Nouns: Definition & types

Nouns refer to people, animals, places, things, ideas or events, etc. Nouns cover most of the words in a language.

Nouns can be a/an :

• Place – place name: – London, Australia, Canada, USA, etc.
• Animal – a name for an animal: – rat, cat, cow, dog, etc.
• Person – a name for a person: – Trump, Julie, Roxy, Michel, Kalifa, etc.
• Thing – a name for a thing: – bat, ball, hat, door, house, computer, etc.
• Idea – A name for an idea: – devotion, superstition, happiness, sadness, etc.

Examples of a noun as part of the speech.

1. Sydney is the city in which he lives.
2. Alex is a great player.
3. All blacks is the team he plays for.
4. He was not born in this country.
5. He is a man of dreams.
6. The bat is made of wood from tree.
7. My brother has a cell phone.
8. The phone is made of plastic and
9. I need some butter for the cake.
10. The jug is on the table.
11. He also has a pen and a journal.
12. Honesty mainly depends on truthfulness and
13. The dog ate cookies every day.
14. I have a phone, several books, a notebook, a desk calendar, and a computer on the table.

 

Different Types of Nouns

• Noun
• Abstract noun
• Collective noun
• Common noun
• Concrete noun
• Countable noun
• Uncountable noun
• Gerund
• Mass noun
• Proper noun
• Verbal noun

Noun

A noun is a word that identifies,

• a person (man, woman, doctor, teacher)
• a thing (animal, house, tree, place)
• an idea, quality, or state (truth, danger, happiness).

Abstract noun

A noun denoting an idea, quality, or condition, and not a specific object.

• eg.: truth, danger, happiness.

Collective noun

A collective noun is the word used to represent a group of people, animals, or things.

Here are some examples of collective nouns:

• Flock
• Crowd
• Committee
• Choir
• Group
• Team

1. A gang of thieves.
2. A bunch of idiots.
3. A fleet of ships.
4. A hive of bees.

Common noun

A noun denoting a class of objects or concept, in contrast to a specific individual.

A noun is a word that refers to a person, animal, place, object, or idea. All nouns can be further classified as proper or common nouns. Common nouns are words used to denote common, non-specific objects. Enter your living room. Do you see? Lamp, chair, sofa, television, window, picture, pillow, candle – all these objects are named with common nouns.

Common nouns are everywhere, and you use them constantly, even if you don’t understand this. Wherever you go, you will find at least one noun. Street, dressing room, bathroom, school, shopping center, gas station, living room; All of these places are things and therefore are common nouns.

• Time
• Year
• People
• Way
• Day
• Man
• Thing
• Woman
• Life
• Child
• World
• School
• State
• Family
• Student

1. Alex is a great player.
2. He has a dog named Poppy.
3. He has a house and a car
4. He plays cricket with intensity.
5. Michael Clark is his mentor.

Concrete noun

A Concrete noun is a noun that refers to people and things that exist physically and that can be seen, touched, sniffed, heard or tasted. Examples include a cat, a house, a cafe, a car, water, a land, a fish.

Example of a Concrete Noun (tangible)	Example of an Abstract Noun (intangible)
sweat	determination
gift	generosity
book	knowledge
judge	justice
coin	wealth

1. She put red flowers in a vase.
2. Our class start at 2 p.m.
3. Happiness is looking at a beautiful flower.
4. My mom makes the best pasta with white sauce.
5. My car doesn’t work in the morning.
6. Outside is a flock of sheep.
7. I love putting carrots in my salad.
8. Remember to drink milk
9. I need a new watch for my birthday.
10. The train will go through the station at 16:00.

Countable noun

Countable nouns for things we can count using numbers. They are singular and plural. The singular form can use the qualifier “a” or “an”. If you want to ask about the number of countable nouns, ask “How much?” in combination with a plural accounting noun.

Singular	Plural
one dog	two dogs
one horse	two horses
one man	two men
one idea	two ideas
one shop	two shops

1. She has three cats.
2. I own a hotel.
3. I would like two books
4. How many brothers and sisters do you have?

Uncountable noun

Uncountable nouns are for things we can’t count on numbers. They can be names of abstract ideas or qualities or physical objects that are too small or too amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.). Uncountable nouns are used with a single verb. They generally do not have the plural form.

 

• sugar
• tea
• water
• knowledge
• air
• beauty
• anger
• rice
• love
• fear
• research
• money
• evidence
• Safety

We cannot use / with these nouns. To express the quantity of an uncountable noun, use a word or expression, such as some, many, many, many, many, or use the exact measurement, such as a cup, a bag, 1 kg, 1 liter, a handful, a pinch , an hour, a day. If you want to ask about the number of uncountable nouns, ask “How much?”

1. He gave me a lot of advice before my interview.
2. How much rice do you want?
3. Can you give me some information on uncountable nouns?
4. Measure 1 glass of water, 300 g of flour and 1 teaspoon of salt.
5. He didn’t have much sugar.

Gerund

Gerund seems like a real communion, but it is useful to understand the difference between the two. A gerund always performs the same function as a noun (although it seems like a verb).

Gerunds are the elusive shapeshifters of the English language. They are created from verbs, but they work as nouns. For example: “Do you mind if you lend me these supplies?” At first glance, lend can be easily marked as a verb. However, when working as a gerund, lend is now a noun.

1. Reading is gaining knowledge.
2. Writing is an exchange of thoughts.
3. I love singing.

Mass noun

A noun that refers to something that cannot be counted and that does not have a regular plural form, such as rain, darkness, happiness or humor.

Mass Noun	Attempt At Making It Plural
petrol	four petrols
furniture	four furnitures
lumber	four lumbers
gold	four golds

• work
• equipment
• homework
• money
• transportation
• clothing
• luggage
• jewelry
• traffic
• air
• ice
• water
• fire
• wood
• blood
• hair
• gold
• silver
• milk
• rice
• coffee
• bread
• sugar
• meat
• water
• advice
• happiness
• health
• education
• research
• knowledge
• Information

Proper noun

Your name is a proper noun. A proper noun is a special word that we use for a person, place or organization, for example, Ann, Jackson, Sri Lanka, Italy or Samsung. A name is a noun, but very special, its own. English proper nouns have special rules.

1. I am live in Delhi.
2. Those kids have been annoying Jason.
3. She works for Samsung.

Proper Noun	Common Noun
Ford Mondeo	car
Lake Superior	lake
Heidi	dog
The Pacific Ocean	ocean
Tanners	restaurant
General McChrystal	soldier
Cost Cutter	supermarket
Gold Blend	coffee

Verbal noun

The verb noun is the -ing form, that is, the real participle of the verb used as a noun. It can be used in all places where a noun can be used, but it still retains some characteristics of the verb.

A verbal noun can have plural forms, such as a noun. This can also happen with qualifiers and adjectives. In English, verbal nouns are formed with various suffixes.

1. He sudden arrival surprised me.
2. He has not yet announced his decision.
3. He boarded a flight to Chicago.

arrive (verb) / arrival (noun)
decide (verb) / decision (noun)
destroy (verb) / destruction (noun)
fly (verb) / flight (noun)