Noun | English Grammar

 Noun

Understanding English Grammar Nouns, their definition, and usage will help you in solving questions in the General English section of competitive exams like IBPS (PO, CLERK, SO,), SSC, CDS, RRB, NDA, and Defence exams. It will also increase your score in Verbal Ability. Here is a complete guide to understanding English Grammar “Noun” and its type with the help of examples. Questions based on Noun are in direct and indirect form. They are generally seen in Match the Following, Odd Man Out, and such similar questions. Identifying different parts of Speech including Noun is an important aspect in some English exams for questions such as “Error Spotting”.

What is a Noun?

A noun is a naming word. It is a part of speech and can be defined as a name of a person, place, animal, bird, feeling or a thing.

• Person – the name of a person: Dinesh, Sagar, Jacob, Sheetal
• Animal/ Bird – the name of an animal/ bird: lion, cat, dog,
• Place – the name of a place: Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Paris.
• Thing –the name of a thing: orange, laptop, table, book
• Feeling – the name of an idea: devotion, superstition, happiness, excitement, etc.

Examples of Noun:

• Anger is not a productive response to criticism.
• The roses transformed the ambience of the banquet hall.
• Ravi’s magnanimity is the reason behind his popularity.

In the above sentences anger, roses, magnanimity are English Grammar nouns. Anger and magnanimity is something that can be felt, it is intangible so it’s a kind of abstract noun. Rose is also a noun and has physical significance. We can see, touch, and feel it.

What are the Types of English Grammar Noun: 

Based on their properties nouns can be classified into

• Proper Noun
• Common Noun
• Abstract Noun
• Concrete Noun
• Countable Noun
• Uncountable Noun
• Collective Noun
• Compound Noun

Proper Noun: 

A proper noun is a unique name that refers only to a single person, place, or thing. While writing, a proper noun always begins with a capital letter, even in the middle of the sentence.

Example of Proper Noun:

• I live in Mumbai. (Here Mumbai is the name of a unique place.)
• My name is Sharad. (Here Sharad refers to a unique name.)

Common Noun:

A common noun is a generic or common name for something that can refer to many things, person, or places. So, a Common Noun and a Proper Noun are opposite in nature.

Example of Common Noun:

• It is a big tree. (Here tree can commonly refer to all trees on earth.)
• There are many flowers in the garden. (Here it is commonly referred to all types of flowers.)

Common vs. Proper Noun

Common Noun	Proper Noun
Used to name people, places or things in general. It refers to the class or type.	Used to name SPECIFIC people, place or thing. It refers to an individual or a single entity. Starts with a ‘BLOCK’ letter.

Abstract Noun: 

An abstract noun is a noun for something that is intangible. It cannot be seen but it exists like ideas, qualities, and conditions.

Examples of Abstract Noun:

• Please speak the truth. (Here truth cannot be seen but exists.)
• What an idea! (Here the idea cannot be seen but exists.)

Article for Abstract Noun

Normally no article is used before an Abstract Noun.

Example:

• The history is a difficult subject. —WRONG
• History is a difficult subject. —CORRECT

EXCEPTION:

Example:

• The history of S.K. Pandey is good.—WRONG
• The history of S.K. Pandey are good.—CORRECT

Here we are referring to the history of S.K. Pandey, i.e. the past events. Past events (events that happened in the past) are plural, so we will use the plural helping verb with it.

Concrete Noun: 

A concrete noun is a noun for something tangible. It is exactly the opposite of the Abstract Noun. So, it refers to everything that we can see and touch physically.

Examples of Concrete Noun:

• We cannot see air. (Here air cannot be seen but its existence is proved physically. Hence, it is a concrete noun)
• Pass me the salt please. (Salt is a concrete noun.)

Concrete vs. Abstract Noun

Concrete Noun	Abstract Noun
Refer to physicality. Something or someone that can be touched, seen or sensed.	Refer to no physical existence. Can be felt. Feelings, Emotions, Reactions, Actions.

Countable Noun/ Finite Noun: 

The noun that can be counted to represent a definite number is called Countable Noun/ Finite Noun. Countable nouns need an article in prefix: a, an, the.

