essay used as a noun

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

• Hide all quotations

What does the noun essay mean?

There are 12 meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun essay , nine of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

essay has developed meanings and uses in subjects including

Entry status

OED is undergoing a continuous programme of revision to modernize and improve definitions. This entry has not yet been fully revised.

How common is the noun essay ?

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

Earliest known use

The earliest known use of the noun essay is in the late 1500s.

OED's earliest evidence for essay is from 1597, in the writing of Francis Bacon, lord chancellor, politician, and philosopher.

It is also recorded as a verb from the Middle English period (1150—1500).

essay is a borrowing from French.

Etymons: French essai .

Nearby entries

• esrache, v. 1477
• esraj, n. 1921–
• ESRO, n. 1961–
• ess, n. 1540–
• -ess, suffix¹
• -ess, suffix²
• essamplerie, n. 1393
• essart, n. 1656–
• essart, v. 1675–
• essarting, n. a1821–
• essay, n. 1597–
• essay, v. 1483–
• essayal, n. 1837–
• essayer, n. 1611–
• essayette, n. 1877–
• essayfy, v. 1815–
• essay-hatch, n. 1721–
• essayical, adj. 1860–
• essaying, n. 1861–
• essaying, adj. 1641–
• essayish, adj. 1863–

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 essay, n..

essay, n. was first published in 1891; not yet revised.

essay, n. was last modified in March 2024.

Revision of the OED is a long-term project. Entries in oed.com which have not been revised may include:

• corrections and revisions to definitions, pronunciation, etymology, headwords, variant spellings, quotations, and dates;
• new senses, phrases, and quotations which have been added in subsequent print and online updates.

Revisions and additions of this kind were last incorporated into essay, n. in March 2024.

Earlier versions of this entry were published in:

OED First Edition (1891)

• Find out more

OED Second Edition (1989)

• View essay, n. in OED Second Edition

Please submit your feedback for essay, 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 essay, n., browse entry.

• 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 essay noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

• I have to write an essay this weekend.
• essay on something an essay on the causes of the First World War
• essay about somebody/something Have you done your essay about Napoleon yet?
• in an essay He made some very good points in his essay.
• Essays handed in late will not be accepted.
• Have you done your essay yet?
• He concludes the essay by calling for a corrective.
• I finished my essay about 10 o'clock last night!
• Lunch was the only time she could finish her essay assignment.
• We have to write an essay on the environment.
• You have to answer 3 out of 8 essay questions in the exam.
• the teenage winner of an essay contest
• We have to write an essay on the causes of the First World War.
• be entitled something
• be titled something
• address something
• in an/​the essay
• essay about

Definitions on the go

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

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Meaning of essay in English

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

• I want to finish off this essay before I go to bed .
• His essay was full of spelling errors .
• Have you given that essay in yet ?
• Have you handed in your history essay yet ?
• I'd like to discuss the first point in your essay.
• boilerplate
• composition
• dissertation
• essay question
• peer review
• go after someone
• go all out idiom
• go down swinging/fighting idiom
• go for it idiom
• go for someone
• shoot the works idiom
• smarten (someone/something) up
• smarten up your act idiom
• square the circle idiom
• step on the gas idiom

essay | American Dictionary

Examples of essay, collocations with essay.

These are words often used in combination with essay .

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

Translations of essay

Get a quick, free translation!

Word of the Day

A scripted speech or broadcast has been written before it is read or performed.

Varied and diverse (Talking about differences, Part 1)

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
• English    Noun Verb
• American    Noun
• Collocations
• Translations
• All translations

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

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

{{message}}

Something went wrong.

There was a problem sending your report.

Home — Essay Samples — Science — English Language — Nouns in the English Language

Nouns in The English Language

• Categories: English Language

About this sample

Words: 2272 |

12 min read

Published: Apr 11, 2019

Words: 2272 | Pages: 5 | 12 min read

• Proper and common nouns
• Personal names (both first names like Diana and Chris, as well as surnames like Popescu);
• Nationalities (the Japanese, the British)
• Languages (English, Romanian, Spanish);
• Titles (Mr. John, Miss Deborah, Mrs. Kerry, Dr. Smith, Queen Elisabeth, Lord Byron, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sergent Jackson, Professor Bright);
• Animals (Spot, Missy);
• Calendar items (January, Monday, Christmas);
• Geographical names like:
• continents (Europe, Africa)
• countries (the United States of America, Greece)
• rivers, lakes, oceans, seas (the Black Sea, the Danube, Lake Michigan)
• mountains (the Alps) and so on.
• Celestial bodies (the Moon, Venus)
• Cardinal points, when they are not used geographically (North, West);
• Institutions (the European Union, the National Theatre, the British Museum);
• Newspapers, titles of books, magazines (the Guardian, Vogue, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes)
• Countable and uncountable nouns
• it has a plural form (girl – girls, table - tables);
• it can be preceded by the indefinite article a/an (a cat, an argument);
• it can be preceded by How many or (a) few (How many pencils have you got?; My cousin has a few books);
• it can be preceded by numbers (one pencil box with three rulers).
• it has not a plural form (sugar, silver, blood);
• it cannot be preceded by the indefinite article a/an (Such fine weather!);
• it can be preceded by How much or (a) little (How much honey do you want?; My parents have little furniture);
• it cannot be preceded by numbers.
• liquids (water, oil, milk);
• gas (air, oxygen, steam);
• food (spaghetti, butter, soup, bread, cheese, cookery, food, meat, toast );
• abstract ideas (chaos, advice, education, fun, gossip, hospitality, information, knowledge, luck, news, nonsense, patience, progress, strength, stuff );
• subjects / fields (mathematics, art, politics, poetry, vocabulary);
• mass nouns (hair, transportation, furniture, grass, money);
• grain and powder (sugar, rice, sand);
• natural phenomena (rain, snow, darkness, lightning, sunshine, thunder);
• sports (football, chess, poker);
• activities (reading, swimming, working, dancing, laughter, leisure, shopping, smoking, spelling, work);
• feelings (sadness, anger, courage, happiness, jealousy);
• states of being (adulthood, power, sleep, stress, safety, stupidity, violence, wealth).
• Concrete and abstract nouns; collective nouns

