You probably heard the usual drill: A NOUN is a person...A place:
...Or a “thing:”...Usually, you can imagine picking it up:....Or walking around it!....In
fact, if it’s an “it,”....
you’ve got yourself a noun.
But sometimes those “things” are hard to put your finger on…
For example, in this sentence: {singing} All you need is LOVE!
Here, Love is a THING, so it’s a NOUN.
But love can also be something you DO.
If the word LOVE is used as an ACTION, then it’s a VERB: I LOVE you!
So how can you tell if the word is a NOUN or a VERB?
Try the “person place or thing” test.
Here’s how it works: Can you substitute the word “it” for the word?
If so, you’ve got yourself a NOUN.
If you need an action to have the word make sense, you’ve got a VERB: I am WALKING to
the store.
Can you substitute IT for WALKING?
I am IT to the store.
No!
Makes no sense!
In that sentence, WALKING is not a thing, because you’re DOING it.
It’s an ACTION.
Action words are called VERBS.
What about this sentence?
WALKING is good for you.
Let’s try the test.
IT is good for you.
Yes!
In that sentence, “walking is good for you” The word “walking” is a noun, because
it’s a “thing” and you can replace it with “it.”
You can do tests with the people and places to see if they are nouns too.
Depending on WHERE a noun fits into a sentence, you might find a few other tricky questions.
The meaning of that word has to be “a person, place, or thing” for it to be a noun.
Let’s try another example: I like TENNIS.
Can you substitute Tennis with “it” or “they” in that sentence?
I like IT.
Yes!
In that sentence, tennis is a “thing!”
so it’s a noun.
But try this one: TENNIS rackets are expensive.Can you substitute TENNIS with “it” or “they”
in that sentence?
IT rackets are expensive.
No!
In that sentence, the word TENNIS describes what KIND of racket is expensive, so it’s
not being used as a noun.
Try out the IT test on your own set of “things,” Love, Justice, Independence, poetry, American
History, The Galapagos Islands,” Abraham Lincoln, and Attila the Hunn…are all nouns!