What is a Noun?
Most nouns have singular or plural form, can be preceded by an article and one or more adjective and can serve as the head of the noun phrase. Nouns can be the subject or the object of a verb.
A simple definition of noun is: a person, place, or thing. Here are some examples:
• Person: Man, Woman, Teacher, John, Mary.
• Place: Office, Home, Town, America, Italy.
• Thing: Table, Banana, Car, Love, Money, Music.
Ways of recognizing a Noun
A complicated way is:
1. Ending
2. Position
3. Function
1.Ending:
There are certain ending that show that the word is a noun.
Example:
-ity > nationality
-ment > appointment
-ness > happiness
-ation > relation
-hood > childhood
But this is not true for all nouns. Eg. Spoonful ends in –ful but so does the adjective careful.
2.Position:
We can recognize a noun by its position in a sentence-nouns often come after a determiner i. e. a word like a, an, the, this, such, my.
Example:
• A relief
• An afternoon
• This word
• The doctor
• My dog
• Such stupidity
3.Function in a sentence:
Nouns have certain functions (work) in a sentence.
Example:
• Subject of verb: Doctors work hard.
• Object of verb: He likes coffee.
• Subject and object of work: Teachers teach students.
But the subject or object of a sentence is not always a noun. It can be a pronoun or a phrase. In the sentence “My doctor works hard” the noun is doctor but the subject is “My doctor.”
Types of Nouns
1.Proper Noun:
It is the name given to a particular person, place or thing.
Example:
Mr. Ankit, London, Smith, Pakistan etc.
• Italy is a developing country. Here Italy is the proper noun.
• Ford is a car producing company. In this sentence Ford is a proper noun.
• Writers of English capitalize proper nouns to show their distinction from common nouns.
A common noun is the general name for a class of objects as men , chair, table etc.
Example:
• Delhi is a large city. Here city is the common noun.
• Other common nouns like man, woman, fruit, tree, river book etc are common nouns that we use in our daily lives.
3.Concrete Noun:
These are nouns that can be touched, smelled, seen, felt and tasted.
Example:
Salt, steak, table, wool
• Concrete nouns can be perceived by at least one of our senses.
4.Collective Noun:
It is the collection or group of persons or things taken as a single entity or group.
Example:
• A herd of cows,
• a fleet of ships,
• a pride of lions.
• Few others are gang, galaxy, family, team, school etc.
5.Abstract Noun:
It is the name given to a quality or action or state which we can understand but cannot touch or see.
Example:
• Music is a product of harmony or
• Laughter heals many diseases etc.
• Here music and laughter are abstract nouns. Other examples are kindness, cruelty, bravery, strength etc.
Nouns are name words:
The name of everything you see around you is noun. Just as each person has a name, every object has a name. Some nouns denote ideas which only exist in the mind.
What is the difference between nouns and pronouns?
Want to know more about Nouns? Click here to schedule a live help with an eTutor!
About eAge Tutoring:
eAgeTutor.com is the premium online tutoring provider. Using materials developed by highly qualified educators and leading content developers, a team of top-notch software experts, and a group of passionate educators, eAgeTutor works to ensure the success and satisfaction of all of its students.
Contact us today to learn more about our guaranteed results and discuss how we can help make the dreams of the student in your life come true!
Reference Links:
- http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/nouns-what.
- http://www.grammarabout.com/od/mo/nounterm.htm
- http://www.enzinearticle.com/?kinds of nouns &id=4089113
- http://en.www.yourdictionary.com grammar rules/types of noun/
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc-ukN1Rvb8
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZcka8Zg-uc&feature=fvwrel