English Grammar - Kinds of Nouns

 

English Grammar

Kinds of Nouns

 

A noun is a part of speech that names a person, place, thing, idea, action or quality. There are actually several types of nouns.

Types of nouns:

Common Nouns

Proper Nouns

Concrete Nouns

Abstract Nouns

Collective Nouns

Compound Nouns

Possessive Nouns

Countable Nouns

Uncountable Nouns or mass nouns.

Material Nouns

 

Common Nouns

A common noun is the generic name for a person, place, or thing in a class or group. Unlike proper nouns, a common noun is not capitalized unless it either begins a sentence or appears in a title.

Examples:

day

man

thing

woman

child

school

state

family

student

country

 

Proper Nouns

A proper noun is a specific (not generic) name for a particular person, place, or thing. Proper nouns are always capitalized in English, no matter where they fall in a sentence.

Examples:

Mercedes

Titanic

Oreo

Wimbledon

Herman Miller

Simon

Tuesday

Lady Gaga

Jennifer Lopez

Russia

 

Concrete Nouns

A concrete noun is something, that can be seen, touched, tasted, heard, or smelt. It is something you can perceive with at least one of your senses.

Examples:

Foot

Carpet

Book

Ocean

Lemon

Train

Ball

Shoes

Hand

Whale

 

Abstract Nouns

An abstract noun is a noun that refers to an intangible concept, like an emotion, a feeling, a quality, or an idea. In other words, an abstract noun does not refer to a physical object. Our five physical senses cannot detect an abstract noun – wer can’t see it, smell it, taste it, hear it, or touch it.

Examples:

Comfort

Curiosity

Delight

Determination

Education

Faith

Freedom

Friendship

Generosity

Happiness

 

Collective Nouns

A collective noun is the word used to represent a group of people, animals, or things. Basically, a collective noun is a group noun that refers to units or groups in a collective sense.

Examples:

A band of musicians

A board of directors

A choir of singers

A class of students

A crowd of people

A gang of thieves

A panel of experts

An army of ants

A flock of birds

A hive of bees

A pack of hounds

A school of fish

A bouquet of flowers

A fleet of ships

A galaxy of stars

A pack of cards

A pair of shoes

A range of mountains

 

Compound Nouns

A compound noun is a noun that is made with two or more words. These are very common, and new combinations are invented almost daily. They normally have two parts. The first part tells us what kind of object or person it is, or what its purpose is. The second part identifies the object or person in question. Each compound noun acts as a single unit and can be modified by adjectives and other nouns. Compound nouns often have a meaning that is different, or more specific, than the two separate words.

The elements in a compound noun are very diverse parts of speech.

-    noun + noun    

bedroom

water tank

motorcycle

printer cartridge

 

-    noun + verb

rainfall

haircut

train-spotting

 

-    noun + adverb 

hanger-on

passer-by

 

-    verb + noun

washing machine

driving licence

swimming pool

 

-    verb + adverb  

lookout

take-off

drawback

 

-    adverb + noun 

onlooker

bystander

 

-    adjective + verb    

dry-cleaning

public speaking

 

-    adjective + noun   

greenhouse

software

redhead

 

-    adverb + verb  

output

overthrow

upturn

input

 

Possessive Nouns

A possessive noun is a noun indicating ownership. In most cases, a possessive noun is formed by adding an apostrophe +s to the noun, or if the noun is plural and already ends in s, only an apostrophe needs to be added.

The boy’s book is lost.

The book belongs to the boy; the ’s signifies ownership.

There are differences between possessive nouns and plural nouns. Possessive nouns demonstrate ownership, while plural nouns indicate more than one person, place, or thing.

"its" does not require an apostrophe.

Possessive nouns work as adjectives. They are nouns, but they function as an adjective.

Rules for possessive nouns.

 

-    Making Singular Nouns Possessive

Singular and plural nouns that don't end in "s," can be made possessive by adding an apostrophe and an "s" to the end of them.

The dog's collar is red.

Ram's car is black.

