Myriora English › Grammar and punctuation › Chapter 1: Word classes

Nouns: naming words

Ages 5–7Chapter 1 · Lesson 1

In this lesson

A noun names a person, an animal, a place or a thing.
Most nouns can have a, or the, in front.
And proper nouns, like London, start with a capital letter.

Your turn

Which word is a noun?

Show the answer

Tree is a noun: it names a thing, and you can say a tree!

The common mistake

Here's a common mistake. Look at this sentence. Some people only give a capital letter to the first word. But Paris and Monday are proper nouns, so they need capitals too.

Try it at home

Play noun hunt: one person names a room, the other lists every noun they can see in 30 seconds. Then find a proper noun on a letter, a map or a calendar.

Read the whole lesson

Hello, and welcome to Myriora English! Every sentence is built from different kinds of words. Today we meet the naming words: nouns!

A noun is a naming word. It names a person, like a teacher. An animal, like a dog. A place, like a park. Or a thing, like a ball.

Here's a test you can try. Can you put a, or the, in front of it? A dog, the park, a ball: they're all nouns. But you can't say a quickly, or the under. This test works for most nouns.

Some nouns name one particular person, place or day, like Sam, London, or Monday. These are called proper nouns. They always start with a capital letter, even in the middle of a sentence.

Let's try one together. Which word is the noun? The happy dog barked. Say it out loud!

Dog! It names an animal, and you can say a dog. Well done if you said dog!

Here's a common mistake. Look at this sentence. Some people only give a capital letter to the first word. But Paris and Monday are proper nouns, so they need capitals too.

Your turn! Which word is a noun? Pick the right card. You've got eight seconds, or pause the video. Go!

Time's up! Tree is a noun: it names a thing, and you can say a tree!

Quick review. A noun names a person, an animal, a place or a thing. Most nouns can have a, or the, in front. And proper nouns, like London, start with a capital letter. See you next time!