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof. Kifaru

Verified writer

• Expert in: Science

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1168 words

1 pages / 611 words

3 pages / 1342 words

1 pages / 567 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on English Language

What i learned in english class? I’ve learned many things through the course of this class: how to write a good essay, how to get batter at some essays I’ve already written in the past. I’ve learned how to locate my resources to [...]

English has become the dominant language in many aspects of communication, business, and academia. As a result, having a strong command of English grammar is essential for effective communication and success in various fields. [...]

Old English literature holds a significant place in the historical and cultural heritage of the English language. Understanding and accurately translating Old English texts is crucial for scholars and students alike, as it [...]

Khaled Hosseini's novel, The Kite Runner, is a powerful and emotionally charged story that explores the complexities of friendship, betrayal, redemption, and the impact of the past on the present. Through the use of various [...]

In English language there are eight parts of speech and they are: Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. The parts of speech show the function of a word in context of its meaning and [...]

Technologies like mobile phones and internet has altered the lives of people and English language. Due to the invention of these technologies the way and style of communication is also changed. Now people are able to use rapid [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Places on our 2024 summer school are filling fast. Don’t miss out. Enrol now to avoid disappointment

• 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 .

Comments are closed.

6.3 GRAMMAR: Using Noun Clauses

A CLOSER LOOK

A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb.

A clause can be independent. That means it has a subject and a verb, and it expresses a complete idea. A simple sentence is an independent clause.

A clause can be dependent. That means it has a subject and a verb, but it does not express a complete idea. It must be attached to an independent clause to make sense.

A noun clause is a dependent clause that works like a noun. It can serve as a subject or object. For example:

• What the doctor said  was very important.  (subject)
• The weather website says  that it might snow tomorrow .  (object)

A noun clause frequently follows certain adjectives, nouns, and verbs. For example:

• The author of the report says  that the majority of students prefer to continue to study remotely on Zoom .
• Many people hold the belief  that marijuana should be legal everywhere .
• She insisted  that her cousin had lied about the money .

Relative pronouns

A noun clause begins with a relative pronoun. Here are some of the most common ones:

who, whom, which, how, what, when, whether, where, why, if, that

whoever, whomever, whichever, however, whatever, whenever

The relative pronoun is usually followed by the subject and verb of the clause. However, sometimes the words  who, what , and  which  are both the relative pronoun and the subject of the clause. When a  that  clause is the subject of the sentence, the word  that  i s necessary. In all other cases, the word that  is optional when it begins a noun clause. Formal academic writing usually uses  that  whereas informal speaking often omits it. For example:

• So it is clear now that eating a balanced diet is important for your health.

The sentence above can be reduced to:

• So it is clear now eating a balanced diet is important for your health.

Functions of a noun clause in a sentence

As a noun, a noun clause can be the subject, object of the verb, or object of a preposition. It can also be a complement.

Here is an example where a noun clause is the subject of the sentence (a second noun clause forms a subject complement, which is described later):

• What this research revealed …  was that the COVID vaccine helped to prevent many deaths.

In the sentence above, the noun clause is the subject of the sentence. The whole idea of  what this research revealed  is the subject of the verb  was .

The structure is [relative pronoun] + [subject of the clause] + [verb of the clause].

Object of the verb

The noun clause can also act as an object of the verb. For example:

• So hopefully you can see now  that pets help to prevent depression in many people  …

The structure is [relative pronoun] + [subject of the clause] + [verb of the clause]. In the sentence above, the noun clause is the object of the verb  see .

Object of a preposition

The noun clause can also act as an object of a preposition. For example:

• The race car driver wrote a short novel about  how he won four national competitions .

In the sentence above, the noun clause is the object of the preposition  about .

The structure is [preposition] + [relative pronoun] + [subject of the clause] + [verb of the clause].

We sometimes use a noun clause after a be verb as a complement to identify or complete the meaning of the subject.  For example:

• What this research revealed was  that the COVID vaccine helped to prevent many deaths.

We sometimes use a noun clause after a linking verb + adjective to express an attitude or degree of certainty about something. In the sentence above, the second noun clause ( that the COVID vaccine helped to prevent many deaths ) acts as a subject complement. It follows a be verb and identifies or explains what the research revealed. This is called a subject complement. For example:

• I am not surprised  that you need a good night’s sleep to do well on the test .

In the sentence above, the linking verb is followed by an adjective and then the noun clause. This is called an adjective complement.

How do you form a noun clause?

There are three ways to form noun clauses:

• Begin with  that
• Begin with  if  or  whether
• Begin with a question word such as  who, what, where, when, how

That  clauses

These can come at the beginning of the sentence and act as the subject. In this case, the word that cannot be omitted. For example:

• That she loves me  is certain.

These can come after certain nouns such as idea, thought, belief, opinion, claim, statement. For example:

• It is our opinion  that the COVID pandemic is a very serious problem .

