
• How to Tell If a Noun Is Countable or Uncountable | Examples
• Indefinite Pronouns | Definition, Examples & List
• Interrogative Pronouns | Definition, Examples & List
• Personal Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples
• Possessive Noun | Examples, Definition & Worksheet
• Possessive Pronouns | Examples, Definition & List
• Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement | Examples & Tips
• Reflexive Pronouns | Examples, Definition & List
• Relative Pronouns | Definition, List & Examples
• Second-Person Pronouns | List, Examples & Explanation
• Singular They | Usage, Examples & History
• Subject & Object Pronouns | Definition & Examples
• Third-Person Pronouns | List, Examples & Explanation
• What Is a Collective Noun? | Examples & Definition
• What Is a Common Noun? | Definition & Examples
• What Is a Plural Noun? | Examples, Rules & Exceptions
• What Is a Pronoun? | Definition, Types & Examples
• What Is a Proper Noun? | Definition & Examples

Basic English Grammar

Helping People Understand the Eight Parts of Speech!

8 Noun Functions In English Grammar With Examples

How do nouns function in English sentences? In this article I will explain and illustrate the 8 noun functions in English grammar with examples.

8 Noun Functions

Being able to use proper grammar is an important part of communicating clearly and effectively with your audience.

Every word in a sentence has a specific function and if you can recognize those functions, you will write and speak like a professional.

Let me explain and illustrate the 8 noun functions in an English sentence. However, before I explain and illustrate the 8 noun functions, I need to review nouns and types of nouns.

[REVIEW] Nouns are naming words. Nouns name a person, place, thing or idea.

[REVIEW] There are several types of nouns, proper nouns, common nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns and compound nouns.

[REVIEW] David is my friend (proper noun). The boys played football in the park (common noun). Dad drove the car into the shed (concrete noun). Attitude plays an important role in sport (abstract noun). A team of champions is not always a champion team (collective noun). The policeman directed the traffic away from the accident (compound noun).

The 8 noun functions explained and illustrated.

1. Noun Functions as Subject

The subject of the English sentence tells “who” or “what” about the verb in the sentence.

• Richard kicked the ball over the backyard fence.
• The car rammed the shop window with great force.
• The thief robbed the jewellery store in the shadow of darkness.
• The fence stopped the vicious dog roaming the neighbourhood.

In the first sentence, we ask: “Who kicked the ball over the fence?” The answer is: “Richard kicked the ball over the fence.”

In the second sentence, we ask: “What rammed the shop window?” The answer is: “The car rammed the shop window.”

In the third sentence, we ask: “Who robbed the jewellery store?” The answer is: The thief robbed the jewellery store.”

In the fourth sentence, we ask: “What stopped the vicious dog roaming the neighbourhood?” The answer is: “The fence stopped the vicious dog roaming the neighbourhood.”

2. Noun functions as Direct Object

The direct object in an English sentence answers “whom” or “what” after the action verb in the sentence.

• Jonathan renovated the house at the end of the street.
• Jonathan married Emma after a brief courtship.
• Rachel washed the dishes before she went to work.
• Robert helped his wife clean the house before the visitors arrived.

In the first sentence, we ask: “Jonathan renovated what?” The answer is: “Jonathan renovated the house at the end of the street.”

In the second sentence, we ask” Jonathan married whom or whom did Jonathan marry?” The answer is: Jonathan married Emma after a brief courtship.”

In the third sentence, we ask: Rachel washed what?” The answer is: “Rachel washed the dishes before she went to work.”

In the fourth sentence, we ask: “Robert helped whom or whom did Robert help?” The answer is: “Robert helped his wife before the visitors arrived.”

3. Noun Functions as Indirect Object

The indirect object in the English sentence tells “to whom” or “for whom” the action is done in the sentence.

• David taught the students public speaking in their second year homiletics class.
• Emma brought Jonathan the screwdriver so he could fix the cupboard door.
• David loaned Rebekah the car so that she could travel interstate.
• Rachel brought her sister lunch because she was hungry.

In the first sentence, we identify the indirect object by asking: “David taught public speaking to whom or to whom did David teach public speaking?” The answer is: “David taught the student public speaking.”

In the second sentence, we identify the indirect object by asking: “Emma brought the screwdriver for whom?” The answer is: “Emma brought the screwdriver for Jonathan so that he could fix the cupboard door.”

In the third sentence, we identify the indirect object by asking: “David loaned the car to whom?” The answer is: “David loaded the car to Rebekah so that she could travel interstate.”

In the fourth sentence, we identify the indirect object by asking: “Rachel brought lunch for whom?” The answer is: “Rachel brought lunch for her sister because she was hungry.”

