Noun : A noun is a word that indicates the name of a person, a place, a thing or an idea.
The two main types of nouns are proper nouns and common nouns.
Proper and Common Nouns
Proper Nouns : Proper Nouns are words which refer to the particular names of people, places and things. Proper nouns always being with a capital letter.
Examples : The Mesopotamian civilization developed on the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system.
Common Nouns : Common Nouns are words that refer to persons or things of the same kind or general category.
Examples : The students listened attentively while the teacher explained the problem.
He owns a shop on the main street of the town.
Look at these common nouns and their corresponding proper nouns.
These are Proper Nouns..
- Names of people
- days of the week
- months of the year
- names of towns, cities, streets, states, countries etc.
Look at these common nouns and their corresponding proper nouns
| Common Nouns | Proper nouns |
| river mountain gir lboy state | GodavariHimalayas Sayma Quadir Himanchal Pradesh |
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Common nouns can be classified into countable and uncountable nouns.
Countable Nouns : Countable nouns are name of things that can be counted. They can be singular and plural.
Examples : In our class, there are twenty boys and twelve girls.
In our classroom, there are thirty-two chairs and two cupboards.
A singular noun is the name of a single person or thing.
Examples : satellite, volcano
A plural noun is the name of more than one person or thing.
Examples : emperor, fountains
Uncountable Nouns : Uncountable nouns are names of things that cannot be counted. They do not have singular or plural form.
Examples : I have curd every day in summer.
Please add more sugar to my coffee.
Buy some bread when we go out.
We can indicate the quantity of uncountable nouns in two ways.
- With units of measurements such as litre and kilo.
Examples : two kilos of sugar, five litres of water, two loaves of bread.
- With words such as little, a little, some and much.
Examples : a little rice, much happiness, some juice.
Note :
Singular countable nouns always need an article or words like my, your, this and which before them.
Ex – I have an apple every morning.
Uncountable nouns are usually liquids (milk), grains (rice), feelings (happiness), abstract ideas (justice), natural phenomena (rain) and states of being (youth).
Remember This :
Some nouns are always singular.
Ex– scenery, furniture, progress, information, money, outlook, rainfall, haircut.
Some nouns are always take the plural form.
Ex– scissors, trousers, pants, goods, savings, glasses, spectacles.
Certain nouns are always used in a singular sense, although they have a plural form.
Ex- news, physics, athletics, billiards, crossroads.
Certain nouns are always used in plural nouns although they have a singular form.
Ex- cattle, police, poultry, data.
Some nouns have the same singular and plural forms.
Ex- fish, deer, offspring, spacecraft.
Concrete and Abstract Nouns
Concrete Nouns : Concrete nouns refer to things that we can touch or see. They can be both countable and uncountable.
Examples : box, bag, bottle, car, keys, table, molk, oil, butter.
Abstract Nouns : Abstract nouns refer to things we can not see or touch but only feel. They include feelings, experiences, atates, qualities and ideas.
Examples :
love, hate, pride (feeling and emotions)
comfort, chaos, courage (states)
freedom, truth, belief (qualities, ideas)
adventure, drought (events, experiences).
Collective Nouns : Collective nouns are nouns that refer to a group of people or things.
Examples :
The committee arrived at the decision together.
The audience cheered for the performers loudly.
The class maintained complete silence while the principle was in the room.
Other collective nouns include army, jury, troop, and family.
Material Nouns : Material nouns refer to materials or substances used to make things.
Examples : paper, glass, gold, wood, iron, wool.
Compound Nouns : Compound nouns are nouns that are formed by combining two or more words.
Compound noun are formed by combining words belonging to different parts of speech.
- noun + noun (tooth + brush = toothbrush)
- adjective + noun (green + house = greenhouse)
- noun + verb (hair + cut = haircut)
- verb + adverb (take + off = take-off)
Compound nouns can be written as a:
- single word (firewood, bedroom, pancake)
- hyphenated word (check-in, dry-cleaning, jack-in-the-box)
- spaced word (bus stop, water bottle, post office)
Plurals of compound nouns can be formed in different ways.
| Rule | Examples |
| By adding –s to the main noun | Mother-in-law, editors-in-chief |
| By adding –s to the end word | Assistant directors, water bottles |
| By making both nouns plural | Menservants |
| By adding –s or –es to the end of the word when there is no obvious principle noun | Forget-me-nots, toothbrushes |