These can come after the verb of the independent clause. In this case, the dependent clause is embedded in the independent clause and functions as the object. For example:

• I insist  that you come to the party .

These can come after certain adjectives such as happy, sad, worried, certain, sure, surprised. For example:

• I am certain  that the exam is on Tuesday .

These can be used to report what someone else said. For example:

• She said  that she was retiring and moving to Sweden .

NOTE: Except for the first use described above,  that  can be omitted from the noun clause.

If / whether clauses

These are statements, not questions, that begin with  if   or whether . They are often used to integrate a yes/no question into a statement. Whether is more formal than if. An optional addition is the phrase or not. For example:

• Will she come?
• I don’t know  whether she will come or not .
• Is he interested in buying your car?
• I wonder  if he is interested in buying your car .

Question word clauses

Although these clauses begin with question words, they are not questions, so they follow the regular subject-verb order. There are two patterns.

1.  who  and  what  may act as the subject of the noun clause:

• I don’t know  who is coming to the party .
• He saw  what happened .

2.  who, what, when, why, where, how, how much, how long  begin the clause and are followed by a subject:

• I wonder  where she went .
• I heard  what you said .

Watch this short video to learn more about noun clauses:

Now practice with this exercise; it is not graded, and you may repeat it as many times as you wish:

1. Does anybody know __________________ on the ground?

• that how long this plane will be
• how long this plane will be
• how long will be this plane
• how long will this plane be

“This restaurant is very expensive!”

“It is, but you should order what you want. This is a very special occasion.”

Identify the noun clause in the conversation above. What is its function here?

• object of a preposition
• object of the verb

3.  “Did you remember to tell Mark __________________ he should bring to the meeting tomorrow?”

4. Edward’s interview was very intense. The interviewer wanted to know many facts about his personal life, and even asked him __________________ had ever used any illegal drugs of any kind.

• if or not he
• whether or not he

5. A noun clause is always a dependent clause. Therefore it is never a complete sentence by itself. It must always be attached to an independent clause.

6. Is it true __________________ about you?

• what did he say
• what he said
• what said he
• what he did say

7. Compare:

A. I insist that you come.

B. I insist you come.

• Both A and B have correct grammar.
• A is correct, but B is not.
• B is correct, but A is not.
• Neither A nor Be is correct.

8. Compare:

A. That she loves me is uncertain.

B. She loves me is uncertain.

9. Rewrite the sentence as indirect speech. Use a noun clause.

Maria asked, “Where do you live?”

10. Rewrite the sentence as indirect speech. Use a noun clause beginning with “if”.

Maria asked, “Does Van Huong live here?”

Optional: Where to get more information

If you want more instruction and examples about the noun clauses, try these links:

• SmrtEnglish Video: Noun Clauses (full class with Shaun)
• EnglishSentences.com: Noun Clauses

Video from: Benn, Adam. “Advanced English Grammar: Noun Clauses.” YouTube, 12 July 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SrEEPt4MQA.  Accessed 29 Sept. 2020.

Synthesis Copyright © 2022 by Timothy Krause is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Synonyms of essay

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

Thesaurus Definition of essay

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Synonyms & Similar Words

• dissertation
• composition
• prolegomenon
• undertaking
• trial and error
• experimentation

Thesaurus Definition of essay  (Entry 2 of 2)

• have a go at
• try one's hand (at)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb essay differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of essay are attempt , endeavor , strive , and try . While all these words mean "to make an effort to accomplish an end," essay implies difficulty but also suggests tentative trying or experimenting.

When might attempt be a better fit than essay ?

While the synonyms attempt and essay are close in meaning, attempt stresses the initiation or beginning of an effort.

Where would endeavor be a reasonable alternative to essay ?

Although the words endeavor and essay have much in common, endeavor heightens the implications of exertion and difficulty.

When is strive a more appropriate choice than essay ?

While in some cases nearly identical to essay , strive implies great exertion against great difficulty and specifically suggests persistent effort.

How do try and attempt relate to one another, in the sense of essay ?

Try is often close to attempt but may stress effort or experiment made in the hope of testing or proving something.

Articles Related to essay

To 'Essay' or 'Assay'?

You'll know the difference if you give it the old college essay

Thesaurus Entries Near essay

Cite this entry.

“Essay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/essay. Accessed 13 May. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on essay

Nglish: Translation of essay for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of essay for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about essay

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

More commonly misspelled words, your vs. you're: how to use them correctly, every letter is silent, sometimes: a-z list of examples, more commonly mispronounced words, how to use em dashes (—), en dashes (–) , and hyphens (-), popular in wordplay, the words of the week - may 10, a great big list of bread words, 10 scrabble words without any vowels, 8 uncommon words related to love, 9 superb owl words, games & quizzes.

• Features for Creative Writers
• Features for Work
• Features for Higher Education
• Features for Teachers
• Features for Non-Native Speakers
• Learn Blog Grammar Guide Community Events FAQ
• Grammar Guide

Common Nouns: Definition, Meaning and Examples

Jennifer Jahn

A common noun is a noun that may refer to a general or specific class or entity and can be used with limiting modifiers such as a , an , my , every , and some . A common noun is always written in lowercase.

The English language is full of confusing rules and exceptions to those rules so let’s scale it back for a moment to make this easier to understand.

What is a Noun?

What is a common noun, what is a proper noun, common nouns vs. proper nouns, why do we need common nouns, common mistakes with common nouns, test yourself, a quick common noun recap.

