Can You Tell What Kind of Nouns These Are?

By: Talin Vartanian
Estimated Completion Time
3 min
Can You Tell What Kind of Nouns These Are?
Image: Laura Kate Bradley / Moment / Getty Images

About This Quiz

Whether you're a science nerd or a math fanatic, it's hard to deny the importance of the English language. Knowing the differences between verbs and adverbs, for instance, can make or break your resume for a future career path. But while many of us grew up learning about the English subject, it's still pretty difficult to master. After all, what the heck is a preposition? Or a conjunction? Well, it would take too long to explain the different "parts of speech," so today, we're going to focus on just one of them: nouns!

Nouns are pretty easy to learn about, right? We were all taught that nouns refer to people, places or things, but there are many different types of nouns. So generally, many nouns can be categorized as common nouns, like states, mountains or dogs. But what if we're talking about California, Mount Everest or a dog named Spunky? Well, then these would all be proper nouns since we're talking about names of specific things. There are also countable, singular, collective, abstract and possessive nouns, and we're going to talk about all of them in this educational quiz. So, we have just one question: Are you ready to get your noun game on?

1-Love
Emilija Manevska / Moment / Getty Images
Take a look at this sentence: "I love Todd with all my heart." What type of noun is "love"?
Abstract
Collective
Common
Concrete
None of these
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Love is a pretty "abstract" concept, don't you think? It's also an abstract noun, which means you can't interact with it using your senses. These types of nouns also refer to emotions and feelings.

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2-Art
Thomas Barwick / DigitalVision / Getty Images
Can you spot the proper noun in this sentence? "My friend and I are going to the Museum of Modern Art today."
I
Museum of Modern Art
Friend
Today
Going
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Proper nouns refer to specific people, places or events, some of which are important in our society. The Museum of Modern Art is an example of a proper noun, as is the Sahara Desert.

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3-Brush
Elizabeth Fernandez / Moment / Getty Images
If I said, "I just bought a brand new hairbrush," what type of noun is "hairbrush"?
None of these
Compound
Proper
Predicate
Concrete
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A concrete noun refers to something you can physically touch with you hands or perceive with your senses. You can touch a hairbrush and see it with your eyes, so that makes it a concrete noun.

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4-Countries
PATSTOCK / Moment / Getty Images
Do you think that the word "country" is an example of a proper or a common noun?
Proper noun
It's both.
Common noun
It's neither.
I have no idea.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

If we were talking about a specific country, like Russia or Armenia, then this would be a proper noun. But since a country refers to a more general concept, it would be a common noun.

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5- Meatballs
4kodiak / Moment / Getty Images
What type of noun is "meatball"?
Open compound noun
Closed compound noun
Hyphenated compound noun
Abstract noun
Proper noun
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Do you how there's no space in between the two words that make up the word "meatball"? A compound noun combines two words to form a single word.

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6-Choir
Carmen Martínez Torrón / Moment / Getty Images
Can you guess what type of noun is "choir"?
Pronoun
Compound
Concrete
Verbal
Collective
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A collective noun refers to a word that signifies a group of things. So in this context, a choir is made up of a group of people, which collectively makes it one whole choir group.

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7-Noun
Monkey Business Images / Monkey Business / Getty Images Plus
Which of the following is not a proper noun?
South America
Jason
Empire State Building
Board of members
Yosemite
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Board of members" is a pretty vague compound noun here. It's not referring to a specific group of "board of members," so it could be anyone. Thus, that's what makes it a common noun and not a proper one.

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8-Paper Clip
Ilona Nagy / Moment / Getty Images
What type of noun is "paper-clip"?
Hyphenated compound noun
Closed compound noun
Open compound noun
Pronoun
Collective
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

See that little dash symbol in between the words "paper" and "clip"? That's a hyphen, and it's used to connect two or more words together. Other examples of hyphenated compound nouns are forget-me-not and father-in-law.

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9-Noun
Adrienne Bresnahan / Moment / Getty Images
Which of the following is not a pronoun?
Ours
Me
You
Itself
Town
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "town" is a common noun, not a pronoun. A pronoun usually refers to someone or something in a sentence, without using its proper noun form. For instance, "James likes ice cream, so he went to buy some." "He" is the pronoun here, and it refers to the proper noun, James.

