Lesson 4: Understanding Language

Skill Lessons

Nouns

Nouns are the most used parts of speech in the English language. Nouns are what we call “naming words.” You were finding a noun in lesson 2, when you found the subject of a sentence. Nouns name people and groups of people, they name places, and they name all of the things you can think of! Nouns can even name things that you can’t see with the human eye. If someone tells you that your effort was much appreciated, the word “effort” is a noun. It is an idea, and ideas are also classified as nouns.

You can use nouns in different ways in the world of language. If you look in the yellow pages near the back of Writers Express, you can find the section on nouns. (Or you can use the index, because you know how to do that from an earlier lesson.) Page 420 tells you more about subject nouns, predicate nouns, and possessive nouns. (We will talk about direct objects, indirect objects, and prepositions later.)

One way to identify nouns is to look for “noun markers” called articles. They are words such as “the,” “an,” and “a.” If you see one of these words, a noun can’t be far away.

Activity: Use the examples in Writers Express as patterns to write sentences of your own in your journal. Practice using nouns in each of the ways listed below. Share your work with your parent/teacher.

• subject noun
• predicate noun
• possessive noun

Singular and Plural Nouns

Nouns can be singular or plural. Think of singular as being similar to a single person. It means one of something. On the other hand, plural is like a strand of pearls. There are many pearls all connected. “Plural” means “more than one.” It is important to realize that the spelling of a noun changes when it goes from singular to plural. If you look on the “Plurals” pages (394–395) in Writers Express, you will see some of the rules for spelling when you change a singular noun into a plural.

Activity:Using the examples in Writers Express, write down in your journal your own examples of words that follow each rule. Check your spelling using a dictionary. Sometimes words in the English language don’t follow the “rules.” This is because English has many words that come from other languages. I know that sometimes this can be frustrating for you, but as you notice language more (because you are becoming an active reader), you will become familiar with these exceptions. Try to become aware of your spelling patterns and habits when you proofread your writings. Share your work with your parent/teacher.

Common and Proper Nouns

Some nouns, such as “boy” and “town,” are very general and can mean many different things to different people. These types of nouns are called common nouns. Some nouns are very particular or specific. They are called proper nouns. For example, the common noun “boy” can be turned into a proper noun by making it more specific and substituting names like “John” or “Steve” or “Juan.”

Proper nouns stand out from common nouns, because they always start with a capital letter. Here are rules that will help you remember which nouns should be capitalized:

• Capitalize names of people and pets.
• Capitalize every important word in the names of particular places and things.
• Capitalize the names of months, days, and holidays.

Activity: The capitalization section of Writers Express (pages 390–392) will give you more examples of words to capitalize. Find examples of capitalized words in a magazine, newspaper, or your Daybook. In your journal, write a list of the words you find. Share your work with your parent/teacher.

Abbreviations

Sometimes proper nouns are abbreviated. Abbreviations are shortened forms of words. They stand for or mean certain things. Most abbreviations begin with a capital letter and end with a period. Sometimes, we are more familiar with the abbreviated form of a word than we are with the complete form.

Can you find the spellings for the complete word of each of the following? Are you surprised? Share your work with your parent/teacher.

• Mr.
• Dr.
• Mrs.

You can find a list of other common abbreviations and the rules for them in the abbreviations section in Writers Express (pages 396–397).

Possessives

You have already learned that a noun is a person, place, or thing. You have also learned that nouns can be plural or singular and that they can be common or proper. Now you will learn about possessive nouns. Possessive nouns show that the person or thing you name in your sentence owns something. Let’s say that you read this sentence on a note left for you on the kitchen table:

Take the cat’s bowl out and set it on the porch.

First, you have to find the noun. The first noun in this sentence is actually “bowl.” Ask yourself, “Whose bowl?” Yes, it is the cat’s bowl. “Cat’s” is the possessive noun, a word that shows ownership. The apostrophe (’) is a signal to the reader that this word is a possessive and not just a plural. Because “cat” is singular, you simply have to add ’s to make the word possessive. If the bowl belonged to more than one cat, then you would form the possessive as “cats’ bowl.” The signal tells readers that there is more than one cat and that these cats own something. The apostrophe section of Writers Express (pages 384–385) will show you some more examples. Share your work with your parent/teacher.

Activity: Practice writing some sentences of your own with possessive nouns and figure out what kinds of “signals” you need to provide your readers. One common mistake people make is to use an apostrophe any time they add an s to a word. Don’t do this, or your readers will have a “wreck”! You will be giving them the wrong signal!

Self-Check: Nouns When you have finished the self-check exercises below, share your work with your parent/teacher and then check your answers.

Singular or Plural?

In the following sentences, identify whether the underlined nouns are singular or plural.

Our family always looks forward to one celebration held in August. It is the Missouri State Fair. For the past five summers we have packed up the car with food and a blanket to sit on. Our first stop is always the pavilion where they keep the sheep. My brother and I love to see the fluffy, cuddly baby lambs. Their ears and tails twitch as they nibble their feed. One year Dad bought me a lamb of my own. His name was Duke, and he was a Dorset.

Common or Proper?

In the same passage, identify the common and proper nouns.

Our family always looks forward to one celebration held in August. It is the Missouri State Fair. For the past five summers we have packed up the car with food and a blanket to sit on. Our first stop is always the pavilion where they keep the sheep. My brother and I love to see the fluffy, cuddly baby lambs. Their ears and tails twitch as they nibble their feed. One year Dad bought me a lamb of my own. His name was Duke, and he was a Dorset.

Possessive or Not?

For the following sentences, use the boxes to retype any word that needs punctuation to show possession.

You have finished lesson 4, so it is time to complete the progress evaluation. It contains questions from lesson 3 and lesson 4. It is a computer-scored evaluation, so follow the directions for submitting this evaluation for scoring. Good luck!