To put it simply, a noun is a thing; a place, object or person.
And in more complicated terms, there are 4 different types of nouns...
Concrete nouns
Abstract nouns
Collective nouns
Proper nouns
Yes, four! It seems insane to have five different types and makes this seem over complicated but it really is quite simple once you have gotten your head around it.
Concrete or Abstract?
It's very simple, most nouns will come under one of these categories.
A concrete noun - is a physical thing
(something you can see, hear, touch, smell, taste)
a bike, music, a ball, flowers, a milkshake
An abstract noun- is something that doesn't have a physical form
(a concept, an idea, a feeling)
love, friendship, happiness, betrayal
Simple right? Ok, so this is where things get a little more complicated.
A collective noun - describes a group of nouns.
(this sounds fancy but it really isn't)
a school of fish, a group of friends, a collection of thoughts, a bunch of flowers
A proper noun - names a specific noun (place, object or person)
(this will always start with a capital letter because they use an actual name of something or someone)
London, John, Tuesday, Galaxy bar
And finally, let's make a phrase...
A noun phrase - A group of words based around a noun
bright pink flowers
(flowers is just a noun, but bright pink flowers is a noun phrase)
dark and stormy night
hot coffee
stripy jumper