Nouns (Source: S. Chauhan Institute of English)
All words come in the category of Parts
of Speech in English
language.
These are: Noun, Pronoun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb,
Preposition, Conjunction and Interjection
Let us discuss each category of the words.
1. Noun
The name of a thing, a person, a place and an
idea is called a noun.
Types of Nouns
1. Proper Noun 2. Common Noun 3. Collective
Nouns 4. Abstract Noun
1. Proper Noun
1. The name of a particular or specific person, an institution,
and a place is called
proper noun.
A proper noun always begins with a capital
letter.
For example:
Names of persons: Mohan, Sohan, Rita, etc.
Names of places: Delhi, Calcutta, Ambala, etc.
Names of institutions: Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra,
D.A.V.
College, etc.
2. Common Noun: A common noun is the name given to include
the persons or the
things of the same kind.
For example
Car, truck, table, tree, hospital, temple, school. man, dog, etc.
3. Collective Noun: The words which are used to
denote or represent a collection of persons or things are called collective
nouns. For example: Army,
crowd, flock, fleet, etc.
1. Army is
a collection of soldiers.
2. Crowd or
a mob is a collection or group of people.
3. Flock is
a collection of animals ,especially of sheep or birds
4. Fleet is
a collection of ships.
5. A number of artistes, dancers,
acrobats: troupe
6. A number of ladies : Bevy
7. A number of bees :
swarm
8 A collection of books
: library
9. A number of cattle, swine herd
10. A number of chicken
hatched at the same time: brood
11 A number of directors of a company: board
12. A number of drawers :
chest
13. A collection of fish :
shoal/school
14. A
collection of flowers : bunch/ bouquet
15. A number of fruit trees
: orchard
16. A number of geese:
gaggle
17. A collection of grapes,
bananas, keys: bunch
18.A number of hounds, wolves:
pack
19. A number of judges
: bench
20. A number of people at a
religious meeting: congregation
21. A number of people
listening to a musical show
or concert : audience
22.A number of people watching
a match : spectators
23. A number of people
collected or gathered
24. without any specific
purpose : crowd
25. A number of people gathered for
26. some common purpose: assembly
27. A number of people gathered
for some destructive purpose: mob
28.A number of savage people: horde
29.A number of pigs, puppies
: litter
30. A number of players, oxen
or horses
yoked together: team
31.A set of rooms :
suite /swit/
32. A number of sailors
: crew
33. A number of sheep : flock
34.A number of ships, cars : fleet
35. A number of soldiers
: army, troop: battalion, regiment
36. A number of stars:
constellation
37.A collection of
sticks : bundle
38.A number of
thieves : pack
39.A number of trees
: clump
40. A collection of wood, hay piled together: stack
Abstract Noun:
It is the name given to a quality, an idea or a thought, an action
and a
state or condition.
For example:
Sympathy, kindness, truth, wisdom, smile, theft,
attack
Abstract nouns are formed by adjectives, verbs and also from
common nouns.
For example: kind-
kindness, honest - honesty,
Obey - obedience, grow -
growth
Child - childhood, mother
- motherhood
Nouns have further classification:
Number: (a) Singular noun: a boy, a girl
(b) Plural noun : boys, girls
Gender: (a)
Masculine Gender: boy (b) Feminine Gender: girl
Pick out the nouns from the following sentences:
Test Exercise
1. Our cricket team should not play for the
crowd.
2. Always believe in truth.
3. Why don’t you attend your class regularly?
4. He is a lecturer in Physics.
5. The committee will decide the case.
6. He was rewarded for his bravery.
7. Failures are the stepping stones to success.
8. Charity begins at home.
9. I love to remember the days of my childhood.
10. Hope sustains life.
Characteristics of Nouns:
1. Nouns can be countable and uncountable
Countable
2. Countable Nouns can be singular and plural
3. Nouns can be in Feminine and Masculine Gender
4. Nouns can be the subject, object and complement to a subject
or an object
Nouns can be countable and uncountable
Countable Nouns: chair, book, rupee, car, bench,
etc.
Uncountable Nouns: anger, honesty, money
Countable Nouns can be singular and plural
Singular
Nouns Plural
Nouns
Pen
Pens
Ox
Oxen
Woman
Women
Man
Men
Gentleman
Gentlemen
Nouns can be in Feminine and Masculine Gender
Boy Girl
Man
Woman
Ox
Cow
Cock
Hen
Nouns can be the subject, object and complement
to a subject or an object
Noun as a Subject:
This boy is very sweet.
They have
not done their work.
My elder brother studies in class XII.
determiners/Adjectives
Real subject
This
Boy
------
They(Pronoun)
My
elder
brother
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nouns as objects:
He has helped me.
I am writing a
letter.
He gave me a
book to read.
I need your
help
Determiners/adjectives
objects
(real)
------
me
a
letter
a
book
your
help
Nouns as subject complements:
She is a
teacher.
My friend is very
sad these days.
This is not a
right approach.
It is not true.
Subject
Complement
She
a teacher
My friend
very sad
This a right approach
Formation of Nouns
Abstract nouns can be formed by adding suffixes,
such as,
acy, age, ance, al, dom, ence, hood, ity, ice,
ment, ness, ship, sion, th, tion, ty, y,
Private
Privacy
short shortage
break breakage
arrive arrival
Assist assistance king kingdom
absent
absence
boy boyhood
Equal
equality moral
morality coward
cowardice pay payment
Blind
blindness friend friendship
decide decision bear
birth
Act
action repeat
repetition loyal
loyalty
unite unity
Some other abstract nouns
Verbs/ Adjectives Abstract
Nouns
Verbs
Abstract Nouns
Advise advice bind
bond choose
choice do
deed
Feed
food
fly
flight
Go
gait
high
height
Know
knowledge
lend
loan
Lose
loss
practise
practice
Prove
proof
shake
shock
Sow
seed
strike
stroke
Weigh
weight
believe
belief
Brave
bravery
depart
departure
Fail
failure
flow
flood
Give
gift
hate
hatred
Hot
heat
laugh
laughter
Live
life
please
pleasure
proud
pride
see
sight
sit seat speak speech
NOUNS
PLURAL IN FORM USED AS PLURAL
|
PLURAL
IN FORM USED AS SINGULAR
|
ONLY SINGULAR FORM |
These nouns have two parts but are joined
together:
Scissors, tongs,
Pincers, spectacles, bellows, gallows,
trousers, shoes, breeches, shorts, knickers, braces ,
Nouns used in plural are: premises, wages,
intestines
Thanks, assets, odds, remains, goods, annals,
gallows, the Himalayas, orders, and
some adjectives used as nouns such as the
old, the poor, the rich, etc.
|
News, physics,
mathematics, innings, politics,
summons, Economics, etc.
|
Advice, furniture, information, luggage,
nonsense, progress, rubbish, weather, fruit, audience, poetry, hair, advice,
mischief, alphabet, abuse, scenery, issue, fleet, brick and stone, bread and
butter, bread, on foot, machinery, work
Note: never put a or an before them directly. |
