INSTRILL

Noun

We all say fruits are healthy for our bodies and all of us like different fruits such as apples, mangoes, and bananas. But, do you know the name of fruits is a part of speech? Yes! These names are part of a speech and it all falls under NOUNS. Today, we will learn about nouns and types of nouns.

Meaning of Noun

A noun implies the name of a person (Rina), place (Amritsar), animal (Lion), feeling (courage), or thing (book).

Examples of nouns:

Person	Jinisha, Vimal, Sumit, Kartik, Yashika, Dakshita, Tanvi, Manvi
Place (country, state, monuments, garden, river, etc.)	India, Qutub Minar, Ganga River
Animal (bird, animal, fish)	Deer, Tiger, Pigeon, Parrot, Catfish, Salmon
Thing	Pen, Mobile, Laptop, Table
Feeling or Idea	Bravery, Courage, Honesty, Fear, Thought

Types of Nouns

There are 8 types of nouns:

Examples of Types of Nouns

Common Noun

Common nouns are umbrella terms used for people, places, things, and animals of the same kind. In other words, we can say that it is a common name.

For example – city, boy, girl, teacher, fish, fan

For instance: Suppose a teacher is calling every girl in the class for dance performances, it is too time-consuming.

Do you know there is no need to call every girl by her name, a teacher can just refer to them by saying a common term i.e., “Girls should be in the auditorium for dance performances.”

Common Noun examples:

• The girl is playing with the toy.

In the example, girl and toy are common nouns as the name of a girl and the name of a toy are not given here. We are using their generic names or we can say nonspecific names.

• Asvi loves to watch cartoons.

As Asvi doesn’t mention the specific cartoon name, a common term is mentioned here i.e., cartoons. So, in the above example, cartoons are a common noun.

• There are many fruits and veggies in the garden.

In the above example, fruits, veggies, and garden are the common nouns.

• We will donate the book.

Here, “book” is a common noun because a particular name of the book is not given here.

Proper Noun

A proper noun is one of the types of nouns that focus on the individual names of a person, place, animal, or thing. It is a specific name.

Examples: Minal(person), Hawa Mahal(place), Ruffle-a dog(animal), Havells fan(thing)

Proper Noun examples:

• Akshita is studying in class.

A particular name of the girl i.e., “Akshita” is a proper noun.

• Last year, we were in Disneyland.

A unique name of the place i.e., “Disneyland” is a proper noun.

• I wrote in my exam with a Reynolds pen.

A unique brand name of the pen i.e., “Reynolds” is a proper noun.

• Harshit named his pet “Chuckle”.

The name of a pet i.e., “Chuckle” is a proper noun.

Countable Noun

Countable nouns are a person, places, animals, or things which can be counted in numerals (1,2,3,4, 5,…..so on). We can get the countable noun by questioning “How many”.

Examples: caps, books, pens, and students.

A countable noun is categorized into 2 parts:

i) Singular: The person, place, animal, or thing that is counted as single is known as singular.
Example: 1 cow, 1 book, 1 glass, 1 boy, 1 bottle

ii) Plural: When there is an excess of 1 person, place, animal, or thing we can term those plurals. In plurals, we have to add s, es, ves, and ies to make singular into plural.

Examples: 2 books, 4 ships, 5 butterflies

Suppose there is more than 1 book in the library, so we can say “There are books in the library”.

Countable Noun examples:

• There are apples in the basket.

If apples are in the basket, we can count the apples. So, apples are a countable noun.

• Today, we will buy movie tickets.

We can count the movie tickets, so the countable noun is movie tickets.

• Dogs are loyal to their owner.

As a “dog” is an animal and the “owner” is a person. So, we can count both in numerals, so here the countable noun is dog and owner.

Uncountable Noun

Things that cannot be counted in numerals are known as uncountable nouns. We can get the uncountable noun by questioning “How much”. Sometimes, it is also measured in units.

Examples: Salt, Sugar, Water, Air, Honey, Oil

Uncountable Noun examples:

• Put butter on the bread.

In this example, butter is an uncountable noun because we cannot count butter in numerals like 1,2,3,..so on. Butter is measured in grams (gm), and kilogram (kg).

• This container contains oil.

In the above example, oil is an uncountable noun because we cannot count oil in numerals like 1,2,3,..so on. Oil is measured in kilograms (kg).