Examples of Countable Noun or Finite Noun:

• There are three mangoes in the basket. (Here mangoes can be counted to a finite number three)
• There are 1000 rupees in the purse. (Here thousand rupees is a definite amount)

Uncountable Noun/ Infinite Noun: 

Uncountable Noun/ Infinite Noun are nouns that cannot be counted to represent a definite number. Uncountable Noun/ Infinite Noun is exactly opposite to Countable Noun/ Finite Noun.

Examples of Uncountable Noun or Infinite Noun:

• The seawater is blue in colour. (Here, seawater cannot be counted.
• We can see stars at night.  (There are infinite stars in the sky.) Abstract nouns and Proper nouns are always uncountable nouns. Common nouns and Concrete nouns can be either countable and uncountable nouns.

Countable vs. Uncountable Noun 

Countable Noun	Uncountable Noun
Has a singular or a plural form. Can be used before a number or an article (a, an, the). Can be counted.	Cannot be counted. Only measured.

The trick for Countable Noun are

If you want to ask about the quantity of a countable noun, you ask “How many?” combined with the plural countable noun.

Example:

1. I would like to give you some advice.
2. How much bread should I bring?
3. I didn’t make much progress today.
4. This looks like a lot of trouble for me.
5. We did an hour of work yesterday.

Countable Noun	Uncountable Noun
dog, horse, man, idea, shop, watch, boy, etc.	tea, sugar, rice, wood, knowledge, fear, etc.

Collective Noun: 

A collective noun is a word that refers to a group of things, people, or animals, etc. Collective nouns can be plural or singular.

Examples:

• A bevy of girls (Here, bevv refers to a group of girl)
• The classroom is full of students. (Here classroom is a singular term used to refer to a group of students

Frequently Used Collective Nouns:

• A band of musicians.
• A board of directors, etc.
• A bevy of girls, women, officers etc.
• A bunch of grapes, keys, etc.
• A bundle of sticks and hay.
• A caravan of merchants, pilgrims, travellers.
• A chain/range of mountains or hills.
• A choir of singers.
• A class of students.
• A retinue of servants/ attendants.
• A fleet of ships or motorcars.
• A flock of geese, sheep and birds.
• A gang of robbers, labourers.
• A garland/bunch/bouquet of flowers.
• A heap of ruins, sand, stones.
• A herd of cattle.
• A litter of puppies.
• A pack of hounds, cards.
• A pair of shoes, scissors, compasses, trousers.
• A series of events.
• A sheaf of corn, arrows.
• A swarm of ants, bees or flies.
• A train of carriages, followers etc.
• A troop of horses (cavalry) scouts; etc.
• A volley of shots, bullets
• A forum of people (discussing issues)
• A congregation of people (discussing religious issues)

Usually, a collective noun is used as a singular. They can be used as plural if there is a division among the members of the collective noun or the members are being talked about.

 Example of plural collective noun:

1. The jury were divided on the verdict.
2. The jury unanimously gave the verdict there was no division.
3. The flock of geese spends most of its time in the pasture.
4. Our class took a field trip to the natural history museum.
5. The herd of bison ran across the prairie, leaving a massive dust cloud in its wake.
6. We waited anxiously for the jury to come to a verdict.
7. This year’s basketball team includes three players who are over six feet tall.

EXCEPTION:

Example:
The jury was divided in their opinion.—WRONG
The jury were divided in their opinion.—CORRECT

‘Were’ is used because individual members of the jury all have a different opinion which is why they are divided in their opinions. Since everyone in the group is being considered as an individual, we can’t take the group as a single unit. So the noun will take the plural form of the verb with it.

Example:
The team have not arrived yet.—WRONG
The team has not arrived yet.—CORRECT

Here the team is all arriving together as a single unit. There is no individual being considered here. So it will take the singular form of the verb with it.

Compound Noun:

Sometimes we have to combine two or more words to create a new word of compound nature. They are also called idiomatic compound nouns. These compound nouns behave as a single unit to convey the unit.

Example:

• This toy is for five-year-olds. (Here, five-year-olds is not a legitimate word but a group of three words conveying the same meaning.)
• She is my daughter-in-law.  (Here, the daughter-in-law is a compound noun).

