Nouns
A Noun is a naming word. The name may be of a person, place, animal, thing,quality or feeling.
Let us observe some examples:
- Names of persons (particular names or general names)
(a) Raghav is a naughty boy.
(b) He is an engineer.
(c) My sister is a doctor.
(d) Sunita and Geeta are sisters.
2. Names of places.
(a) Our school is near the park.
(b) Your house is very big.
(c) Jaipur is historical city.
(d) Delhi is the capital of India.
3. Names of animals and birds:
(a) Cows are grazing the grass.
(b) The birds are flying.
4. Names of things:
(a) Bring my book back (b) Whose laptop is this.?
(e) Sharpen this pencil. (d) Doors and windows are made of wood.
5. Names of action:
(a) Mohini sings very sweet songs (b) Let the baby enjoy a sound sleep.
(c) Good deeds bring joy. (d) He had a bad fall.
6. Names of qualities:
(a) Honesty is the best policy.
(c) Patience can control anger.
7. Names of feelings:
(a) Control your anger.
(b)Sorrow must be shared.
(c) Joy is always short lived.
(d) She was struck with grief.
Concrete and Abstract Nouns
All the nouns fall into two main forms:
• Names of nouns that we can touch, see, hear or smell and that occupy space have concrete form.
• Names or nouns that we can only think of, imagine or feel but cannot touch, and that do not occupy any space have abstract form.
So nouns have two main forms: Concrete Nouns And Abstract Nouns.
- Concrete Nouns:
Read the following sentences: The horse is a faithful animal.
Ornaments are made of gold.
Our team must win the shield.
Agra is an ancient town.
All these coloured words or names of things we can touch or see and which occupy space They include the names of persons, places, animals, things, materials and collection of things, so they are Concrete Nouns.
A Concrete Noun is the one that names a concrete object, i.e a person, place, thing,material, collection of things or persons etc.
Concrete names fall into four classes or groups:
• Names of particular things, places or persons.
• Names of common things, places or persons.
• Names of collection of things or persons etc.
• Names of material of which things are made.
So concrete nouns are of four kinds:
1. Proper Nouns. 2. Common Nouns. 3. Material Nouns. 4. Collective Nouns
1. Proper Noun: It Is the name given to a particular person place or thing.
For Example:
1. We live in Delhi. 2. The Ramayana is great epic
3. The Gita is a holy book. 4. Ashoka was a great king.
A proper noun always starts with capital letter.
2. Common Noun: It is the name given to all things or persons of the same kind. class or
category.
For example:
1. Boy play cricket.
2. The cow is grazing in the field.
3. Teacher teaches in school.
4. Doctor cures his patient.
When used in the middle of a sentence, the common noun does not start with a capital letter.
3. Collective Noun: It is a name given to a group of similar things, persons or places.
For example;
1. Our team played well.
2. She presented him a bouquet of flowers.
3. The army marched ahead.
4. The Audience enjoyed the concert.
4. Material Noun: It is a name used for a thing (no-thing) like material, substances or ingredient for making something.
For example;
1. Tea Is made of milk, sugar and water.
2. Put A pinch of salt in my soup.
3. Buildings are made of bricks.
4. This ornament is made of gold.
2. Abstract Nouns
Read these sentences:
- We must do a good deed daily.
- Happiness comes from true prayer.
- Slavery is a great curse.
- Music soothes a worried mind.
All these coloured words are names of actions, state. feelings, qualities, art etc. Such things can be thought of or felt only. We cannot touch them. They do not occupy any space either. In other words, these names are of abstract things. So, they are Abstract Nouns.
An Abstract Noun is the name of an abstract thing, action, quality, feeling, state, art etc.
Formation of Abstract Nouns:
Abstract nouns can be formed in three ways:
1. From common nouns:
man – manhood, friend – friendship, child – childhood, king – kingship.
2. From verbs:
free – freedom, live – life.
3. From adjectives:
brave – bravery, glad – gladness, punish – punishment, happy – happiness, cruel-cruelty Note: Some verbs are used as abstract nouns in their original form.
ride – ride, taste – taste
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Countable Nouns are nouns that can be quantified or counted with a number.
Following are countable nouns:
1. Names of persons, animals, plants, insects and their parts.
Examples are :kitten, rose, ear, spider etc.
2. Objects with definite shape. Examples are: building, balloon, house etc.
3. Units of measurement. Examples are: gram, pound, millilitre etc.
4. Words of classification. Examples are: family, state, language, phrase etc. 5. Abstract nouns. Examples are: hindrance, scheme, idea etc.
Uncountable Nouns are the names of things that cannot be counted. They can only be
used in singular form. For example, smoke, water, fog, salt, coffee etc. Following are uncountable nouns:
1. Material (in their raw form), food, metal and natural qualities. Examples are:bread, cotton, wood, lightness, adolescence etc.
2. Names of liquids, gases and substances that are made of many small particles. Examples are: oil, smoke, oxygen, rice, sugar, salt, cement etc.
3. Names of languages. Examples are: English, Spanish, French, Sanskrit, Chinese etc.
Possessive Form of Nouns
A noun that expresses ownership or relationship indicates possession. This posses can be shown by using either an apostrophe or ‘of’.
1. The possessive form of nouns using apostrophe
1. We add an apostrophe +’s’ to a singular noun.
Balu’s shoes are expensive. Babita’s sister is intelligent.
2. We add an apostrophe to a plural noun endings without ‘s’.
Jackals’ tails were bushy.
The students’ presence in the exhibition was noticed.
3. We add an apostrophe to a plural noun ending without ‘s’.
Women’s sarees were bright coloured.
Children’s likings were kept in mind.
4. We can also use the possessive to say when or how long.
His House is hardly a stone’s throw from my house.
Mother bought a mattress of about a foot’s length.
This work should be finished in a week’s time.
2. The possessive form of nouns using ‘of
1. We can use the ‘of’ pattern in place of the apostrophe pattern that has the same meaning as the possessive:
My friends’s name was suggested for presidentship (apostrop pattern).
The name of my friend was suggested for presidentship (‘of’ pattern).
2. We use the ‘of‘ pattern with people when there is a long phrase of clause.
This is the palace built by the founder of this illustrious dynasty.
3. Of+ noun pattern is normally used with the names of non-living things.
The roof of this building is leaking. The window of this room is small.
Note: We can use both patterns with the nouns that do not refer directly to people but
indicate/suggest some human activity or organisation.
For example:
Brahmaputra tributaries or The tributaries of Brahmaputra.
The commander’s orders or The order of the commander.