• My cat spills the milk from the bowl.

In the example, milk is an uncountable noun because we cannot count milk in numerals. As, we all know, milk is liquid, so we measured it in litres.

Abstract Noun

Abstract noun means a noun that does not have any physical (or corporeal) existence. It cannot be observed through one of the sensory organs.

Examples: Health, Misery, Honesty, Sorrow

Sometimes, it also comes up with the suffix -hood, -dom, -ness, -ship, -tion, -ly, etc.

Examples: Childhood, Kindness, Happiness, Sadness

Abstract Noun examples:

• Failure is the first step on the success ladder.

In the above example, failure and success are abstract nouns because they do not have any physical existence.

• Childhood is the best period to inculcate moral values in children.

In this example, childhood is an abstract noun because it has no physical existence and the suffix is also added to the child (Child + hood = Childhood).

• Parents are happy after watching their child’s performances.

Here, in the above example, happy is an abstract noun because it has no physical existence. We can only experience it.

• Naivedhya is receiving compliments after winning a badminton match.

In this example, compliments are an abstract noun because it does not have any physical existence. We can only experience it.

Concrete Noun

A concrete noun is a noun that has physical existence. It can be recognized through one of the five sensory organs (ear, eyes, nose, skin, tongue).

For Example –Tree, Ocean, Doctor, Man, Woman, Leopard

Concrete Noun examples:

• Riya loves to have ice cream in the evening.

As we can see in the example, Riya eats ice cream with her tongue and so she also can see it with her eyes. Therefore, ice cream is a concrete noun.

• Kavya saw the birds chirping in the tree.

So, Kavya saw the birds and trees with her eyes. So, both (bird, and, tree) are concrete nouns.

• The child is slurping the porridge.

The child is having the porridge with his tongue, one of the sensory organs. He is experiencing the taste of porridge. Therefore, porridge is a concrete noun.

Material Noun

Material nouns are the natural or primary material extracted or derived from the Earth, environment, and living beings (plants and animals). It can be in the form of metals and minerals. Human beings processed some material (metal or minerals) into finished goods or final products for utilization for the benefit of human beings.

For Example – Coal (Earth), Oxygen (environment), Cotton(plant), Milk(animal)

Material Noun examples:

• The necklace is made up of silver.

As silver is the primary source of jewellery, so silver is the material noun.

• Priyanshi wore a jacket made up of wool.

The fabric of the jacket was wool. So, wool is the source of material that is obtained by trimming the hairs of sheep to manufacture jackets. Therefore, wool is the material noun here.

• I drink milk daily to strengthen my bones.

As milk is the primary product of cows and we drink milk for calcium. Here, milk is the material noun.

Gender

It shows characteristics of masculine, and feminine in living beings and neuter in non-living beings.

The categorization of gender is into 4 types:

1. Masculine Gender: Noun that includes male body organs come under the category of masculine gender.
   
   Example: Father, Nephew, King, Bull, Rooster, Tiger

2. Feminine Gender: Noun that includes female reproductive organs falls under the category of feminine gender.

Example: Mother, Niece, Queen, Cow, Hen, Tigress

3. Common Gender: It includes only living beings that have a common name for both masculine gender and feminine gender.

Example: Baby, Student, Horse, Teacher.

4. Neuter Gender: It includes only non-living beings. In other words, we can say that objects that can’t breathe, smell, taste, hear or feel fall under the category of neuter gender.

Example: Umbrella, Toy, Door, Book.

Keypoints: Types of Nouns

• Nouns are the words that are used to enunciate the name of a person, animal, object, idea or feeling.
  
• There are 8 categories of nouns such as common noun, proper noun, concrete noun, abstract noun, countable noun, uncountable noun, material noun and gender.

Types of Nouns Practice Exercise

1. ___________ noun represents does not have any physical (or corporeal) existence.	(Concrete/Abstract)
2. Objects that can’t breathe, smell, taste, hear or feel fall under the category of ___________ gender.	(Neuter/Common)
3. Doctor is an example of __________ gender.	(Masculine/Common)
4. Tree is a concrete noun.	(True/False)

ENGLISH-RELATED CONCEPTS:

Pronoun	Adjective
Possessive Pronoun	Interrogative Pronoun