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10-Knowledge
Jonathan Kitchen / DigitalVision / Getty Images
Is "knowledge" a countable or non-countable noun?
Non-countable
Countable
It's not a noun.
It shouldn't be in the countable category.
Either one, depending on the context.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "knowledge" is considered to be a non-countable noun. You can't really count knowledge. It can't be measured literally, like having two oranges or three cats.

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11-Actress
Matthias Clamer / Stone / Getty Images
Can you spot the gender-specific noun here?
Teacher
Student
Actress
Employee
Flower
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "actress" is a gender-specific noun because it refers to the female version of "actor." In other words, a woman in the acting industry is called an actress, while a male in the same industry is an actor.

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12-Noun
Catherine Falls Commercial / Moment / Getty Images
Which of these words is not a verbal noun?
Attack
Metal
Decision
Arrival
Building
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Verbal nouns are formed using verbs. Take "decision," for example. It comes from the verb "to decide," but we could use it in this sentence: "The candidate has not yet made his decision." The word "metal" in this question is a common noun.

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13-Parenthood
Oliver Rossi / DigitalVision / Getty Images
What type of noun is "parenthood"?
Gerund
Proper
Concrete
Abstract
Collective
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

You can't physically touch or see "parenthood," which makes it an abstract concept (and thus, an abstract noun). Other examples would be the words "bravery," "courage" and "joy."

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14-Dictionary
Marianna Massey / Stone / Getty Images
Which of the following is an example of a gerund?
Laugh
Team
Bread
Pickpocket
Swimming
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Gerunds are formed from verbs like start, stop or change. When you add an "-ing" at the end, then it becomes a gerund. For example, "Swimming in the lake today is a great idea" has the gerund "swimming."

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15-Ice Cream
Jesus Viloria / Moment / Getty Images
Can you match the word "ice cream" to the correct type of noun?
Closed compound noun
Hyphenated compound noun
It's not a noun.
Open compound noun
Abstract noun
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "ice cream" is an open compound noun because of that space between "ice" and "cream." We're combining two words — ice and cream — to make one unit.

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16-Cute Cat
Image by Chris Winsor / Moment / Getty Images
If I say, "Timmy's cat is so cute," what type of noun are we talking about here?
Countable noun
Compound noun
Possessive noun
Plural noun
Proper noun
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This cat belongs to Timmy, which makes this noun possessive. A possessive noun shows that someone owns something. For example, "Mary's jacket is red" or "Beth's water bottle is small."

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17-Pencil
mrs / Moment / Getty Images
What type of noun is "pencil"?
Plural
Possessive
Countable
Collective
Uncountable
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "pencil" is a countable noun because you can literally count how many you have, such as one or two pencils. Other examples of countable nouns include "cup," "phone" and "pen."

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18-Noun
Martin Barraud / OJO Images / Getty Images
Can you spot the singular noun from this list?
Cactus
Women
Leaves
Heroes
Oxen
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All the words in this list are plural nouns, except for cactus. Its plural form is actually cacti, though some people also say cactuses. And believe it or not, "oxen" is the plural form of "ox!"

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19-Noun
Astrakan Images / Cultura / Getty Images
Which of these is an uncountable noun?
Milk
Food
Rain
Rice
All of the above.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All of these words are considered to be uncountable nouns because you can't count them physically. But if you have lots of time on your hands, then maybe you could count some rice.

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20-Words
Carmen Martínez Torrón / Moment / Getty Images
One of these words is matched to the wrong type of noun, but can you spot it?
Snowflake: compound noun
Train: countable noun
Fear: abstract noun
Ocean: common noun
Walt Disney: collective noun
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Walt Disney was known for many classics, such as "Dumbo" and "Fantasia," but he's also a proper noun. This is because proper nouns signify specific people, places and things — and we don't mean just important ones like Walt Disney!

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21-Moose
Scott Suriano / Moment / Getty Images
True or false? "Moose" is both a singular and a plural noun.
False
True
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "moose" is one of those rare exceptions in the English language where it doesn't have a set plural form. Some people use the word "meese," but that's more of a slang word.

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22-Necklace
Sasha Bell / Moment / Getty Images
How many nouns are in the following sentence? "The lady held the necklace close to her heart."
Four
One
Two
Three
Five
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

There are three nouns in this sentence, which are "lady," "necklace" and "heart." They are all common nouns because they don't refer to specific people or things.

