Nouns and Grammar Ninja

Grammar - Parts of speech

What is a noun?

a naming word? yes, a proper noun like Mary, Ayr, Scotland

a thing? an object? yes, a concrete noun like table, handbag, flower, sandwich

But that's not always a helpful definition, as it doesn't cover abstract nouns like feeling, love

Anything that can stand alone with "a" or "the" in front of it

like a thought, the idea, a time,

Many words can be more than one part of speech depending on how they are used in a sentence eg I brush my hair with a brush.

Here's a recent news story. Find the nouns

A woman who dialled 999 to report the theft of a snowman from outside her home has been branded "completely irresponsible" by Kent Police.
The force said the woman, from Chatham, thought the incident required their involvement because she used pound coins for eyes and teaspoons for arms.

Try Grammar Ninja on the whiteboard to practise the following parts of speech:

Verb including infinitive and auxiliary verb

Conjunction and but or nor and subordinating conjunctions because after unless although if when

Pronoun including personal pronouns, reflexive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns and the interrogative pronouns which? who? whom? whose? what?

Adjective including possessive, comparatives and superlatives, (they also class numbers as adjectives though they can be nouns)

Noun including proper nouns

Article a the

Adverb including not in the default examples

Interjections oh etc

Grammar Ninja can be played online in English using the default sentences but you can also download it and make up your own sentences in any language to use offline ideally on a whiteboard.Work in teams and compete for best score/time - shown at the end of each round.

Let the pupils make up their own sentences allowing them to decide what parts of speech to use.

Easy level is nouns and verbs only

About Nouns in French - see course material
gender
number
article