The noun—one of the most essential elements of the English language—makes up the largest class of words in this and most other languages as well. It can refer to a thing, a person, an animal, a place, a quality, an idea, or an action.

A noun is usually a single word (for example, book ) but that's not always the case. Bathtub , fish cake , and swimming pool are also nouns. Specifically, they are compound nouns —they are made up of two or more nouns to form an altogether new one.

A common noun is just like a regular noun—it's still a person, place, thing, etc. But in this case it refers to a generic class of beings, places, or things. Generic here simply means that we don’t have any specific information on the precise nature of our noun.

So, for example, the following are all common nouns : city , child , and book . If we used common nouns in a sentence, it would read something like this:

• The child went into the city to buy a book .

We have a complete sentence here with a subject (noun) performing an action (verb). But we don’t actually have a lot of detail. Who is the child? What city is she going to? Which book does she buy? This is where our proper nouns come in.

Here are 20 examples of common nouns:

Unlike common nouns, proper nouns are a particular person, place, or thing. Proper nouns do not take a limiting modifier (a, an, every, some) and are usually capitalized.

Remember our sample sentence from above? We didn’t get a lot of specifics with it.

Now, examine the following sentence:

• Madeline went into New York City to buy a copy of Where the Wild Things Are .

In essence, we did not change the structure of the sentence. We simply replaced all of the common nouns with proper nouns. And there you have it, we now have specific details that give us a better picture of the action.

Also, note that all the proper nouns are capitalized while none of the common nouns were.

While common nouns provide us with general classifications only, proper nouns provide precise details. Each common noun will always have a counterpart, as we’ve just seen in the most recent example.

Child , city , and book were replaced with their specific proper nouns of Madeline , New York City , and Where the Wild Things Are .

So, to repeat, proper nouns can always be linked to a more generic common noun .

However, not all common nouns will necessarily have a proper noun to go with them (think of toe, hair, dust, dirt, etc.).

The main reason for distinguishing between common nouns and proper nouns is to help with classification and capitalization.

While proper nouns are almost always capitalized, common nouns never are.

While proper nouns indicate a specific class or entity, common nouns provide a generic designation.

How to Spot a Common Noun

As pointed out at the start of this article, an easy way to spot common nouns is by working out whether we can use any limiting modifiers with them, such as a , an , my , every , or some and making sure it’s lowercase. For example:

• Paul threw his book against the wall.
• Paul threw Hamlet against the wall.

In the first example, his can be replaced with a and the sentence still reads correctly, so "book" is a common noun .

In the second example, Hamlet is both capitalized and cannot be replaced by any of the modifiers (there's only the one Hamlet after all), so we know that this is a proper noun.

How to Spot a Proper Noun

Now this is relatively easy because proper nouns are almost always capitalized. For most of us it’s already second nature to capitalize names of companies, people, languages, countries, etc.

I say almost because, true to its tricky nature, English will always have an exception to confuse you. Sometimes you will find that certain proper nouns can be written in lowercase, such as mars (the planet, not the chocolate bar).

Technically, it is a specific planet—i.e. a proper noun—and should therefore be capitalized. But as its use is so ubiquitous in the English language, the lowercase spelling has become widely accepted.

Another example of this is champagne (the drink, not the region). Because it’s now such a familiar designation for most sparkling white wines, it is commonly accepted as lowercase.

In these instances it is often down to a particular house-style whether a specific proper noun needs to be capitalized or not. So check your style-guide before making a judgment call.

Common nouns are used no differently in writing and speech than any other type of noun. They take the same grammatical positions and can thus be used as subjects and direct or indirect objects .

Take a look at these examples:

• The book fell on the floor.

Book is the common noun used as the subject of the sentence.

• Paula threw the book at the wall.

Book is the common noun used as the direct object of the sentence.

• Paula spilled some water on her book .

Book is the common noun used as the indirect object of the sentence.

Using different types of nouns can help keep our writing varied, fresh, and more precise. Sometimes we want to be more specific, sometimes a little less.

Do you want to paint a vivid, precise picture for your readers? Use a proper noun. Are you interested in setting a more general scene without getting lost in details? Then perhaps a common noun is more appropriate.

The more types of nouns we use in our writing, the more engaging and interesting our text becomes.

A common mistake made when using common nouns is to capitalize them, especially when it comes to titles and professions. Words such as president, chancellor, or queen sound important, so people tend to capitalize them incorrectly.

A simple way of avoiding that mistake is to look carefully at your noun. Is it specific? Is it talking about one particular person, thing, place, etc.? If not, then keep it lowercase.

Let’s look at some examples:

• The president of the United States is the head of state.

We are not talking about a specific president, such as Joe Biden, so “president”, despite its gravitas, remains lowercase.

If we wanted to capitalize the word “president”, we’d have to turn it into a proper noun. To do so, all we have to do is attach it to the name of the president. So, for example:

• The current head of state is President Joe Biden.

Let’s look at one more example to let it sink in.

• The queen is currently residing in her summer palace .

Again, we have no specifics as to which queen we are talking about or where she might be staying. These are generic terms only, so we have to keep them lowercase. If we wanted to capitalize them, we’d have to turn them into proper nouns. For example:

• Queen Elizabeth II is currently residing at Balmoral Castle .

Now we have specifics—we know which queen we’re talking about and the name of the specific castle.

If you find yourself using the same common nouns throughout your writing, the ProWritingAid Thesaurus check is a great tool to help you find the perfect words. Sign up for a free ProWriting Aid account today and see for yourself.

