THE NOUN

(1.Common noun, 2. Proper noun, 3.Collective noun, 4.Abstract noun, 5.Material noun)

Definition :
A noun is a word, it is used as the name of a person, animal, place, bird, idea, emotion or
thing.

For example boy , girl, table, chair, peacock, honesty, happiness, wisdom, book etc.,
e.g.
Person David, Sister, Woman, Brother

Place Chennai, London, Delhi, Maxico

Animal Tiger, Elephant, Lion, Deer

Bird Parrot, Crow, Swan, Peacock

Emotion Happiness, Sadness, Thought, Toy

Thing Pen, Book, Computer, Pencil

Types of nouns
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. Common noun :

Definition :
A common noun is a name given in common to every person or thing of the same class of
kind.

These common nouns are words for things .

e.g.
chair bicycle television

hammer ladder computer

axe calculator cooker

saw crayons book

courage ruler printer

laziness lawnmower dictionary

These common nouns are words for animals .

e.g.
cat kitten lion

dog puppy tiger

horse foal elephant

goat kid whale

frog tadpole kangaroo

sheep lamb bear

These common nouns are words for places .

e.g.
airport hostel temple

university hotel mosque

stadium bank school

park library college

farm theater post office

zoo mall police station

These common nouns are words for people who do certain things.
e.g.
artist teacher police officer

singer headmaster plumber

dancer manager driver

director doctor writer

magician lawyer farmer

artist clerk friend

2. Proper noun :
Definition :
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 no t capitalized.

e.g.
Specific Nonspecific

World war II A war

English class A class

The American Bar Association The association

These people’s names are proper nouns.

e.g.
Aladdin Muhammad Ali Dad

Harry Potter George Washington Mom

Mahatma Gandhi Hitler Granny

Santa Claus Nelson Mandela Uncle David

Confucius Jayalalitha Miss Park

Alex Rodriguez Jacky chan Mr.Raj

The names of the days of the week and the months of the year are proper nouns.
e.g.
days of the week months

Sunday January August

Monday February September

Tuesday March October

Wednesday April November

Thursday May December

Friday June

Saturday July

The names of special days and celebrations are also proper nouns.
e.g.
New Year’s Day Dewali

Valentine’s Day Ramadan

Independece Day Christmas

Labour Day Memorial Day

Falg Day Thanksgiving

Republic Day Veteran’s Day

The names of famous places , buildings and monuments are proper nouns.
e.g.
The Taj Mahal The Statue of Liberty

The Eiffel Tower Chaco Canyon Pueblo

The Golden Gate Bridge the Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Great Wall of China Buckingham Palace

The names of people who live in a particular country are also proper nouns.
e.g.
Country People

Afghanistan Afghans

Australia Australians

Britain The British

Germany Germans

USA Americans

India Indians

3. Collective noun :

Definition :
i) 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.

ii) Nouns that refer to a specific group of persons or things are called Collective Nouns.
 These are nouns for groups of people. Here are some collective nouns for groups of people.
e.g.
a family a committee

a community a company

a band a gang

a choir the government

an audience the army

Many collective nouns can be used with a singular or plural verb .

e.g.
 The crowd was orderly.
 The people were clapping, yelling and cheering.
Here are more collective nouns we can use for groups of people .
e.g.
A crowd of people An army of soldiers

a panel of judges A tem of players

a class of schoolchildren a company of actors

a gang of thieves a band of musicians

Many groups of animals have their own special collective nouns.

e.g.
a brood of chickens a litter of puppies a school of fish

a flock of birds a pack of wolves a swarm of bees

a drove of sheep a pride of lions a troop of monkeys

a herd of cattle a pod of dolphins a gaggle of geese

Some groups of things also have their own special collective nouns.
e.g.
a bunch of bananas a deck of cards a fleet of vehicles

a bunch of flower a cluster of grapes a suite of rooms

a bunch of keys a grove of trees a suite of furniture

a bouquet of flower a fleet of ships a set of tools

Some nouns name the amount or form of something.
e.g.
a loaf of bread a bar of soap a bar of chocolate

The words a piece of mean a single serving or part of something.

e.g.
a slice/piece of bread a slice/piece of cheese a sheet/piece of paper

a piece/square of chocolate a piece of chalk a piece of advice

4. Abstract noun :

Definition :
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.

Most abstract nouns end with these suffixes:

e.g.
-ism -ment -ity

nationalism argument personality

-tion -ship -ence

aggravation friendship silence

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.
e.g.
Quality wiseness, goodness, kindness, whiteness, darkness, honesty, wisdom, brave

Action quarreling, jog, laughter, theft, movement, judgement, hatred

State poverty, childhood, boyhood, manhood, youth, slavery, sleep, death

For example, we cannot be 'happiness' but we can feel that in our heart or mind. The names of
the subject of study (e.g. grammar, music, chemistry, etc.) are also Abstract Nouns.
(i) Concrete nouns :
in opposite to abstract noun, the concrete nouns can be seen or touched by us.

e.g.
building iron steel gold

(ii) 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 doctor horse

books apples doctors horses

(iii) Uncountable nouns :

(uncountables) are the names of things which we cannot count, e.g. milk, oil, sugar, gold,
honesty.

The uncountable nouns generally refer to

e.g.
drinks coffee, tea materials wood, glass, gold, silver

liquids milk, oil, petrol games cricket, tennis, football

gases air, oxygen

Countable nouns have plural forms while uncountable nouns do not. Even the abstract nouns
are also uncountable nouns.
For example, we say boys but we cannot say oils.

5. Material noun :

Definition :
There are the raw elements or objects existing in nature.

e.g.
Iron Gold Stones Brass

Aluminium Mercury Plastic Mat