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23-Noun
Alicia Llop / Moment / Getty Images
Which of the following is not a compound noun?
Crisis
Nobody
Onset
Airline
Anymore
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Crisis is not a compound noun because it's not a combination of two or more words. "Anymore," for instance, contains the words "any" and "more," and "nobody" is a combination of "no" and "body."

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24-Dating
Tim Robberts / Stone / Getty Images
Can you spot the concrete noun in this sentence? "Love is a funny aspect of the dating realm."
Love
None of these
Funny
Dating
Realm
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

There are actually no concrete nouns in this sentence. A concrete noun is a word that involves one or more of your five senses. Since you can't literally perceive the nouns in this sentence, none of them are concrete.

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25-History
Laura Battiato / Moment / Getty Images
How would you categorize the word "history"?
It's not a noun.
Abstract noun
Proper noun
Common noun
Concrete noun
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

We may have documents and textbooks about history, but we can't perceive the actual word using sight, hearing or touch. It's an abstract concept, which means that it's an abstract noun.

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26-Words
Busà Photography / Moment / Getty Images
Out of these words, which one is a demonstrative pronoun?
Itself
Which
Where
This
Your
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

This type of pronoun is used to demonstrate something in a sentence. For example, "This shirt is blue," or "These oranges are organic." You could also say "Are those necklaces yours?"

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27-Words
beemore / E+ / Getty Images
Can you spot the plural indefinite pronoun from this list?
Several
Everything
Much
Anything
Enough
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

"Several" is an indefinite pronoun because it doesn't involve specific people, places or things. It's also plural because singular pronouns end in "thing," "one" or "body," such as "anything" or "everybody."

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28-Faith
krisanapong detraphiphat / Moment / Getty Images
Which of the following matches to the word "faith"?
Place
Person
Idea
Thing
Animal
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

If a specific person was named "Faith," then this would be a proper noun. But in this context, we're talking about "faith" as an idea. It's also not really a "thing," since you can't physically touch it.

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29-Store
John McKeen / Moment / Getty Images
Where is the noun in this sentence? "Hey, did you go to the store yet?"
Yet
Go
You
Hey
Store
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "store" is the noun in this sentence because it's referring to a place (specifically, it's a common noun). "Yet" is an adverb, "you" is a pronoun, "go" is a verb and "hey" is an interjection.

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30-Blonde
Stephen Zeigler / Image Bank / Getty Images
True or false? "Blonde" is a gender-specific noun.
True
False
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Generally, people use the word "blonde" to describe yellow hair on either a man or a woman. But "blonde" actually refers to a woman with this type of hair, while "blond" denotes a male.

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31-Axis
Buena Vista Images / Stone / Getty Images
What is the plural form of "axis"?
Axisis
Axi
Axises
Axis
Axes
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "axis" is a singular noun that describes imaginary lines in astronomy or fixed lines in mathematics (among several other definitions, depending on the educational context). Its proper plural form would be "axes."

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32-Village
joe daniel price / Moment / Getty Images
What type of noun is "village"?
Countable
Compound
Collective
Plural
Proper
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

You've probably heard the term, "It takes a village ..." The word "village" in this context is a collective noun because it refers to a group or a collection of something. In this case, it would be a group of people. Other collective nouns include "family" and "band."

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33-Typewriter
Constantine Johnny / Moment / Getty Images
Which of the following is not true about compound nouns?
Verb + verb = compound noun
Adjective + noun = compound noun
verb + noun = compound noun
Noun + noun = compound noun
Noun + verb = compound noun
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Two verbs don't make a specific type of noun, but if you combine a certain verb with a noun, then it becomes a compound noun. Examples of this include haircut and sunrise.

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34-Paying
RUNSTUDIO / Moment / Getty Images
Is the word "paying" a verbal noun or a gerund?
Neither
I'm not sure.
Both
Gerund
Verbal noun
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Verbal nouns and gerunds are pretty similar, but there's a key difference, and that has to do with the word's verbal properties. Verbal nouns have none while gerunds have some,. The word "paying" is derived from a verb.

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35-Luggage
Alexander Spatari / Moment / Getty Images
Is the word "luggage" a countable or an uncountable noun?
Countable
Uncountable
Both, depending on the context.
Neither
I'm not sure.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The word "luggage" is actually considered to be an uncountable noun. Here's a trick: If a word has no plural version of it, then it's considered to be uncountable. For example, you can't say "luggages" when referring to multiple pieces of luggage.

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You Got:
/35
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