Now it's time to practice what you've learned. Let’s look at the examples below. Highlight all instances of common nouns and underline the proper nouns.

There’s nothing I’d rather do than sit here and look at the stars with you.

Google is a company renowned for its work-culture.

Pandora’s Box is a well-known myth.

The Cherokee are one of the indigenous people of the United States of America.

The Ford Model T was one of the first affordable cars.

Test Answers

• Stars is a generic term used for the astronomical objects we can see in the night sky. It does not refer to a specific star, for example Vega, or a star-formation, such as Orion’s Belt.
• Google is the name of the company we’re talking about here, so we have both the common noun with its proper noun equivalent. (Work-culture is a compound noun, if you want to get nit-picky here.)

Pandora’s Box is a well-known myth .

• There are many myths in Greek mythology, but only one story about Pandora.
• There are many indigenous people in the USA, so this is a generic term, while the Cherokee are one particular tribe of note.

The Ford Model T was one of the first affordable cars .

• I bet you’re getting the hang of these now, right? Cars is the generic term for automobiles, while the Ford Model T speaks of one particular model and make.

Common nouns are generic (think non-specific) people, places, things, ideas, animals, actions, or qualities. Use them to create a general scene without going into details.

They're always lowercase and function just like any other type of noun in your writing.

If you’re unsure whether you’re looking at a common noun , check its capitalization and try using it with a limiting modifier. If it’s general, lowercase, and you can use one of those modifiers, chances are you’re looking at a common noun .

Take your writing to the next level:

20 Editing Tips From Professional Writers

Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article or email, good writing is an essential part of communicating your ideas., this guide contains the 20 most important writing tips and techniques from a wide range of professional writers..

Be confident about grammar

Check every email, essay, or story for grammar mistakes. Fix them before you press send.

Jennifer has always been a lover of languages and words. She’s bilingual in English and German and fluent in French. She has degrees in Journalism and French and a PhD in literature. When she’s not editing or writing for a living, she’s reading and reviewing books for fun ([@jens.book.nook](https://www.instagram.com/jens.book.nook/)).

Get started with ProWritingAid

Drop us a line or let's stay in touch via :

Home / Guides / Grammar Guides / Nouns: What’s in a Name?

Nouns: What’s in a Name?

With a name that means, literally, ‘to name’, it’s pretty impossible to imagine the English language—or any language—without the noun. But while we use them constantly to provide clarity and identify the things that we’re talking or writing about, this hugely essential word type still has some surprises up its sleeve. This guide should give you a deeper understanding of this seemingly simple element of language, and allow you to use them correctly in your work. You can also check out this  useful reference  to consolidate your learning. If you’re currently working on a paper and would find a quick and easy grammar check useful, upload your essay for free at EasyBib.com. You can also use our fantastic citation tool to help cite your sources using popular styles such as MLA and  APA format .

Guide Overview

• What is a noun?
• Controversy and crossover
• Where the magic happens
• Phrase or clause?
• Types of nouns list
• Can you count it?
• Good and proper
• Getting possessive
• A blessing of unicorns
• Friendly compounds
• The pronoun takeover
• Grammar help is here!

What is a Noun?

At first glance, the noun definition is fairly straightforward—they’re naming words used to refer to a person, place, thing or idea. They’re arguably the most important element of any sentence, as they’ll usually be its subject. They can also be the direct object of a sentence. Or the indirect object. Or the object of the  preposition . And they can do much more besides that. So you get the idea that we’d find it very difficult to communicate without these superstars of the grammar world!

Controversy and Crossover

As they’re so important, the question ‘what is a noun?’ has been debated and discussed at length by linguists and grammar experts, often sparking some disagreement about the definition. Some feel that to define them as “naming words” is far too simplistic, as they’re also used to reference abstract and intangible concepts, feelings and activities such as  birth, sport, joy, cookery  and  technology . There’s also huge crossover with other elements of language. For example: Rain

• Verb — to rain
• Name of weather type — rain
• Adjective — red
• Name of color — red
• As an  adverb  — angrily
• As an adjective — angry
• Name of a feeling — anger

Because this single word type encompasses so many different things, some linguists feel that the definition should be narrowed. However, for now, we’re happy to stick with the generalization that it’s a naming word. For more on the various definitions of different parts of the English language, check out this  useful link .

Where the Magic Happens

Although it can lead to confusion, the fact the noun is multi-functional is part of its charm. Let’s take a look at some of the jobs that these hard-working words can perform in a sentence. Subject:  the subject of the sentence, i.e., someone or something performing the action of the  verb .

• Example:  Harry  is angry.

Direct object:  the direct object of the sentence, i.e., someone or something who receives the action of the verb.

• Example: Ashley baked  Noah  a cake.

Object of the preposition:  the object of the prepositional phrase.

• Example: Ashley baked a cake on  Sunday .

Subject complement:  follows a linking verb.

• Example: Ashley is a  teacher .

Object complement:  follows a direct object to rename or modify it.

• Example: She named her dog  Benji .

Appositive:  immediately follows another to add more information.

• Example: Her dog,  Benji , is black.

Modifier:  acts as an  adjective  to modify another noun.

• Example: A  black  dog.

Phrase or Clause?

In addition to your run of the mill single naming words, you can also use a noun clause or phrase to name or identify a person, object, thing, place or idea. A phrase has a naming word as its head word but may also include other kinds of words. For example:

• Head word  — car/cars
• Determiner  — My car
• Determiner and adjective  — My red car
• Quantifier  — Some cars
• Quantifier and adjective  — Some red cars
• In a sentence  —  My red car  is very old. ( My red car  is the phrase that identifies which car we are talking about.)