4. Noun Functions as Predicate Nominative

A noun that follows a linking verb in an English sentence may function as a predicate nominative. A predicate nominative will always rename the subject of the sentence.

• David is the lecturer at the local college.
• Brad was the coach of the school football team before his accident.
• Johnston is the brains behind the growing organization.
• Jenny is the captain of the women’s football team.

Remember, the predicate nominative follows the linking verb and renames the subject.

In the first sentence, lecturer renames the subject (David = Lecturer).

In the second sentence, coach renames the subject (Brad = Coach).

In the third sentence, brains renames the subject (Johnston = Brains).

In the fourth sentence, captain renames the subject (Jenny = Captain).

5. Noun Functions as Object of Preposition

The object of the preposition in an English sentence is the last word in a prepositional phrase.

• The bus stopped at the lights.
• The boys played football in the backyard.
• The carpenter build the fence around the garden.

To identify the object of preposition, you simply need to identify the prepositional phrase.

In the first sentence, the prepositional phrase is: “at the lights.” The object of the preposition is the last word in the preposition phrase, which is: “lights.”

In the second sentence, the prepositional phrase is: “in the backyard.” The object of the preposition is the last word in the prepositional phrase, which is: “backyard.”

In the third sentence, the prepositional phrase is: “around the garden.” The object of the preposition is the last word in the prepositional phrase, which is: “garden.”

In the fourth sentence, the prepositional phrase is: “into the garage.” The object of the preposition is the last word in the prepositional phrase, which is, “garage.”

6. Noun Functions as an Appositive

In an English sentence, an appositive explains or enhances a noun or pronoun that comes just before it or a noun or pronoun that is near to it. A noun or pronoun in apposition to another noun or pronoun can replace the noun or pronoun.

• My friend, David, delivered the good news to the directors of the company.
• Robyn, my sister, moved away from the family home to take up a new position in the company.
• My country, Australia , is a wonderful place with many places to holiday.
• Steven , the minister led the funeral service with sensitivity and certainty.

In the first sentence, David is in apposition to my friend. David explains my friend and David can take the place of my friend. David delivered the good news to the directors of the company.

In the second sentence, my sister is in apposition to Robyn. My sister explains Robyn and can take the place of Robyn. My sister moved away from the family home to take up a new position in the company.

In the third sentence, Australia is in apposition to my country. Australia explains my country and can take the place of my country. Australia is a wonderful place with many places to holiday.

In the fourth sentence, the minister is in apposition to Steven. The minister explains Steven and can take the place of Steven. The minister led the funeral service with sensitivity and certainty.

7. Noun Functions as Objective Complement

In an English sentence, the objective complement follows a direct object and renames the direct object.

• Rachel named her dog boodee.
• Americans elected Trump president in 2016.
• We consider Peter a friend of the family.
• Mary appointed Reuben CEO of the company.

Remember the objective complement follows a direct object and names or renames the direct object.

In the first sentence, the objective complement “boodee” names the direct object “dog.”

In the second sentence, the objective complement “president” renames the direct object “Trump.”

In the third sentence, the objective complement “a friend” renames the direct object “Peter.”

In the fourth sentence, the objective complement “CEO” renames the direct object “Reuben.”

8. Noun Functions As Noun of Direct Address

In an English sentence, the noun of direct address is used to address someone or something.

• Class, it is time to break for music practice.
• People, listen to your leader.
• I’m sure you didn’t mean to crash the car, Jonathan.
• Please, doctor, give me some pain medication.

Remember a noun of direct address is normally someone or something which is directly spoken to and is usually set off by a comma or commas.

In the first sentence, the noun of direct address is “class.”

In the second sentence the noun of direct address is “people.”

In the third sentence, the noun of direct address is “Jonathan.”

In the fourth sentence, the noun of direct address is “doctor.”

A Quick Test For 8 Noun Functions!

Here are a couple of sentences to test your ability to identify the 8 noun functions in an English sentence.

• Dad gave Brad the money to buy the car.
• Dad is the manager of the shop.
• Dad, can I have some money to buy a pizza?
• They elected dad, president.
• My dad, David, is a generous person.

Answers to 8 Noun Functions

Here are the answers to the quick test for 8 noun functions!

Noun Functions as Indirect Object

Noun Functions as Direct Object

Noun Functions as Subject

Noun Functions as Predicate Nominative

Noun Functions as Object of Preposition

Noun Functions as Noun of Direct Address

Noun Functions as Objective Complement

Noun Functions as Appositive

Resources For 8 Noun Functions

English Grammar in Use by Raymond Murphy

Plain English Handbook by J. Martyn Walsh and Anna Kathleen Walsh

The Only Grammar Book by Susan Thurman

Mastering English Grammar by S.H. Burton

Check out the 8 Types of Nouns With Examples

Articles of Interest

What are the 7 Subjective Pronouns?