Compound vs. Collective Noun

Compound Noun	Collective Noun
Two or more words that can create a noun. They can be written as one word, or written with a hyphen in between.	Refers to a collection, a bunch of a similar kind. Pack, bunch, group, crowd.

Nouns and Prepositions

Noun + Preposition + Noun – This Will be followed by a singular verb.

Example:

• Town after town was devastated.
• Row upon row of marble looks beautiful.
• He enquired from door to door.
• Ship after ship is arriving.

Possessive Noun:

It denotes possession of a thing and is used in a limited manner for living beings or personified objects, stereotyped phrases and nouns of space or time denoting an amount of something.

Use of Apostrophe to express Possessiveness

Use apostrophe twice, once with each possessive noun, when individual possession is to be shown and once with later when joint possession is to be shown. 

Example:

• Shyam’s bat and Ram’s ball is needed to start the game.
• Karan and Arjun’s brotherhood will be remembered till eternity.
• For goodness’s sake take this wet towel out of the room.
• This is my friend, Rahul’s car.

Singular and Plural Nouns:

Nouns are categorized on the basis of numbers. Singular and Plural refer to the number of nouns. Singular refers to one entity. Plural refers to more than one. (Two or two onwards is plural). There are certain words whose meaning changes when “s” or “es” is added to them.

Singular and Plural Distinct		Singular and Plural not Distinct
Different Words	Same Words	Only Singular	Only Plural
Apple—Apples Story—Stories Man—Men Wolf—Wolves Quarter—Quarters Etc.	A Sheep—Many Sheep A Deer—Many Deer A Fish—Many Fish Etc.	News, Mathematics, Politics, Innings, Riches, Alms, Advice, Air, Wood, Accommodation (collective nouns and uncountable nouns) Etc.	Trousers, Scissors, Spectacles, Measles, Assets, Poultry, People, Cattle, Police, Etc.
Exception and Special Cases
Foreign words—Erratum-Errata, Hypothesis-Hypotheses Compound Words— Son-in-Law >1 form of plural— Brothers/Brethren (a member of the same society); Many fish/Fishes (different variety of fish) >1 meaning for same plural—Quarters may be plural of quarter i.e. fourth parts, or it may mean living place.		Some collective nouns—Team, Committee, Jury, etc. These are Singular /Plural according to context Different meaning in the plural— ‘Kindnesses’ is plural but is not plural of kindness; rather plural of the act of kindness; ‘woods’ is plural but means forest The letter, nos., symbols are made plural by an apostrophe. Example: I hit two 6’s.

Common Mistakes with Singular and Plural Nouns:

From the previous table, the following common mistakes that generally occur, can be prevented.

Example: 

The scenery of Kashmir are enchanting. —WRONG

The scenery of Kashmir is enchanting.  —CORRECT

Advices are given to those who ask. —WRONG

Advice is given to those who ask.  —CORRECT

The mischiefs committed by him are unpardonable. —WRONG

The mischief committed by him is unpardonable.  —CORRECT

The cattle is grazing in the ground. —WRONG

The cattle are grazing in the ground.  —CORRECT

Where is my trousers? —WRONG

Where are my trousers?  —CORRECT

The police has the situation under control. —WRONG

The police have the situation under control.  —CORRECT

Spectacles is a costly item. —WRONG

Spectacles are costly items.  —CORRECT

Functions of English Grammar Nouns:

Nouns can be used to showcase many different tones in a sentence.

Subject:   Sunflowers are yellow. (Here sunflowers are the subject of the sentence)

Direct object: I finally bought a new cycle. (Here cycle is the direct object in the sentence)

Indirect object: He scored another goal. (Here goal is the secondary object in the sentence.)

Object of preposition: Taj Mahal is the symbol of love. (Here Taj Mahal is a Proper noun and subject while the symbol is a common noun and object of the preposition)

Hope this article on Nouns was a fun learning session for you. Remember the Types of Noun with examples. Now you can learn and practice for all types of competitive exams through our free Itselfu RBI Grade'B'App. Download now!