Caution! Don’t confuse a phrase with a compound, i.e., two or more words together to create a stand-alone common or proper noun with a meaning of its own (more on compounds later!). A clause is a dependent clause (doesn’t make sense alone) that performs the naming function in a sentence. It usually contains a subject and a verb, but may not necessarily contain a naming word. For example:

This weekend we can do  whatever you want .

Types of Nouns List

There are multiple types of naming words to get a grip on, and plenty of crossovers between categories too—just to keep things interesting! For example:

• You can have a mass, abstract, common name.
• Or a singular, concrete, proper, compound, or possessive name (phew!).

Don’t worry! This should become clearer as we work through the different categories in turn. If you’d like to do some more in-depth reading on the subject, you can  find more info  online.

Singular or Plural

You can have singular or plural nouns, with regulars keeping things nice and simple with the addition of  s  or  es .

• Car — cars
• Book – books
• Zoo — zoos
• Box — boxes
• Dish — dishes
• Hero — heroes

However, there are lots of rule-breaking irregulars thrown into the mix to complicate matters.

• Man — men
• Person — people
• Sheep — sheep
• Elf — elves
• Fish — fish
• City — cities

Concrete vs Abstract

As noted earlier, these debate-sparking naming words can be difficult things to define. So it can help to think of them as either concrete or abstract. Concrete nouns are the simpler of the two. They’re tangible things that can be detected by the senses. For example:

• You can touch, see and smell a  flower .
• You can hold a  pencil .
• You can see your friend  Emily .

Abstract nouns are far trickier to pin down—both literally and metaphorically speaking!

• You can’t hold  anger  or  space  or  childhood .

However, some people might argue that you can identify some abstracts with your senses. For example:

• You can see an expression of  anger .
• You can sense  fresh air .

So it might be more helpful to think of them as something that you can’t physically hold, i.e., concepts, ideas, experiences, qualities and feelings.

Can You Count It?

Naming words can either be  count  or  noncount . Count type doesn’t tend to give you much trouble—they’re, as the name suggests, something that can be counted. Noncount type (also known as mass nouns), however, are a whole different ball game! These rebellious words are definitely the evil twin of the two, as they defy several of the usual rules of grammar and, if you’re not careful, can cause chaos and confusion. Count:  something that can be counted, e.g.,  books, people, cars. Simple! Noncount (Mass):  something that can’t be counted (often because it’s an abstract concept), e.g.,  air, red, peace.  Or an aggregation of people or things that are lumped together as a whole, like  luggage, information,  or  salt. Not quite so simple! Caution! Be careful not to confuse noncounts with collectives, words which are used to name a collection of people or things (e.g.,  group, herd, bundle ). An easy way to test whether a word is noncount or collective is:

• Noncounts don’t follow indefinite articles ( a  and  an ).
• Noncounts don’t  usually  have a plural form.

For example, you don’t have  a luggage  or  luggages .

An Awkward Bunch

Despite the fact that they often represent an aggregation of people or things, noncounts can be a rather anti-social and awkward word type! They like to stand alone, without an indefinite article:

Music  can help you relax.

Not ‘ a music  can help you relax.’

I sprinkled  salt  on my food.

Not ‘I sprinkled  a salt  on my food.’ However, they can sit nicely with a  determiner  or quantifier instead.

• Determiner  —  The music  was loud.
• Quantifier  — I sprinkled  some salt  on my food.

In fact, some quantifiers only work with noncounts. For example:

• A little  salt
• Not much  information
• A bit of  music

However, we would never say:

• A little  books
• Not much  cars
• A bit of  flowers

The Singular or Plural Conundrum

Another quirk of the noncount is that, even when it represents an aggregation or group of things, it can still count as singular for grammatical purposes. For example:

The  luggage  is  heavy.  It  filled the trunk of the car. This  information  is  useful.  It  has helped me with my paper.

Even if a noncount appears to take a plural form with an  s  on the end, don’t be fooled! It may still be classed as grammatically singular. For example:

Politics  is a  difficult  subject  to study. I find  it  hard to grasp. The  news  is  on at 10 pm.  It’s  on for an hour.

On the flip side, some noncounts are grammatically plural. For example:

My  clothes  are  wet. The  scissors  are  sharp. His  manners  were  fantastic.

However, these go against the grain of plurals by not mixing well with numbers—we never say five clothes or six scissors!

Enumerating a Noncount

These awkward noncounts on the whole don’t mix well with numbers, although there are sneaky tactics that you can sometimes employ to enumerate them. These include:

• Grammatically plural  — if concrete, add  a pair of , e.g., a pair of  scissors .
• Grammatically singular  — if concrete, add  a piece of , e.g., a piece of  cutlery .
• Singular and plural  — both concrete and abstract noncounts can be enumerated by adding an indefinite adjective (quantifier), e.g.,  any, some, less, much .

For example:

• Pass me  some  cutlery .
• I don’t have  any  scissors .
• It contains  more  information .

Fewer vs Less

A quick note on fewer versus less as these are indefinite adjectives (quantifiers) that often trip people up!

• Fewer  — used for count type, e.g., I have  fewer   books  than Sarah.
• Less  — used for non-count type, e.g., I have  less   money  than Sarah.

