Grammar Basics - Nouns

What are Nouns?

Definition: Nouns are the names of a person, a place, an object or an idea.

The following are a few examples of nouns:

Person: John, Peter, Sophie, Lily, Mike, Doctor, Teacher, Lawyer, Sailor, Soldier

Place: California, London, Chicago, France, River, Mountain, Home, Office

Note: It does not matter whether the place is a city, town, village, state or country.

Object (or a thing): Chair, Car, Snickers, Fairy, Dulux, pen, table etc.

Types Of Nouns:

1. Proper Nouns:

Proper nouns follow two rules:

They are specific and refer to an individual. This type of noun is the "given" name for an individual person, place or thing. For example, John is the given name for an individual person.

Note: They always begin with a capital letter.

The following are some examples:

"I would like a bar of Snickers, please."
Alice is a teacher in this school.
Molly is eating pizza today.

2. Common Nouns:

Common nouns have following rules:

Unlike Proper nouns, they are general, or non-specific, in nature. For example, "teacher" is a Common noun.

Note: They do not start with a capital letter, unless they appear at the beginning of the sentence.

The following are some examples:

I went to the market yesterday.
She is a very nice teacher.
Lets go to the park.

Common noun	Proper noun
car	Range rover
toy	Barbie
movie	Spiderman
day	Sunday
drink	Coke
girl	Alice
chocolate	Mars

3. Abstract Nouns:

Abstract Nouns are used for ideas or concepts, which we cannot see, taste, touch, hear or smell.

Examples: bravery, freedom, anger, love, fear, joy.

The policeman was awarded for his bravery.
They fought for the freedom of the press.
He was filled with anger.

4. Concrete Nouns:

Concrete Nouns are the nouns that we can see, taste, touch, hear and smell. Hence, it is the opposite of Abstract noun.

Examples: tree, car, apple, toy, desk, chair

There are many trees in the garden.
This car belongs to my friend.
I am going to eat this apple.

5. Collective Nouns:

Collective Nouns are used to describe a group of things, animals, or people.

Examples: a team of players, class of students, a flock of sheep, a panel of experts,

Our team played very well.
This class is going on a trip.

6. Countable Nouns:

Countable Nouns are the nouns that can be counted using numbers.

Examples: a man, three cars, six chairs

Alice has two cars.
He is reading a story book.

7. Uncountable Nouns:

Uncountable Nouns cannot be counted using numbers.

Examples: air, sugar, tea, water, patience, rain

He drinks a lot of juice.
Do you want some rice?

8. Compound Noun:

Compound Nouns are made up of two or more words. They can be written either as a single word, as words joined by a hyphen or written as separate words.

Examples: mother-in-law, rainfall, paper-clip, snowman, court-martial, water-bottle

He is making a snowman.
Mary bought a new water-bottle.

9. Gender-specific Nouns:

A gender-specific noun refers only to males or only to females. In English, most nouns are neutral, they are not masculine or feminine. The following are some examples:

Gender-specific female	Gender-specific male	Non gender-specific
queen, waitress, aunt, wife, hostess	dad, uncle, king, waiter.	soldier, mouse, poet.

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