THE NOUN: KINDS OF NOUNS

“A Noun is a word used as the name of a person, place or thing.”

Look at the following sentence:

Asoka was a wise king.

The noun Asoka refers to a particular king, but the noun king might be applied to any other king as well as to Asoka. We call Asoka a Proper Noun, and king a Common Noun.

Similarly:

Sita is a Proper Noun, while girl is a Common Noun.

Hart is a Proper Noun, while boy is a Common Noun.

Kolkata is a Proper Noun, while city is a Common Noun.

India is a Proper Noun, while country is a Common Noun.

The word girl is a Common Noun, because it is a name common to all girls, while Sita is a Proper Noun because it is the name of a particular girl.

“A Common Noun is a name given in common to every person or thing of the same class or kind.”

[Common here means shared by all.]

“A Proper Noun is the name of some particular person or place,”

[Proper means one's own. Hence a Proper Name is a person's own name.]

Note 1 - Proper Nouns are always written with a capital letter at the beginning.

Note 2 - Proper Nouns are sometimes used as Common Nouns.

1. He was the Lukman (= the wisest man) of his age.

2. Kalidas is often called the Shakespeare (= the greatest dramatist) of India.

“A Collective Noun is the name of a number (or collection) of persons or things taken together and spoken of as one whole.”

Crowd, mob, team, flock, herd, army, fleet, jury, family, nation, parliament, committee.

A fleet = a collection of ships or vessels.

An army = a collection of soldiers.

A crowd = a collection of people.

The police dispersed the crowd.

The French army was defeated at Waterloo.

The jury found the prisoner guilty.

A herd of cattle is passing.

“An Abstract Noun is usually the name of a quality, action, or state considered apart from the object to which it belongs”

Quality - Goodness, kindness, whiteness, darkness, hardness, brightness, honesty, wisdom, bravery.

Action - Laughter, theft, movement, judgment, hatred.

State - Childhood, boyhood, youth, slavery, sleep, sickness, death, poverty.

The names of the Arts and Science (e.g., grammar, music, chemistry, etc.) are also Abstract Nouns.

[We can speak of a brave soldier, a strong man, a beautiful flower. But we can also think of these qualities apart from any particular person or thing, and speak of bravery, strength, beauty by themselves. So also we can speak of what persons do or feel apart from the persons themselves, and give it a name. The word abstract means drawn off.]

Abstract Nouns are formed:

(1) From Adjectives; as,

Kindness from kind;

honesty from honest.

[Most abstract nouns are formed thus.]

(2) From Verbs: as,

Obedience from obey;

growth from grow.

(3) From Common Nouns; as,

Childhood from child;

slavery from slave.

Another classification of nouns is whether they are “countable” or “uncountable”.

“Countable nouns (or countables) are the names of objects, people, etc. that we can count”

e.g., book, pen, apple, boy, sister, doctor, horse.

“Uncountable nouns (or uncountables) are the names of things which we cannot count”

e.g., milk, oil, sugar, gold, honesty. They mainly denote substances and abstract things.

Countable nouns have plural forms while uncountable nouns do not. For example, we say

“books” but we cannot say “milks”.

Exercise:

Point out the Nouns in the following sentences, and say whether they are Common, Proper, Collective or Abstract:

1. The crowd was very big.

2. Always speak the truth.

3. We all love honesty.

4. Our class consists of twenty pupils.

5. The elephant has great strength.

6. Solomon was famous for his wisdom.

7. Cleanliness is next to godliness.

8. We saw a fleet of ships in the harbour.

9. The class is studying grammar.

10. The Godavary overflows its banks every year.

11. A committee of five was appointed.

12. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India.

13. The soldiers were rewarded for their bravery.

14.Without health there is no happiness.

15. He gave me a bunch of grapes.

16. I recognized your voice at once.

17. Our team is better than theirs.

18. Never tell a lie.

19. Wisdom is better than strength.

20. He sets a high value on his time.

21. I believe in his innocence.

22. This room is thirty feet in length.

23. I often think of the happy days of childhood.

24. The streets of some of our cities are noted for their crookedness.

25. What is your verdict, gentlemen of the jury?

Write the Collective Nouns used to describe a number of

(1) Cattle;

(2) Soldiers;

(3) Sailors.

Write the qualities that belong to boys who are

(1) Lazy;

(2) Cruel;

(3) Brave;

(4) Foolish.

Form Abstract Nouns from the following Adjectives:

Long, young, humble, decent, cruel, bitter,

strong, true, short, prudent, dark, deep,

wide, wise, good, vacant, sweet, human,

broad, free, proud, brave, novel, quick,

high, poor, just, vain, sane, ignorant.

Form Abstract Nouns from the following Verbs:

Laugh, obey, live, expect, excel, know, steal,

Believe, Serve, Hate, Please, Act, Starve, Occupy,

Choose, Move, Conceal, Seize, Flatter, Depart, Persevere,

Defend, Think, Protect, Advise, Punish, Die, Succeed,

Free, See, Judge, Pursue, Relieve, Converse, Discover.

Form Abstract Nouns from the following Common Nouns:

King, man, thief, woman, bankrupt,

infant, owner, rogue, regent, author,

mother, agent, hero, beggar, coward,

priest, boy, bond, pirate, pilgrim,

friend, caption, rascal, patriot, glutton.