Good and Proper

A proper noun is used to name very specific people, places, things and ideas. As their ‘proper’ title suggests, they’re formal names and, as such, deserve capitalization. Examples include:

• People  —  Sarah, Jack, Mrs. Smith, Prince George, Father Brown, Beethoven
• Specific places  —  America, Europe, Paris, George Street, Roman Empire, Times Square
• Natural and man-made landmarks  —  River Nile, Central Park, Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, Mount Etna
• Religions and related words  —  Christianity, The Bible, God, Allah, Buddhism
• Races and nationalities  —  African American, Russian, White, Eskimo, Japanese
• Languages  —  French, Spanish, Chinese, English
• Periods in history  —  Stone Age, Middle Ages
• Events  —  Olympic Games, Coachella, Wimbledon, Rio Carnaval, Oktoberfest
• Days, months and holidays  —  Sunday, Friday, June, October, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day  (note that the seasons are, somewhat contentiously, classed as common)
• Organizations, charities and businesses  —  New York Police Department (NYPD), Harvard University, Microsoft, Red Cross, Walmart, Forbes
• Product brand names  —  Tresemme, Adidas, Apple, Coca-Cola
• Well-known documents and acts  —  Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Magna Carta, Slavery Abolition Act 1833
• Names of specific things and works  —  Hope Diamond, Mona Lisa, Symphony No. 5, Star Wars, War and Peace
• Titles of publications and courses  —  The Washington Post, Introduction to Computer Science
• They can be singular  —  Sally, Australia, Picasso, iPad
• Or plural  —  the Smiths, the Rockies, the Americas, two iPads

From Proper to Common

Sometimes, they bend the rules to put themselves into a ‘common’ context. For example:

I made a mistake of  Titanic  proportions.

This is taken to mean a big mistake and isn’t literally referencing the Titanic ship.

I’m an  Einstein  when it comes to science.

Here Einstein is taken to mean a person who is smart, rather than referencing the man himself specifically. Similarly, over time, some have developed common ‘spin-off’ words. For example:

• Famous porcelain from   China  — a china cup (note, not a China cup)
• Coca-Cola  — coke (to describe a generic cola drink, not necessarily the Coca-Cola brand)

The Humble Common Noun

Common nouns  give a name to a general type of person, thing, object, place, concept or feeling. They’re not ‘formal’ names and, as such, they don’t demand capitalization. Examples include:

• People  —  man, woman, girl, boy, vicar, teacher, children
• Places  —  city, beach, library, street, garden
• Things  —  tiger, leg, sleep, beard
• Objects  —  watch, cake, shoe, ball
• Concepts  —  peace, justice, talent, religion
• Feelings  —  anger, joy, love, envy

In many cases, both a common and proper noun can be applied to the same thing. For example:

• A  Baby Ruth  (proper) is a  chocolate bar  (common).
• Rihanna  (proper) is a popular  singer  (common) in the US.
• Mrs. Smith  (proper) is a  teacher  (common).
• Benji  (proper) is a  dog  (common).
• The  Nile  (proper) is a  river  (common).

Of course, you can define proper noun words as having a far narrower application as they can only apply to one very specific thing. Common noun examples have a much wider application—hence their label as ‘common’! For example:

There are thousands of  singers  (common) in the world, but there’s only one  Taylor Swift (proper).

When a Commoner Becomes Proper

Occasionally, a commoner can move up the ranks to become proper—gaining that all-important capitalization along the way. This usually happens when a word becomes synonymous over time with a very specific type of thing. For example, a  parka jacket  depicts a type of long, all-weather coat. But you could argue that the term  Parka  is so synonymous with a very specific type of jacket that it should be classed as proper. This is definitely one for the grammar experts to slog out between themselves!

Getting Possessive

Possessive nouns are usually followed by another naming word, indicating that the second thing ‘belongs’ to the first. There are different ways to indicate this possession, depending on the word in question. These can become confusing, so let’s look at them in turn. Singular possessives  are usually indicated with ‘s. For example:

• the  girl’s  coat
• Emma’s  car
• the  city’s  main landmark

As are  plural possessives  that don’t end in  s . For example:

• the  men’s  bathroom
• children’s  toys

In the case of a  plural possessive  that ends in  s , you simply need to add an  apostrophe (‘). For example:

• the  girls’  coats
• the  Smiths’  house
• the  tigers’  pen
• the  computers’  manufacturer

When we come to  singular possessives  that end in  s , the waters get a little bit muddier. The most popular method used to form a singular possessive is to add  ‘s , as detailed above. For example:

• James’s  book
• the  bus’s  engine

However, just adding the  apostrophe  is also commonly accepted. For example:

• James’  book
• the  bus’  engine

The Importance of the Apostrophe

You’ll notice that subtle differences in your sentence structure can completely alter its meaning, so it’s important to get your grammar on point. For example:

• the girl’s coat  — belonging to one particular girl
• the girls’ coat  — a coat designed to be worn by a girl
• the girl’s coats  — more than one coat belonging to one particular girl)
• the girls’ coats  — a group of coats belonging to a group of girls

If you find yourself struggling to figure out where the apostrophe needs to go, why not run a free grammar check on your essay with EasyBib Plus? You can also use EasyBib.com to help cite the sources that you use when conducting  research  and writing your papers . The handy online tool can create citations in the popular APA and  MLA format , plus  more styles  including Chicago/Turabian. Simply find out which style of citation you need to use (ask your professor or lecturer) and let EasyBib Plus help you create them the easy way.

A Blessing of Unicorns

A collective noun is a name given to a collection or group of things. Although they represent more than one, they are usually classed as grammatically singular (in American English). For example:

• The  pride  of lions made  its  way to water.
• The  cast  of actors collected  its  award.
• The  class  of students  was  dismissed early.

