What is a noun?
Noun is the name of a person, thing, place, or animal.
For instance: ‘John, khan, country, cat, dog, table, clothes, and many more.’
There are ‘8 kinds of nouns’. Noun plays a major role in the English language. It has singular and plural too.
Examples within sentences:
- John plays football.
- There is a cat on the table.
- I have a new car.
- She took the shoes.
- My city is big.
- Your country must be beautiful.
The Kinds of Nouns.
- Common Noun…………………………………pen, country, boy…
- Proper Noun……………………………………Mohammad Ali, Kabul…(capitalization occurs)
- Collective Noun………………………………..team, flock, group…
- Material Noun………………………………….wood, metal, iron, plastic…
- Concrete Noun…………………………………car, building, table…
- Abstract Noun………………………………….Beauty, honesty, fear…
- Compound Noun……………………………….a science book, a human being…
- Gender Noun……………………………………man, woman, uncle, aunt…
1) Common Noun:
A common noun is a noun that is used for the name of common things, animals, and places. Common means having more than one kind.
(common here means shared by all).
Examples:
- Afghanistan is a beautiful country.
- Everyone likes flowers.
- She is a girl.
- They are men.
- The teacher is teaching English.
- we went home.
- The party is going on.
These nouns always start with small letters unless they are located at the very first part of the sentence.
2) Proper Noun:
The names of some particular people, places, things, or animals are called proper nouns (proper means one’s own).
Examples:
- Ibn Sina was a wise man.
- Kabul is the capital city of Afghanistan.
- John is a very kind person.
- The king of the UK is lovely.
- Moon is brightened at days.
These nouns always begin with capital letters, and they do not have any other kinds. They are always singular.
3) Material Noun:
The names of different things of which something is made are called material nouns.
Examples:
- Building blocks are made of clay.
- I have a pen which is made of gold.
- Iron is used for swords.
- the cup is of plastic.
- This is a diamond.
- Her ring is made of silver.
4) Concrete Noun:
The names of things that can be touched, seen, or felt are called concrete nouns.
Examples:
- The table is on the wall.
- I have a car.
- The pen is mine.
- There are many chairs.
- I have a beautiful chain.
5) Abstract Noun:
An abstract noun is usually the name of a quality, action, or state. (These nouns cannot be touched but understood by the sense.) Goodness, bravery, wisdom, movement, hatred, youth, poverty, slavery…
Examples:
- Her goodness made me come.
- Knowledge is wisdom.
- They went to join strikes or movements.
- Hatred brings unrest situations.
- Our youth must participate in games.
- the country is destroyed owing to poverty.
Abstract nouns are formed:
- From Adjectives: Kindness from kind, honesty from honest…
- From verbs: Obedience from obeying, growth from growing…
- From Common Nouns: Childhood from a child, slavery from slave…
6) Collective Noun:
A collective noun is the name of a number (or collection) of people or things taken together and spoken of as a whole. Army, nation, jury, committee…
Examples:
- Our School team played well.
- The army of the country should be unique.
- Which nation is considered the best?
- Did you find the committee members?
- A bunch of flowers is gifted to her.
7) Compound Noun:
A compound noun is formed by combining two separate nouns giving one particular meaning. It is also considered to be a fixed expression, made of more than one word that functions as a noun. ice cream,
swimming pool, football ground, classroom, level advanced. address book, science fiction, winter clothes,
Examples:
- Ice cream in heat is fantastic!
- I saw him in the swimming pool.
- we were on football ground today.
- All the students were in the classroom.
- We bought new winter clothes.
Compound Nouns (Formation):
Noun + Noun……………….……address book, science fiction, winter clothes.
Noun + Gerund………………….fruit picking, human being, weight lifting.
Gerund + Noun………………….swimming pool, driving license, studying room.
8) Gender Noun:
Gender belongs to the sex of living beings that are either male or female. They are divided into masculine, feminine, common, or neutered Genders. (Gender is taken from the Latin word genus, kind, or sort.)
- A noun that denotes a male animal is said to be of masculine gender.
- A noun that denotes a female animal is said to be of the feminine gender.
- A common gender denotes either a male or a female noun; such as; parent, or monarch.
- Neuter gender denotes a thing that is neither male nor female (i.e. things without life). Neuter means neither, such as book, tree, pen, etc…
Main exceptions: There are some nouns that contain the same form for both masculine and feminine forms.
