common noun

A noun that is the name of a group of similar things, such as "table" or "book" and not of a single person, place or thing.

These nouns do not have capital letters unless they are at the beginning of a sentence.

abstract noun

A noun that refers to something that cannot be experienced by the five physical senses - an idea or concept.

"faith"; "hope" and "love" are examples

noun

A word that refers to or "names" a person, place, thing, event, substance or idea.

The underlined words are examples of this part of speech

proper noun

The name  of a particular person, place, object, brand or title which is always spelled with a capital letter. 

John, at home in Australia, always ate Weetabix while reading the Sydney Telegraph.

collective noun

A noun that describes a group of things or people as a unit.

• a flock of sheep
• a family of four
• a crate of beer
• a gaggle of geese
• a team of footballers

noun endings

A small number of nouns have identifiable noun endings:

tradition, information, explanation, situation, reaction ability, quality, practicality, fatality, speciality

excellence, difference, preference, inference, interference

significance, elegance, finance, trance, distance 

factor, motor, tractor, doctor, accelerator, benefactor, 

rigour, labour, odour, tumour, vapour.

countable nouns

These nouns have a singular and a plural form. The most common way of making a noun plural is by adding an "s" - but there are many exceptions. Sometimes called "unit" nouns.

book - books

cat - cats

child - children

mouse - mice

uncountable nouns

These nouns only have one form - and do not have a plural. They are sometimes called "mass" nouns.

furniture

accommodation

bread

information

spaghetti

Some nouns can be countable or uncountable. Often it changes the meaning of the noun.

I burn wood on the fire - uncountable

The woods are lovely, dark and deep. - countable.

combining nouns

Sometimes we can put two nouns together. 

insect repellent

computer virus

drinking water

In these cases the first noun acts as a modifier - telling us what kind of thing the second describes. An "insect" repellent is a type of repellent.  In this case it acts like an adjective - but it is still a noun.