They can often stand-alone, if the context makes it clear what collection or group of things is being referred to. For example:

• We followed the  herd  on safari.
• I got the  cast  to sign my autograph book.
• The  class  went on its field trip.

But be careful with this, as they can be used to represent very different things. For example:

• flock  of tourists  or  flock  of birds  **  cluster  of spiders* or  cluster  of stars

So saying “I stared open-mouthed at the  cluster  before me” could have two very different meanings—you might be staring in wonder or staring in horror! Some collective nouns have developed a more general or colloquial meaning. For example, you get a  bunch  of flowers or a  bunch  of bananas. However,  bunch  is also used more generally to denote ‘several’ or ‘lots’. For example:

• I saw a  bunch  of people that I knew.
• Thanks a  bunch .

Kooky Collectives

Collectives are one of the quirkiest word types in the English language and include some unusual naming words. For instance, it’s difficult to imagine where the examples below came from. For example:

• A  shiver  of sharks
• A  quiver  of cobras
• A  blush  of boys
• A  disguising  of tailors
• A  drunkship  of cobblers
• A  worship  of writers
• A  nest  of rumors

Friendly Compounds

Compound nouns consist of two or more words that have come together to form a new word with its own meaning. These are words that have decided they don’t want to stand-alone—they can work better together with another word! Both proper and common words can be compounded, and within these compounds are three sub-types. Proper

• Closed  —  PlayStation, YouTube
• Hyphenated  —  Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A
• Open Spaced  —  New York, Ritz Carlton Hotel
• Closed  —  football, textbook
• Hyphenated  —  mother-in-law, well-being
• Open Spaced  —  bus stop, swimming pool

Wal-Mart Or Walmart?

Fun fact! Some popular brands have dropped their hyphens in recent years. For example, Wal-Mart switched to Walmart in 2009. This could possibly be because hyphenated domain names can cause issues for a brand’s online presence. Brands now have a whole host of digital considerations that simply weren’t on the table when they first decided on a name.

The Pronoun Takeover

While both concrete and abstract noun words are undeniably super useful and essential parts of the English language, they can be a bit much at times. Especially when you’re referring to the same thing several times in a sentence or section. For example:

Sally  loves  Fanta .  Sally  drinks  Fanta  every day.

This is where pronouns come in handy. These often small but ever so mighty words have the power to replace names and make your sentences flow much better. For example:

Sally  loves  Fanta .  She  drinks  it  every day.

This works for both proper and common types.

• The  Empire State Building  (proper) is very tall.  It  stands at 443m.
• Sally  (proper) loves  chocolate  (common).  She  eats  some  every day.
• My  dog  (common) has a red  ball  (common).  He  likes to chase  it .

The antecedent nouns give a reference point for the pronouns.

Is I a Noun or a Pronoun?

Commonly used ‘people’ pronouns include  he, she, me, his  and  hers . However, there’s some debate as to the word  I . While  I  is commonly accepted as a first person  pronoun , it may not follow the usual antecedent rule. For example, if you were Sally, you wouldn’t write:

Sally  loves Fanta.  I  drink it every day.

Instead you’d simply write:

I  love Fanta.  I  drink it every day.

I  is also classed as a naming word in the following contexts:

• I  — the name of a letter of the alphabet.
• I  — the subject or object of self-consciousness, i.e. the ego.

This guide should hopefully have answered lots of naming word questions for you, such as ‘what is a possessive noun?’, but if you’re still struggling you can  learn more here . The list of nouns can be difficult to remember, for the simple fact that there are so many different categories and variations of these naming words. People, objects, places, ideas and feelings are things that don’t seem to have much in common—yet they all have names, which lumps them grammatically into the same (very large!) category.

Grammar Help is Here!

If you’d like to check your grammar, EasyBib Plus can help. Simply upload your paper and let EasyBib Plus do the hard work! You can also use the EasyBib Plus  plagiarism checker  to ensure that you’ve cited your sources. We have other grammar pages besides this one, too. Check out two tricky parts of speech:  conjunction  and  interjection . Use the handy online toolkit at EasyBib Plus to check for unintentional plagiarism and grammatical errors, and feel more confident that you won’t drop unnecessary marks on avoidable mistakes.

Nouns starting with A-Z

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!

Let us improve this post!

Tell us how we can improve this post?

Grammar and Plagiarism Checkers

Grammar Basics

Plagiarism Basics

Writing Basics

Plagiarism Checker

Upload a paper to check for plagiarism against billions of sources and get advanced writing suggestions for clarity and style.

Get Started

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Word of the day

Word of the Day: bazaar

This word has appeared in 103 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?

By The Learning Network

bazaar \ bəˈzɑr \ noun

1. a street of small shops, especially in the Middle East 2. a shop where a variety of goods are sold 3. a sale of miscellany, often for charity

Listen to the pronunciation.

The word bazaar has appeared in 103 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Oct. 17 in “ In Sanliurfa, the Silk Road Meets the Stone Age ” by Barry Yourgrau:

Urfa’s bazaar , parts of which date back over five centuries, sits close by. Really an agglomeration of bazaars , it’s a bustling sprawl of small shops, alleys and crowded passages, the congestion relieved by Ottoman courtyards. Villagers come from the countryside for their shopping — everything from wedding fabrics to gold, knives, watermelons and handmade cradles. “From north of the city they’re Kurds, south they’re Arab,” Dr. Bedlek explained. “And they dress up for the trip.”

Daily Word Challenge

Can you correctly use the word bazaar 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 bazaar 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 .