The most common of these nouns are baby, infant, relative, relation, spouse, child, cousin, teenager & parent.
The feminine can be formed…
- By adding “-ess” to the masculine 2. By use of different words:
(sometimes with other slight changes):
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | MASCULINE | FEMININE |
|---|---|---|---|
| lad lord lover man monk nephew sir son tutor uncle wizard husband King | lass lady mistress woman nun nice madam daughter governess aunt witch wife Queen | bachelor boy brother bull cock dog drake father fox friar gander gentleman horse | spinster girl sister cow hen bitch duck mother vixen nun goose lady mare |
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | FEMININE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| actor Baron Count Duke Emperor giant heir host lion | actress Baroness Countess Duchess Empress giantess heiress hostess lioness | master murderer priest Prince shepherd steward tiger waiter manager | mistress murderess priestess Princess shepherdess stewardess tigress waitress manageress |
- By prefixing or suffixing a word:
| MASCULINE | FEMININE | MASCULINE | FEMININE |
|---|---|---|---|
| grandfather great grandfather grandson great-grandson father-in-law brother-in-law son-in-law landlord | grandmother great grandmother granddaughter great-granddaughter mother-in-law sister-in-law daughter-in-law landlady | manservant male-cousin step-father step-son Godfather Godson fiancé hero | maidservant female-cousin step-mother step-daughter Godmother Goddaughter fiancée heroine |
There are five cases of nouns:
The case of a noun is another topic that totally depends upon the position of the noun in the sentence. It means in how many places of the sentence we use nouns and pronouns. Each place has its own function and name, which are all explained in detail down.
- Nominative case (or Subject case)
- Objective case (or Accusative case)
- Dative case
- Possessive case (or Genitive case)
- Vocative case
A) Nominative Case:
When a noun comes at the beginning of the sentence. It should be followed by verbs like more simple. A noun is said to be in the Nominative case if it is the subject of a verb.
Example: Peter is a good student.
B) Objective Case:
Nouns or pronouns are considered Objective cases if they are the direct object of verbs or if they are the objects of prepositions. (Direct object is the person or thing upon whom or upon which the action of the verb is carried out).
Examples:
I met your brother. “Your brother” is an objective case.
C) Dative Case:
Nouns or pronouns perform as a Dative case if they are the indirect object of the verbs. (Indirect object of the verb is the noun for whom or for which the action of the verb is carried out). Do not use any preposition before the indirect object because in that case, it will be the object of that preposition.
Examples:
The director gave the teachers few duties.
“teachers” is in the Dative case. It is the indirect object of the verb ‘gave’.
D) Possessive Case:
Nouns or pronouns are considered possessive cases if they denote possession or ownership. A noun or pronoun in the possessive case is governed by the noun that follows it.
Example:
- Kamran’s paper is very neat. “Kamran’s” is in the possessive case.
- This is your pencil. “Your” is in the possessive case.
E) Vocative Case:
Nouns or pronouns are said to be in Vocative case if they are used to call (or to get the attention of) a person or persons.
Example:
- Khan, students are waiting for you in the main hall.
“Khan” is in the vocative case.
Nouns do not change their forms in Nominative and Objective cases. But some pronouns change their forms between Nominative and Objective cases.
Kinds and Categories of Pronouns
- Subjective Pronoun: Used as the subject of the sentence. E.g. He is a good student.
- Objective Pronoun:
- Possessive Pronoun: Used to show possession. As they are used as adjectives and known as Possessive Adjectives.
My, your, his, her, its, our, and there.
- Demonstrative Pronoun: This, that, these, and those. e.g: This is my book.
- Interrogative Pronoun: Used in questions. Who, which, what, where, and how.
- Indefinite Pronoun: It is used for non-specific things. These pronouns are the largest group of Pronouns:
Like:
Anyone, nobody, All, some, any, several, each, both, few, either, none, one, and on one are the most common.
E.g. There is someone in the room.
- Relative Pronoun: Used to add more information to the sentence.
They are listed down. Like: Which, that, who, whom, where, and whose.
- Reciprocal Pronouns: Used for actions or feelings which are reciprocated.
Each other and one another
- Reflexive Pronoun: ends … self or …selves and refers to another noun or pronoun in the sentence.
Myself, yourself, herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.
E.g. Peter bakes all the bread himself. Here, “himself” refers back to the noun ‘Peter’.
- Intensive Pronoun/Emphatic Pronoun: