Nouns
Noun – A word that is used as the name of a person, place or thing is known as a Noun.
Example
- Mahatma Gandhi was a great leader.
- Chandigarh is in the foothills of Shivalik.
- The sun rises in the East.
- His courage won him accolades.
Words in bolds are all nouns.
Note : The word person in the definition represents all the living beings. The word things include (i) all objects that can be seen, hear, taste, touch or smell; and (ii) something that we can think of, but cannot perceive by the sense.
Nouns are naming words. They identify people, things or place in our world. Nouns come in six different forms: proper, common, abstract, concrete, collective, and compound.
Further, the nouns can be classified into two major types as : countable and uncountable nouns.
1. Proper Noun – A proper noun is the name of some particular person, place, thing, particular event, or group. This proper noun begins with a capital letter. If the noun is nonspecific, that is, the noun refers to a general idea and not a specific person, place, or thing, it is usually not a proper noun, so it it not capitalized.
Example :
Specific – World war II, English class
Non-specific – World war, A class
Examples of proper noun :
- Ruchi was born on Friday.
- The Gita is sacred book.
2. Common Noun – A common noun is a name given in common to every person or thing of the same class of kind.
Example :
- chair, hammer, bicycle, axe, saw, ruler, book (These common nouns are words for things.)
- cat, dog, horse, puppy, foal (These common nouns are words for animals.)
- airport, university, stadium, zoo, mall (These common nouns are words for places.)
- artist, singer, teacher, doctor, lawyer (These common nouns are words for people who do certain things.)
3. Collective Nouns – a) A collective noun is a name of a number (collection) of persons or things taken together and spoken of as one whole as:
Crowd, mob, team, flock, herd, army, fleet, jury, family, nation, parliament, committee.
b)Nouns that refer to a specific group of persons or things are called Collective Nouns.
Example :
- a family, a company, a band, a choir ( collective nouns for groups of people.)
- a flock of birds, a drove of sheep, a herd of cattle, a pride of lions (collective nouns for groups of animals.)
- a bunch of bananas, a bunch of keys, a deck of cards, a set of tools (collective nouns for groups of things.)
- a loaf of bread, a bar of soap, a bar of chocolate (Some nouns name the amount or form of something.
4. Abstract Nouns – An abstract noun is usually the name of a feelings, ideas, action, state and characteristics, or qualities considered apart from the object to which it belongs as. This abstract noun cannot be seen, heard, touched or tasted but it can only be felt by our sense. The abstract noun is not visible
Example :
- Quality – wiseness, goodness, kindness, honesty, wisdom.
- Action – laughter, theft, movement.
- State – poverty, childhood, manhood, youth.
Most abstract nouns end with these suffixes:
- -ism : nationalism
- -ment : argument
- -ity : personality
- -tion : aggravation
- -ship : friendship
- -ence : silence
5. Material Nouns – These are the raw elements or objects existing in nature.
Example :
- Iron, gold, stones, plastic, mercury, brass.
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
- Countable Nouns – (countables) are the names of objects, people, etc. that we can count. And they have their own singular and plural forms. E.g. book, apple, books, apples.
- Uncountable Nouns – (uncountables) are the names of things which we cannot count, e.g. milk, oil, sugar, gold, honesty.