Possessive Adjectives vs Possessive Pronouns

What are the 7 Possessive Adjectives?

What is a Simple Sentence With Examples?

Predicate Nominative Vs Predicate Adjective

4 Types of Sentence Structures With Examples

110+ Examples of nouns Sentences in English

Examples of nouns sentences.

Nouns are a part of speech in the English language used to name people, places, things, ideas, and concepts. They are used to identify and describe objects, people, places, animals, and other things. For example, “apple”, “chair”, “table”, “house”, “dog”, “teacher”, “city”, and “idea” are all examples of nouns.

In a sentence, a noun can be used as the subject, object, or complement of a verb, as well as in apposition to another noun. Nouns can also be modified by adjectives, and they can be pluralized or possessive. Overall, nouns are an essential component of language, as they allow us to communicate effectively and convey meaning about the world around us.

Here are 110+ sentences with nouns in them:

• The dog barked loudly.
• My sister is a doctor.
• The sun is shining brightly.
• The cat caught a mouse.
• I love to eat pizza.
• The book on the table is mine.
• The car drove down the road.
• The tree is very tall.
• The water in the lake is cold.
• The boy rode his bike to school.
• The teacher gave us homework.
• The airplane flew high in the sky.
• The flowers in the garden are beautiful.
• The movie was really good.
• The computer is not working.
• The child played with his toy.
• The music was loud.
• The sky is blue.
• The girl danced in the rain.
• The phone rang loudly.
• The man walked his dog.
• The chair is comfortable.
• The coffee is hot.
• The sandwich tasted delicious.
• The baby slept peacefully.
• The pen is mightier than the sword.
• The room is very clean.
• The bus arrived late.
• The television is broken.
• The beach is crowded.
• The medicine helped to heal the pain.
• The basketball game was exciting.
• The town is small.
• The painting is beautiful.
• The mountain is high.
• The city is busy.
• The clock is ticking.
• The museum is full of art.
• The ocean is vast.
• The garden is full of vegetables.
• The plate is empty.
• The door is open.
• The train is fast.
• The rain is pouring down.
• The dress is pretty.
• The fish in the pond are colorful.
• The soccer ball is round.
• The noise was loud.
• The blanket is warm.
• The ice cream tasted sweet.
• The light is bright.
• The jacket is warm.
• The river is calm.
• The movie theater is dark.
• The coffee shop is cozy.
• The dog park is fun.
• The bridge is long.
• The ship is huge.
• The store is open.
• The moon is full.
• The carpet is soft.
• The road is busy.
• The lawnmower is loud.
• The picture is colorful.
• The camera takes great pictures.
• The newspaper is informative.
• The baby’s first word was “mama”.
• The plane landed safely.
• The bed is comfortable.
• The game was exciting.
• The flower is fragrant.
• The food in the restaurant is delicious.
• The drink is cold.
• The building is tall.
• The statue is impressive.
• The fountain is beautiful.
• The flag is waving in the wind.
• The restaurant is crowded.
• The museum is educational.
• The park is peaceful.
• The zoo is entertaining.
• The college is prestigious.
• The business is successful.
• The car is fast.
• The letter is important.
• The document is confidential.
• The television show is funny.
• The concert is sold out.
• The amusement park is thrilling.
• The pet store is busy.
• The bookshelf is full.
• The cat napped on the couch.
• The sunset is beautiful.
• The sunrise is breathtaking.
• The snow is cold.
• The raincoat is waterproof.
• The golf course is challenging.
• The library is quiet.
• The art museum is impressive.
• The hospital is busy.
• The beach ball is colorful.
• The computer game is addictive.
• The fire is dangerous.
• The pool is refreshing.
• The snowman is melting.
• The traffic is heavy.
• The piano is beautiful.
• The violinist played a beautiful melody.
• The astronaut went to space.
• The circus was entertaining.

Download  Words Coach: Nouns

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Parentheses: When to Use Parentheses in Writing (Examples)

If you'd like to know more about parentheses and how to use them, you've come to the right place. This article will teach you everything you need to know to use them properly and when.

• Parentheses are punctuation marks you use for adding nonessential information to your text. 

This guide is part of our free online Grammar Book .

When to Use Parentheses

So, first of all, what are parentheses? They're a pair of punctuation marks - a single one called a parenthesis - that you can use to enclose a word or group of words to separate them from the rest of the text.

