Year 2 English

Grammar: Nouns & Verbs

Discover what nouns and verbs are, and learn how to use them to build great sentences.

What Are Nouns?

A noun is a naming word. It tells us the name of a person, place, animal, or thing. Nouns are everywhere — almost every sentence has at least one!

Common Nouns

These name general things. They do not start with a capital letter (unless they begin a sentence).

dog school book teacher city tree

Proper Nouns

These name specific people, places, or things. They always start with a capital letter.

Australia Mrs Smith Sydney Monday Harry Potter

"The girl walked to school." — girl and school are common nouns.
"Emma walked to Greenfield Primary." — Emma and Greenfield Primary are proper nouns.

What Are Verbs?

A verb is a doing word or action word. It tells us what someone or something does. Every sentence needs a verb!

Action Verbs

run jump eat read swim write sing climb draw kick

"The dog chased the ball." — chased is the verb (what the dog did).
"Mia reads a book every night." — reads is the verb (what Mia does).

Tip: Finding the Verb

Ask yourself: "What is happening in this sentence?" The answer is the verb. Try it: "The bird flew over the fence." What happened? It flew!

Nouns and Verbs in Sentences

A sentence needs at least one noun (who or what) and one verb (what they do). Together, they make a complete thought.

The cat sleeps on the mat. (noun = cat, verb = sleeps)

Tom kicked the ball. (nouns = Tom, ball; verb = kicked)

The children played in the park. (nouns = children, park; verb = played)

Common Noun Proper Noun Verb

Key Concepts Summary

●A noun is a naming word for a person, place, animal, or thing.
●Common nouns are general (dog, school) and proper nouns are specific (Sydney, Monday) — always capitalised.
●A verb is a doing/action word (run, jump, eat, read).
●Every sentence needs at least one noun and one verb.