Introduction to Nouns

Nouns

1.     Nouns are simply ‘naming words’- the words we use to refer to objects.

2.     Nouns can be divided into

(a)              Common Noun: refers to any of a class or group of persons, places, or things.

(Examples: city, girl, month, book, pencil)

(b)             Proper Noun: refers to particular persons, places or things. It begins with a capital letter.                                                                   

(Examples: Paris, April, Miss Jane)

(c)              Concrete Noun: refers to objects and substances that exist in a physical sense; that is anything that can be seen, heard, tasted, smelled, or felt by the body. It can be used with the articles (a, an, the), with numerals, and in the plural, as they are countable nouns.                                                   (Examples: fruit, child, house)

(d)             Abstract Noun: the names of special qualities, actions, emotions, or conditions (including fields of study and sports). Although abstract noun tends to be uncountable noun.                         

(Examples: love, philosophy, anger)

(e)              Countable Noun (Count Noun): is a noun that can be preceded by the word ‘a’ and can exist in a plural form. When the plural form is used it is not usually preceded by a determiner, but is used alone. Most concrete nouns are countable.                                                                               (Examples: book, foot, hat)

(f)               Uncountable Noun (Mass Noun): is a noun that cannot usually be preceded by the word ‘a’ or ‘an’ and does not usually exist in a plural form. Abstract nouns tend to be uncountable.                                                                 (Examples: sugar, education, sand)

(g)              Singular Noun:

(h)             Plural Nouns:

(i)                Gender Nouns: can be divided into masculine (Examples: man, brother), feminine (Examples: girl, lady), dual (Example: child) and neuter (example: chair, table)