Nouns (8 PARTS OF SPEECH)

1. Nouns

2. Nouns - are simply the names
we give to everything around us,
whether it be a person, an event, a
place or an object, etc. Every
particular name used to define
something is a noun. E.g. :
Amsterdam, Anita, Blackberry,
Honesty, Waiter, etc.

3. Types
of
Nouns

4. PROPER NOUNS
These nouns are the names of specific
people and places. These nouns also refer
to the names of the days of weeks and
months, and also the various names for
religions, organizations, institutions, etc.
Proper nouns basically refer to the names
that are specific to that particular noun.
These nouns are always capitalized as they
need to be distinct from other nouns.

5. Examples:
 William Shakespeare was a playwright.
- Proper noun that is the name of a specific
person.
 I will be visiting New York next month.
- Proper noun that is the name of a specific
place.

6. Examples:
 Everyone dislikes Monday mornings.
- The names of days are proper nouns.
 The holy book of Islam is the Koran.
- Name of a religion and religious text.

7. COMMON NOUNS
These are the nouns that are used to denote
a general category of people, places or
things. They are capitalized only when
they are at the beginning of a sentence.
Common Nouns don’t refer to something
specific rather they are a general term used
for every noun of a particular kind or type.

8. Examples:
The boys went to play cricket.
(Both boys and cricket are common nouns as
they can refer to any boy or any cricket
match. There is nothing specified by these
nouns.)

9. Examples:
This neighborhood is one of the
best in the area.
(Here neighborhood is the common noun as
there are innumerable neighborhoods all over
the world.)

10. Examples:
She was trying to answer her
phone while buying coffee.
(Here we see phone and coffee that both are
general indicators of the object and the
drink.)

11. ABSTRACT NOUNS
These nouns are the names of things that
we cannot perceive through our five senses
of touching, smelling, seeing, hearing and
tasting. These nouns can also refer to
medical conditions related to the mind and
are also used to express thoughts.

12. Examples:
She screamed with great delight.
(Delight is an abstract noun as it tells about
the state of a person’s mind and any actual
physical thing.)

13. Examples:
His bravery in the war won him a
medal.
(The abstract noun bravery is used to name
the motivation behind certain actions made by
people.)

14. Examples:
One should learn to be as
independent as possible.
(Here, independent describes a state or a
way of being, hence it is an abstract noun.)

15. COUNTABLE NOUNS
The nouns that fall under this category are
the ones that have both singular and plural
forms. They can be counted either
relatively or completely, and form plurals
to associate with plural verbs in a sentence.
They can also be expressed in numerical
terms.

16. Examples:
I need to buy four new suitcases
for my trip.
(Suitcase (s) is a countable noun as adding ‘s’
to it makes it plural.)

17. Examples:
Does anyone want some oranges?
(Here, some is being used to count the noun
orange(s).)

18. Examples:
 She had a pet dog.
(Dog is also a countable noun as its plural is
dogs.)

19. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
These nouns are the exact opposite of
Countable Nouns. These nouns are the
names of things that cannot be counted and
have only a singular form. These nouns use
singular verbs in a sentence.

20. Examples:
The furniture was damaged in
moving out.
(Furniture is an uncountable noun and
therefore, we use the singular ‘was’ in referring
to it.)

21. Examples:
Is 250 grams of sugar enough?
(Here, sugar is an uncountable noun as sugar
itself cannot be counted. It can only be
weighed.)

22. Examples:
He always answers questions
with honesty.
(Honesty is an uncountable noun as it has no
plural and cannot be counted in physical
terms either.)

23. COLLECTIVE NOUNS
Collective noun is the name we give to a
group of nouns to refer to them as one
entity. The most common method of doing
this is by using words like group or bunch
that can be applicable to most of the nouns
in the language today. But there are some
specific names given for certain groups of
nouns to make things more interesting and
funny.

24. These collective nouns are commonly used
under the category of people.
A class of students.
An army of soldiers.
A choir of singers.
A crew of sailors.
A band of musicians.
A bunch of crooks.
A gang of thieves.
A group of dancers.
A team of players.
A pack of thieves.

25. These collective nouns are commonly used
under the category of people.
A crowd of people/spectators.
A troupe of artists/dancers.
An audience of listeners.
A staff of employees.
A regiment of soldiers.

26. These collective nouns are commonly used
under the category of people.
A tribe of natives.
An audience of listeners.
A panel of experts.
A gang of laborers.
A flock of tourists.
A board of directors.

27. The following collective nouns are used for
animals.
A catch of fish.
An army of ants.
A flight of birds.
A flock of birds.
A school of fish.
A hive of bees.
A litter of cubs.
A host of sparrows.
A team of horses.
A flock of sheep.

28. The following collective nouns are used for
animals.
A troop of lions.
A pack of wolves.
A murder of crows.
A kennel of dogs.
A pack of hounds.