In that way, they're similar to quotation marks or dashes. But the difference is that the information contained within parentheses is nonessential. In other words, removing it wouldn't affect the overall meaning, and the reader could still understand your point. 

• You'll always place a parenthesis at the beginning of the nonessential text and another one at the end, so it's wrapped up nicely like a gift.

Here's an example:

My breakfast (eggs on toast) always sustains me until lunchtime.

The reader doesn't need to know what the writer eats for breakfast. It can be helpful for them to know, but that's not the main point of the sentence. The point is to say that it sustains them until lunchtime. For that reason, leaving out the information on the specific foods eaten wouldn't affect the meaning. That's why it's in parentheses.

• Don't confuse parentheses with brackets, which are like square parentheses. They look like this: [ ].

And before we dive in and learn when to use parentheses, there's one more thing you should know:

• Parentheses can contain a single word, a sentence fragment, a complete sentence, or even multiple sentences.

Now let's get started.

Give Additional Information

The first way parentheses come in handy is to provide additional information about the rest of the sentence. Again, this information will always be nonessential but could be something you think your readers might be interested in knowing. It could be to explain or illustrate a point.

Here are some examples:

Everything I set out to do today (clean the house, fix my car and eat a nourishing meal) was a complete and utter success. My brother (Ben) is coming for dinner .  Tonight's gala is a huge occasion. (Everyone who's somebody will be there.)

The information within parentheses could be removed in all the examples above, and the reader would still understand what you meant.

Notice how we have a mixture of content types within the parentheses. We have a dependent clause in the first example, a single word ( proper noun ) in the second, and an independent clause in the third.

You can also use parentheses to clarify what an acronym stands for:

I make a monthly donation to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund).

Or to show a word can be singular or plural:

Tick the box(es) below as appropriate.

Provide the Author's Commentary

Parentheses can also be used to add your own commentary to your text as the writer. This can be a great way to bring your text alive and add some humor and personality.

Tom announced that he was leaving the company (no surprise after the events of the last few weeks). Your submission to the contest (which caught everyone's eye by the way) has been recorded and we shall get back to you soon with the results. Alice showed up late (surprise surprise) and was rude to everyone. Typical!

Enclose Numbers or Letters

You can use parentheses to enclose numbers or letters when you're using them to show the order in your text.

For example:

To unlock the screen, (1) press the power button, (2) swipe the screen with your finger and (3) enter your pin code. I'm not going because (a) I don't want to, and (b) I'm too tired.

Note that it sometimes might be more appropriate to write a bulleted list, especially if there are more than four items in your list.

Cite Sources

Some style guides have you use parentheses for in-text citations. For example, the APA, Chicago, and MLA formats. This means that when you quote a journal or other reputable source in your academic paper, you must insert the author's name and year in parentheses at the end of the quote. Then, at the end of your paper, you'll have a reference list where all your citations are referenced to their broader source (this will also make use of parentheses).

Here's an example of what an in-text citation can look like:

Subjects in the study were found to be more relaxed after a warm cup of chamomile tea (Grant, 2004). 

Punctuation With Parentheses

Now that we've covered all our bases on when to use parentheses, let's see how we can make good use of punctuation in and around them. It's pretty straightforward as long as you understand a few rules.

Firstly, if the parenthetical text is a full, complete sentence that stands on its own, then you should punctuate it as usual, meaning the punctuation will be within the parentheses .

Understanding punctuation rules with parentheses is pretty simple. (But mistakes are easily made.)

Notice how the first word is capitalized, and there's a period at the end, contained within the parentheses. On the other hand, don't include any punctuation if the text contained within the parentheses isn't a complete sentence (i.e., it's a single word, phrase, or dependent clause). Punctuate the rest of the sentence as usual.

Learn the dos and don'ts of flower arrangement (and watering) in our upcoming workshop.

Notice how the first word isn't capitalized, and there's no punctuation—only the period at the end of the sentence itself.  There's one exception to this rule, and that's with exclamation points and question marks . If the parenthetical text is a question or an exclamation, you may include those punctuation marks, regardless of whether it's a complete sentence . For example:

It was then I spotted a (huge!) black spider crawling up my bedroom wall. His dog (Rex?) was excited to see us all.

Unlike with quotation marks, commas and full stops should be placed after the closing parenthesis, as such:

I approached him (reluctatntly), and asked if he was okay. She claimed that origami was more fun than Twister (but I'm not sure she really believed it). 

Some Additional Notes on Parentheses

We've covered most of what you need to know, but I want to address a few more points before I conclude this article.

Read on to find out what they are.

Subject-Verb Agreement

One of the most important things you'll ever learn - a rule that spans the entire grammar spectrum - is always ensuring subject-verb agreement.

