A noun names a person (aviator, child), place (lake, library), thing (truck, suitcase), or concept (happiness, balance). Proper nouns name specific people, places, things, and concepts: Bill, Iowa, Supreme Court, Buddhism. Collective nouns name groups: team, flock, jury (24c).

You can change most nouns from singular (one) to plural (more than one) by adding -s or -es: horse, horses; kiss, kisses. Some nouns, however, have irregular plural forms: woman, women; alumnus, alumni; mouse, mice; deer, deer. Noncount nouns—such as dust, peace, and prosperity—do not have a plural form because they name something that cannot easily be counted (46a).

To show ownership, nouns take the possessive form by adding an apostrophe plus -s to a singular noun or just an apostrophe to a plural noun: the horse’s owner, the boys’ dilemma (38a).