PRESENTS
Nelson Noun
E PA
SPE
EC
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1 8
O
TH
OF
I SER ES B
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K
ME
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By Coert Voorhees
S
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the
Written by Coert Voorhees Illustrations by Powerhouse Animation
Ve r b
n Ve r b tio n
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nc Co n
ju
io n
no iv e
ct rb
ve
the
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I n te r j
Gather ‘round everybody and let’s have ourselves a wonderful time. I just love bringing words and groups of words together, don’t you?
I express emotion!! Yep, I’m always here, always ready with my commas and exclamation points, just in case.
e
itio n
I am a chameleon. A spy. An undercover operative. I infiltrate the sentence and act as whatever part of speech suits me.
os
e
the Ad
I’m perfectly happy to link Nouns and Pronouns with the appropriate Adjectives, but it’s not like I’m going to expend a lot of energy doing so.
L i nk i n
Izzy
ny
L i’l P e t
They call me Preposition because I’m pre-positioned. I’m first. At the front. Before every other word in the phrase? Got it?
Ben
I modify a Verb, Adjective, or other Adverb. I tell how, when, where, to what extent, and under what condition. I often end in –ly, but I don’t have to.
A d je
e
e
the
he
Co n ni
Ja k
I modify a Noun or Pronoun. I tell what kind, which one, how many, or how much. I pride myself on being the most artistic of the parts of speech.
Some people say I’m all over the place. Some people call me a ball of energy. I take that as a compliment, because I just like to go, go, go!
e A ctio
t
e
rt he Pro
th
Speech
L ucy
Ro g
un
n the N
of
ct
ou
so
l I take the place of one or more Nouns or Pronouns. I always want the Noun's job, and I hang out with the Verb and Adjective.
Parts
Vi nny
Ne
I name a specific person, place, thing, or idea. It’s a big responsibility, naming things— a responsibility that requires a certain attention to detail.
the
n
Meet
the Prep
Sla ng
NELSON THE NOUN © 2019 Grammaropolis Graphic Design by Mckee Frazior Printed by Friesens, Altona, Manitoba, Canada Text and Illustrations © 2011 by Grammaropolis LLC
This book is typeset in Komika Text Distributed throughout the world by Ingram Publisher Services www.ingrambook.com Printed in Canada
Before Nelson opened up his own place, he worked at the Noun Office.
His job was to name people, places, things, and ideas. 1
He worked hard because he knew that Roger the pronoun always wanted to take his place.
Are you sure I can’t help out?
2
Person
Place
Thi ng le b b bu
Lucy
Jake
zi pper
policeman
aardvark
Organization was extremely important to Nelson.
snorkel
Concrete Noun Day was his favorite. He loved naming what he could observe with his five senses.
r
te pu
com
vase
lederhosen
4
Collective Noun Day was when Nelson used a singular noun to name a group. It was his least favorite day by far.
smack h
of jellyfis
cloud
of mosquitoes
herdants eph
of el
5
Nelson was overwhelmed. He needed a break.
I’m getting out of here. Roger, take over. Really?
6
H O N E S T Y C O U RAG E HA PP IN ES S
He packed light, only taking some of his favorite abstract nouns with him. 7
He said his goodbyes.
Don’t go.
We need you.
Roger can handle this. 8
I’ll miss you most of all, platypus.
Then Nelson the noun left Grammaropolis.
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Nelson arrived at a desert island. He quickly named some of the nouns he saw, just to get it over with.
coconut
tree hammock
water 10
volcano
beach sand
After that, he settled in for a well-earned rest. 11
At first, Nelson loved his time away.
E T PEAC TENTMEN N E CO
T
12
Run
!
e!
Danc
After a while, however, he started to miss his friends. Without Vinny the action verb, he couldn’t do anything.
13
He missed the other nouns and pronouns, and he missed Connie the conjunction, too. 14
Without Jake the adjective, he couldn’t describe the sunset.
awesome
gorgeous
15
He tried to console himself with the abstract nouns he’d packed, but “courage” and “happiness” were nowhere to be found.
How did this get in here?
M O D E BOR 16
He didn’t even have Izzy the interjection to help him express his dismay. Alas! Oh, no.
Leaving Grammaropolis had been a terrible idea, so Nelson packed up and headed for home. 17
n o s r Pe HER
HIM
THEM
g n i Th
E R E H T
T
SE O H
WHEREVER
H WHOEVER
18
Place
THIS
E R E IT
THESE
I can’t tell what the pronouns are referring to. That’s because there are no antecedents!
It’s not my fault!
He discovered that things had not gone well without him. 19
Nelson got right to work. He started with the compound nouns: words stuck together to make a single noun.
Compound Nouns eggplant wi ndshield toothpaste
jack-in-the-box grasshopper
seafood
20
Nelson had the office back to normal in no time.
Common Noun
Proper Noun Cleveland
You look happy.
Maybe I just needed some time off.
city
docu
me n
t
neighbor
f t io n o a r a l c e c De e nd e n Ind e p
Reginald
We could use a little help out here! 21
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Statue
Of Lib er
What’s this called?
Dude.
22
r ty
Nelson’s s e t o N n u No
1
PERSON
PLACE
Ava is the most thoughtful girl in our entire school.
Zak ate his lunch at a park in Chicago.
THING There is a small stack of pennies on my dresser.
IDEA We should all fight for fairness and equality.
A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.
S N U O N N O M M O C al person,
gener A common noun names a place, thing, or idea.
When I was in the restaurant, I asked a lady what she knew about volcanoes.
EXAMPLES restaurant lady volcanoes
PROPER NOUNS
A proper noun names a specific person, place, thing, or idea.
When I was in Burger King, I asked Lucy what she knew about Krakatoa and Vesuvius.
EXAMPLES Burger Kin g Lucy Krakatoa Vesuvius
4
CONCRETE NOUNS
A concrete noun names a person , place, or thing that can be perceived by one or more of the five senses.
The receptionist yelled at me when I brought my platypus into the museum.
EXAMPLES receptionist platypus museum
5
ABSTRACT NOUNS
An abstract noun is an idea or quality that can not be perceived by any of the five senses.
It is always best to live with honor and courage in your heart.
EXAMPLES honor courage
6
COMPOUND NOUNS
An compound noun is two or more words combined to make a single noun that names a person, place, thing, or idea. It can be one single word, two words, or words connected by hyphens.
My mother-in-law took me to the swimming pool after a dessert of strawberry shortcakes.
EXAMPLES
One word: shortcake Two words: swimming pool Hyphenated: mother-in-law 7
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
An collective noun is a singular noun that names a group. Our band went to the zoo to see the school of fish, but an armory of aardvarks had escaped, so they closed the zoo and called in a squad of police.
EXAMPLES
school of fish armory of aardvarks squad of police 8
Where grammar lives!
Be sure to meet all the parts of speech!
Learn more about the parts of speech, meet the Punctuation Department, and visit the rest of Grammaropolis online at grammaropolis.com.
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Grammaropolis is published in association with Six Foot Press. For catalog and ordering information go to sixfootpress.com.