What is a Noun

A Noun is a naming word and it acts as an identity of some specific thing. It is used for naming anything we can see, hear, touch, smell, taste, or think of.

Examples: man, noise, fever, chair, scent, milk, death, etc.

A Noun is the name of a person, place or thing. The word "thing" in the connection, is used to mean anything -- living or dead, visible or invisible, tangible or intangible -- we can think of.

Kinds of Noun

Nouns are of following five kinds:

  1. Proper
  2. Common
  3. Collective
  4. Material
  5. Abstract

Proper Noun

A proper Noun is the name of some particular person, place or thing. Here proper means one's own because it is a person's own name.

  1. God
  2. The Holy Quran (a thing)
  3. Muhammad Ali Jinnah (a parson)
  4. England (a place)

It always begins with a capital letter. And if it consists of two or more words, everyone or them has a capital letter at its beginning.

Common Noun

A Common Noun is a name given in common to every person, place or thing of the same class or kind; as common itself means _________ by everyone.

Examples: man, city, book, men, cities, books.

It begins with a capital letter only when it is placed at the very beginning of a sentence or a line of poetry. Examples:

  1. Cows give milk
  2. Birds fly in the air
  3. Water, water, everywhere
    And not a drop to drink

Collective Noun

It denotes a group of persons or things, spoken of as one whole. Examples:

An Army: collection of soldiers
A Committee: group of people
A Flock: number of birds.
A Team: group of players
A Crowd: collection of people

If used as a "Subject" it generally takes a Singular Verb.

Example: The jury consists of twelve persons.

But when it denotes the individual members of the group, it takes a Plural Verb.

Example: The jury were divided in their opinion.

It begins with a capital letter only when it is placed at the very beginning of a sentence.

Material Noun

It is the name of a matter or substance of which anything is made.

Examples: gold, silver, iron, steel, cotton, milk, clay, rice

It begins with a capital letter only when it is placed at the very beginning of a sentence.

Abstract Noun

It is the name of some quality, state or action considered apart from the object to which it belongs; as,

Quality: honesty, truth, bravery, kindness, wisdom
State: childhood, death, sickness, slavery, health
Action: laughter, judgment, theft, hatred

Nouns are also classified into two types on the basis of their characteristic related to counting or uncounting.

Countable Nouns: Apple, mobile, bus etc.
Uncountable Nouns: Oil, honesty etc.






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