Year 1 — Grammar

Words and sentences

Spot nouns (naming words) and verbs (doing words), and understand the difference between one thing (singular) and more than one (plural).

Back to Year 1

💡Understand

A NOUN is a naming word — it names a person, animal, place or thing (like 'dog', 'park', 'ball'). A VERB is a doing word — it tells us an action (like 'run', 'jump', 'eat'). SINGULAR means just one; PLURAL means more than one.

“The dog runs. The dogs run.”

'Dog' is a noun (naming word) and 'runs'/'run' is a verb (doing word). In the first sentence there is one dog (singular); in the second there is more than one dog (plural) — notice the 's' added to 'dog'.

🔍Spot it

Is the underlined word a noun (naming word) or a verb (doing word)?

Question 1

The cat jumps.

💡 'Cat' names an animal — that makes it a noun.

Question 2

The cat jumps.

💡 'Jumps' tells us what the cat is doing — that makes it a verb.

Question 3

Which is plural (more than one)?

💡 The 's' at the end of 'cats' shows there is more than one.

🧠Think about it

How can you tell if a word is a noun or a verb?

✍️Try it

Is this word a noun or a verb?

The bird flies.

Question 1

What is 'flies' in this sentence?

💡 'Flies' tells us what the bird is doing.

📝Practise

For each word, decide if it's a noun, a verb, or plural.

Question 1

Is 'ball' a noun or a verb?

Question 2

Is 'kick' a noun or a verb?

Question 3

Which word is plural (more than one)?

Question 4

In one word, what do we call a word that names a person, animal, place or thing?

💡 It's one of the two main word types in this lesson.

Question 5

Is 'swim' a noun or a verb?

Question 6

Which is singular (just one)?

🎯Apply

Read the passage, then answer the questions below.

The boy kicks the ball. Two dogs run in the park.

Question 1

What is the verb (doing word) in the first sentence?

💡 Which word tells us the action?

Question 2

Is 'dogs' singular or plural?

💡 The number 'two' and the 's' both give a clue.

Question 3

Name one noun (naming word) from the passage.

💡 Look for a word that names a person, animal, place or thing.

🏆Challenge

Can you think of your own sentence with one noun and one verb? For example: 'The fish swims.'

🔄Review

A quick mastery check — 3 questions.

Question 1

Is 'jump' a noun or a verb?

Question 2

Is 'apple' a noun or a verb?

Question 3

Which is plural?

Want more practice mixing this with other grammar rules? Try Grammar practice →