• Subject-verb agreement is when the verb is conjugated correctly according to its subject .

For example, the following sentence does not have correct subject-verb agreement because the subject is 'boys,' which is third person plural, and the verb is 'loves,' which is the conjugation for third person singular only.

The boys loves spaghetti bolognese for dinner. 

For this sentence to have correct subject-verb agreement, we'd have to change the verb to ' love .'

Applying this to sentences with parentheses can be a little tricky because you must ignore the text within the parentheses.

My mum (and half the population) loves the new Elvis movie. 

At first glance, it might appear that this sentence doesn't have correct subject-verb agreement because 'mum' + 'half the population' = a plural subject. But this isn't the case since we must ignore the text within the parenthetical phrase ('half the population') and count only 'mum' as the subject. Therefore, the subject is singular, and 'loves' is appropriate.

Here are some more examples:

Tom (along with the rest of us) was very disappointed with the outcome. My daughter (and her cute pup) is joining us later. The country (and to some extend, the whole continent) is in crisis.

Use Parentheses Sparingly

Last but not least, use parentheses sparingly. This punctuation mark is often overused, which causes it to lose its effect. To avoid this, ensure you only use it when the information contained within it is something you'd be happy to remove. Look at your sentence and ask yourself , would the sentence still make sense without this information? If so, then you can put it in parentheses. If not, then don't.

Also, ask yourself whether a different punctuation mark would be better suited. Try dashes, for instance, or even commas , and see if that works better. Sometimes, more than one option is appropriate, so it's up to you to pick the best one.

Case in point:

My sister (whom I love dearly but who annoys me greatly) always steals all my clothes . My sister, whom I love dearly but who annoys me greatly, always steals all my clothes. My sister - whom I love dearly but who annoys me greatly - always steals all my clothes.

Concluding Thoughts

That concludes this article on parentheses; I hope you found it helpful and feel that you understand how and when to use them.

Let's summarize what we've learned:

• Parentheses are a form of punctuation.
• You can use them to provide additional, nonessential information or extra commentary, cite sources, or enclose letters or numbers in lists.
• Watch out for your punctuation in and around parentheses.
• Ignore the parenthetical text when checking subject-verb agreement.
• Use parentheses sparingly.

If you enjoyed this article, you'd love our Grammar Book , a free online database of grammar articles just like this one. Check it out!

Learn More:

• Periods: When to Use Periods in Writing (Examples)
• Exclamation Points: When to Use Exclamation Points in Writing (Examples)
• Semicolons: When to Use Semicolons in Writing (Examples)
• Question Marks: When to Use Question Marks in Writing (Examples)
• Commas: When to Use Commas in Writing (Examples)
• Colons: When to Use Colons in Writing (Examples)
• Homophones: What Is a Homophone? (Meaning and Examples)
• Parallelism: What Is Parallelism? Definition and Examples
• Imperative Sentences: What Are Imperative Sentences? Definition and Examples
• Language Register in English Writing: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
• What is a Plural Noun? Definition and Examples
• Regular vs Irregular Verbs: Definitions, Differences, Examples
• Auxiliary Verbs: What Are Auxiliary Verbs? Definitions and Examples
• Transitive and Intransitive Verbs: Definition and Examples
• Interrogative Sentences: What Are Interrogative Sentences? Definition and Examples

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Word of the day

Word of the Day: rapport

This word has appeared in 111 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?

By The Learning Network

rapport \ rəˈpɔr \ noun

: a relationship of mutual understanding or trust and agreement between people

Listen to the pronunciation.

The word rapport has appeared in 111 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on April 20 in the interview “ Capturing Special Moments, While Creating Inclusive Weddings ” by Alix Strauss:

Autistic people tend to be bottom-up thinkers, meaning we often see details before the big picture. I observe and try to find a way to creatively approach people. I also like to capture emotionally charged moments, along with smiles, as that’s a truer experience of the day. My photos tend to be more intimate and joyful because I do most weddings solo, and because I build rapport beforehand so we are not strangers that day. I’m good at getting people to be themselves.

Daily Word Challenge

Can you correctly use the word rapport in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

If you want a better idea of how rapport can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com . You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try our vocabulary quizzes .

Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.

The Word of the Day is provided by Vocabulary.com . Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary . See every Word of the Day in this column .

How to Use father in a Sentence

• He has been like a father to me.
• He's the father of three small children.
• He was a father to me after my own father died.
• He became a father when he was 30.
• He was praised for fathering a plan to improve the city's schools.
• Paul Revere somehow found room in his small house for the large family he had fathered .

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'father.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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