29. The following collective nouns are used for
animals.
A herd of
deer/cattle/elephants/goats/buffaloes.

30. The following collective nouns are used for
animals.
A zoo of wild animals.
A litter of puppies/kittens.
A swarm of bees/ants/rats/flies.
A team of horses/ducks/oxen.

31. The following collective nouns are used for
things.
A group of islands.
A galaxy of stars.
A wad of notes.
A forest of trees.
A stack of wood.
A hedge of bushes.
A library of books.
A basket of fruit.
A bowl of rice.
A pack of cards.

32. The following collective nouns are used for
things.
A pair of shoes.
A bunch of keys.
A chest of drawers.
A pack of lies.
A cloud of dust.

33. The following collective nouns are used for
things.
An album of
stamps/autographs/photographs.

34. The following collective nouns are used for
things.
A fleet of ships.
A string of pearls.
A bouquet of flowers.
A range of mountains.

35. COLLECTIVE NOUNS
Collective nouns are endless and these are
just a list of those used more often. As you
continue to work on improving your
English, you will stumble across many
more. Be sure to add them to your list and
use them as frequently as you can.

36. POSSESSIVE NOUNS
Possessive nouns are those nouns that
show possession. Possessive Nouns are
used to show ownership.

37. POSSESSIVE NOUNS
A noun is possessive only when a phrase
can be modified to say that an idea or
commodity belongs to something or
someone. Possessive nouns are an integral
part of learning English, use them as often
as you can to gain confidence.

38. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
Rule 1: In singular nouns (person, place,
thing or idea), we add apostrophe and ‘s’
after the noun.

39. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
For example:
Ron’s car is in the garage. (Car belonging to
Ron is in the garage)

40. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
Note that the possessive noun always
comes before what the person or a thing
owns or has. In this case, the car belongs to
Ron and hence the singular noun ‘Ron’ is
placed before ‘car’ that he owns.

41. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
Rule 2: In singular nouns ending with ‘s’,
we add an apostrophe and ‘s’ to the noun.

42. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
For example:
1.) Tejas’s notebook is lying on the table.
(Notebook of Tejas is lying on the table)
2.) Suhas’s wife is a doctor. (Wife of Suhas
is a doctor)

43. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
Rule 3: In singular nouns ending with ‘s’
followed by a word starting with 's', we just
add an apostrophe to the noun. This is to
avoid a hissing sound.

44. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
For example:
1.) Tejas’ school is in Malviya Nagar.
2.) Suhas’ sister is a teacher.

45. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
Rule 4: In plural nouns (ending with ‘s’),
we add apostrophe after ‘s’.

46. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
For example:
1.) Students’ report cards are ready.
2.) Girls’ dance classes have been
postponed.

47. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
In the first one, the plural of ‘student’ is
‘students’. To show that the report cards
belonging to the students are ready, we
simply add apostrophe after ‘s’.

48. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
Similarly, in the second sentence, the plural
of ‘girl’ is ‘girls’. To show that the dance
classes which the girls attend have been
postponed, we add apostrophe after ‘s’.

49. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
Rule 5: In irregular plural nouns (men,
children) we add apostrophe and ‘s’ to
show possession.

50. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
For example:
1.) Children’s clothes are expensive.
(Clothes of children are expensive)
2.) People’s mindset needs to be changed.
(Mindset of people needs to be changed)

51. Here are some rules to help you use
possessive nouns
In the first example, plural of ‘child’ is
‘children’. To show that the clothes
belonging to the children are expensive, we
add apostrophe and ‘s’ after children. The
same rule applies to the second example as
well.

52. Here are some more examples to show
you other possible cases.
Alex and Philip’s shop. (Two nouns are
used closely and showing joint possession;
Here, the apostrophe will be used with the
second noun)

53. Here are some more examples to show
you other possible cases.
Shakespeare’s and Wordsworth’s works.
(Two nouns are used together yet separate
possession is implied thus the apostrophe
is used with both nouns)

54. Exercises 1.1
Direction: Determine what type of Noun
are the following.
1.) herd 6.) Ms. Pathupats
2.) boys 7.) squadron
3.) love 8.) happiness
4.) The Bible 9.) teacher
5.) marble 10.) sand

55. Exercises 1.2
Direction: Show the possessive form of the
following Nouns.
1.) child clothing
2.) men wear
3.) student desk
4.) Jesus cloth
5.) Anne and Miguel table

56. Exercises 1.3
Direction: Identify the following.
________ 1.) are simply the names we give
to everything around us, whether it be a
person, an event, a place or an object, etc.
________ 2.) are the names of specific
people and places.
________ 3.) These nouns are the names of
things that we cannot perceive through our
five senses .

57. Exercises 1.3
Direction: Identify the following.
________ 4.) is the name we give to a group
of nouns to refer to them as one entity.
________ 5.) These nouns are the exact
opposite of Countable Nouns.
End 