Nouns

To determine a noun, first remember the tried and true wisdom that a noun is a person, a place, a thing or an idea.

Second, and perhaps a little trickier, a noun can be an action. Let's be clear here: A noun cannot be an action in the same way a verb can. A verb has a subject doing an action.

EXAMPLES:

1. Bill ran.
   1. BILL is the subject and RAN is the verb. An action acting as a noun is the THING that is doing (the SUBJECT) or being done to (the OBJECT).
2. Running seems fun.
   1. RUNNING is the subject; SEEMS is the verb.
3. Bill enjoys running
   1. BILL is the subject. ENJOYS is a transitive verb and RUNNING is the direct object.

Fortunately for writers who chafe at rules and unfortunately for those attempting to unravel the structure of the sentence, nouns can show up almost anywhere in a sentence.

There are six types of nouns to consider:

(1) The subject: the person, place, thing or idea that is doing or being something in the clause or sentence

(2) the direct object: the noun that receives the action of the transitive verb

(3) the indirect object: the noun or pronoun that receives the direct object

(4) the predicate nominative: the noun following a linking verb that restates or stands for the subject

(5) the object of the preposition: the noun that follows the preposition

(6) the object of the verbal: the noun that follows the verbal and "receives" it.