Introduction – Noun
A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing. It is a part of speech that serves as the subject or object of a sentence or clause.
Examples – Ram, Ramayana, Delhi, Pen, Dog, Cat, Lion, Book, Computer, Rahul, Sita, etc. are nouns.
Types
Nouns can also be classified according to their roles and characteristics. Here are some common types of nouns:
- Proper nouns: These nouns refer to specific names of people, places, or things and are usually capitalized, such as “John,” “Paris,” or “Eiffel Tower.”
- Common nouns: These nouns refer to general, non-specific people, places, or things, such as “dog,” “city,” or “chair.”
- Collective nouns: These nouns refer to a group or collection of people or things, such as “team,” “family,” or “herd.”
- Abstract noun: it is something that you can’t see, taste, hear, or touch, such as love, goodwill, joy, etc. or it is the name of a quality, idea, concept, or state, such as beauty, honesty, death, etc.
- Material noun: these nouns refer to material or substance from which objects are made, such as gold, wood, steel, plastic, etc
Subtypes of noun
- Countable nouns: These nouns can be counted and have singular and plural forms, such as “book” (singular) and “books” (plural).
- Uncountable nouns: These nouns cannot be counted and do not have a plural form, such as “water” or “information.”
Number of nouns
Noun can be singular or plural both.
Singular Noun: Singular nouns refer to one item. Example – a pen, a lion, Delhi, etc.
Plural Nouns: Plural nouns refer to more than one item, Plural nouns are usually formed by adding “s” or “es” to the singular form, such as “dog” (singular) and “dogs” (plural).
Click here for a List of Singular and Plural Nouns
Gender of a noun
Nouns can be masculine, feminine, or neuter.
Gender and Nouns: In general, English nouns do not have grammatical gender, but there are some exceptions for nouns that refer to specific genders, such as “man” and “woman.”
Click here for a list of Gender of noun
Noun as Subject
Nouns as Subjects and Objects: Nouns can function as subjects (the doer of the action) or objects (the receiver of the action) in a sentence.
Example- John threw the ball.
“John” is the noun functioning as the subject, and “ball” is the noun functioning as the object.
Role of Noun in making a sentence.
- A sentence made of subject + verb + object.
- In a sentence, the subject and object are generally a noun.
- If the subject is singular then the verb is also singular. (The cat eats fish. (Here, the subject “cat” is singular, and the verb “eats” is also singular.)
- If the subject is plural then the verb is also plural. (The cats eat fish. (Here, the subject “cats” is plural, and the verb “eat” is also plural.) That is why we should identify the noun of the subject.
- The verb depends on the subject.
Rules of noun
1. Some nouns that end in “s” or “es” may still be considered singular and take singular verb forms. such as Mathematics, Physics, Gymnastics, The Three Musketeers, the United States, etc.
Example:
- Politics is a dirty game.
- Mathematics is her favorite subject.
It’s important to note that these are exceptions to the general rule that nouns ending in “s” or “es” are typically plural.
2. There are certain nouns in English that are always plural and do not have a singular form. such as Trousers, jeans, proceeds, scissors, thanks, orders, stairs, pets, belongings, scales, etc.
Example:
- My scissors are not sharp.
- My spectacles are very costly.
These nouns are treated as plural and require plural verb forms and pronouns when used in sentences.
3. There are several nouns in English that are considered plural even though they do not end in “s” or “es.” These nouns have irregular plural forms, and they maintain the same form in both singular and plural contexts. Such as people, children, cattle, fish, sheep, deer, aircraft, series, species, etc.
Example:
- Cattle are gazing in the field.
- The committee is unanimous on this issue.
4. There are countable nouns in English that are commonly used in their singular form, even though they technically have a plural form. such as knowledge, paper, hair, advice, fuel, etc.
Example:
- Young people dislike the advice of the elder.
- He gives me information.
In sentences, they are used with singular verb forms and do not have a plural article (“a” or “an”).
5. There are certain nouns in English that can be used both in the singular and plural forms, depending on the context or intended meaning. These nouns are known as “singular/plural” or “invariant” nouns. such as Dear, Sheep, Aircraft, Counsel, etc.
- Deer (singular and plural)
- I saw a deer in the forest.
- I saw three deer in the forest.
- Sheep (singular and plural)
- The sheep is grazing in the field.
- The sheep are grazing in the field.
In these cases, the same form of the noun is used for both singular and plural, without any changes in spelling.
6. The use of an apostrophe followed by “s” does not indicate that a noun becomes plural.
Two nouns in the possessive case denote the plural form.
Example: Ram’s and Shyam’s fathers are meeting today.
Exercise
Identify the countable and uncountable nouns:
| 1. water | Uncountable noun |
| 2. fruit | Countable noun |
| 3. oil | Uncountable noun |
| 4. rice | Uncountable noun |
| 5. chair | Countable noun |
| 6. hair | Uncountable noun |
| 7. ball | Countable noun |
| 8. sandwich | Countable noun |
| 9. glasses | Countable noun |
| 10. pen | Countable noun |
| 11. milk | Uncountable noun |
| 12. patrol_ | Uncountable noun |
Identify the common, proper, collective, or abstract noun.
| 1. Honesty is the best policy. | Honesty (abstract noun) |
| 2. Solomon was famous for his wisdom. | Solomon (proper noun) |
| 3. A committee of five was appointed. | Committee (collective noun) |
| 4. Jamil is a bright student. | Jamil (proper noun) |
| 5. Wisdom is better than riches. | Wisdom (abstract noun) |
| 6. I didn’t believe the clown’s story. | Story (common noun) |
| 7. A teacher must have patience. | Teacher (common noun) |
| 8. Cleanliness is next to godliness. | Cleanliness (abstract noun) |
| 9. My sister is a doctor. | Sister (common noun) |
| 10. My family lives in that house. | Family (collective noun) |
Find material nouns.
| 1. Houses are made of brick and sand. | Brick and sand |
| 2. Gold is a precious metal. | Gold |
| 3. This bag is made of jute. | Jute |
| 4. Aluminium is a light metal. | Aluminium |
| 5. Tyres are made of rubber. | Rubber |
Change these words to abstract nouns.
| 1. develop | development |
| 2. kind | kindness |
| 3. intelligent | intelligence |
| 4. laugh | laughter |
| 5. lucky | luck |
| 6. capable | capability |
| 7. brave | bravery |
| 8. discover | discovery |
| 9. invent | invention |
| 10. select | selection |
Say whether the following are proper, common, material, collective or abstract nouns.
| bees | Common noun |
| beekeeper | Common noun |
| India | Proper noun |
| honey | Material noun |
| colonies | Collective noun |
| hours | Common noun |
| forests | Common noun |
| production | Abstract noun |
| Ram | Proper noun |
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