James' book will be published next month.

The words that are plural but do not have an "s" at the end of them, like "children," "sheep," and "women" are treated as singular words when making noun possessives.

If a singular noun ends in "s," you can either add an apostrophe + "s" to the end or just an apostrophe. Both are considered correct.

 

-    Making Plural Nouns Possessive

Adding just an apostrophe to the end of plural nouns that already end in "s" to make them possessive. There is no need to add an extra "s" to plural nouns that already end in "s." Simply tuck the apostrophe onto the end to indicate that the plural noun is now a plural possessive noun.

The companies' workers went on strike together.

You need to clean out the horses' stalls.

The two countries' armies amassed on the border.

 

-    Hyphenated Nouns and Compound Nouns

An apostrophe + "s" is added to the end of the compound words or to the last word in hyphenated nouns.

My mother-in-law's recipe for meatloaf is my husband's favorite.

The United States Postal Service's stamps are available in rolls or packets.

She stood before the attorney general's offices and knew her time was up.

 

-    When Multiple Nouns Share Possession

When two people, places, or things share ownership, possession is indicated only once, and on the final noun in the group. Make sure to add the apostrophe + "s" to the last noun only.

Jack and Jill's pail of water is prominently featured in the nursery rhyme.

Abbott and Costello's comedy skit "Who's on First?" is a classic.

Ross, Joey, and Chandler's adventures are hilarious.

 

-    Multiple Nouns with Separate Ownership

When two or more nouns indicate ownership, but the ownership is separate, each noun gets the apostrophe + "s" to indicate separate possession.

Lucy's and Ricky's dressing rooms were painted pink and blue.

President Obama's and Senator Clinton's educations are outstanding.

You'll find beautiful artwork in David's and Jeffrey's houses.

 

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are things that we can count. They can be singular or plural. Countable nouns are also called "count nouns". We can use ‘some’, ‘any’, ‘few’ and ‘many’ with countable nouns.

Examples:

Apple - apples

orange - oranges

cat - cats

dog - dogs

house - houses

kitchen - kitchens

table - tables

book - books

pen - pens

pencil - pencils

elephant - elephants

carrot - carrots

onion - onions

garden - gardens

noun - nouns

verb - verbs

chair - chairs

train - trains

bus - busses

bike - bikes

store – stores

 

Uncountable Nouns or mass nouns

Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They may be the names for abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are too small or too amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.). We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. They usually do not have a plural form. Uncountable nouns are also called "mass nouns".

Examples:

music,

art,

love,

happiness,

advice,

information,

news,

furniture,

luggage,

rice,

sugar,

water,

power,

money,

currency

We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a "something" of:

a piece of news,

a bottle of water,

a grain of rice

We can use ‘some’ and ‘any’ with uncountable nouns:

I've got some money.

Have you got any rice?

We can use ‘a little’ and ‘much’ with uncountable nouns:

I've got a little money.

I haven't got much rice.

 

Material Nouns

Material Noun are names of materials or substances, out of which things are made. It refers to the type of substance instead of individual particles of the substance. We cannot count material nouns, because they are in the forms of liquid, semi-liquid or solid. Material nouns are also common nouns. They are written in the capital letter when they occur in the start of sentence otherwise written in small letter when occur anywhere in the sentence.

Examples:

cloth,

air,

metal,

gold,

salt,

iron,

silver,

steel,

brass,

bronze,

copper,

aluminum,

lead,

coal,

coral,

gem,

diamond,

glass,

fibre,

calcium,

iron,

silver, etc.

Rules to make use of material nouns in the sentence.

-    Generally, articles (a, an or the) are not used with material nouns when they are uncountable, such as:

Honey is wholesome food and beneficial to health.

Water boils only at 100°C temperature.

-    Articles (a and an) may be used with material nouns when they are countable, such as:

I would like to eat a Dutch cheese.

It is a very healthy wine.

-    'the' and 'some' can also be used:

The honey in the bottle is mine.

I saw there is some milk in the glass.