Types of Noun

M.S.Imran

All levels

High School Gujrat

Types of noun

(All types of noun with a lot of examples to understand)

15-05-2022

High School Gujrat

By High School Gujrat

Printed in Pakistan

Table of Contents

Nouns

Common Nouns

Proper Noun

Abstract Noun

Concrete Noun

Collective Noun

Compound Noun

Gender-Specific Nouns

Gerund

Non-Countable Nouns (Mass nouns)

Countable Nouns

Verbal Nouns

What is noun & example?

A noun is a word that refers to a thing, a person, an animal (cat), a place, a quality (softness), an idea (justice), or an action (yodeling). It's usually a single word, but not always: cake, shoes, school bus, and time and a half are all nouns.

Common Noun

Common nouns are words used to name general items rather than specific ones. Go into your living room. What do you see? A lamp, chair, couch, TV, window, painting, pillow, candle – all of these items are named using common nouns.

Common nouns are everywhere, and you use them all the time, even if you don’t realize it. Wherever you go, you’ll find at least one common noun. Street, closet, bathroom, school, mall, gas station, living room; all of these places are things, and thus they are common nouns.

Proper noun

Proper nouns have two distinct features: They name specific one-of-a-kind items, and they begin with capital letters, no matter where they occur within a sentence. Here, we’ll take a closer look at proper nouns, provide proper noun examples, and help you learn how to use a proper noun the right way.

In the following sentences, proper noun examples are compared with common nouns. Notice that the proper nouns are specific and unique, while the common nouns are much more general in nature.

1. Common noun: I want to be a writer.

Proper noun: Agatha Christie wrote many books.

2. Common noun: I’d like to adopt a cat.

Proper noun: Cleopatra is the cutest kitten ever.

3. Common noun: Would you like a cookie?

Proper noun: I’m craving Oreos.

4. Common noun: Let’s go to the city.

Proper noun: Let’s go to San Francisco.

5. Common noun: My teacher starts work before sunup.

Proper noun: Mr. Bell seems to understand what students need.

6. Common noun: I think that’s a planet, not a star.

Proper noun: I can see Jupiter tonight.

7. Common noun: He’s always hanging out with his girlfriend.

Proper noun: He never goes anywhere without Sarah.

8. Common noun: There are a lot of important documents in the archives.

Proper noun: There are many important documents at The Library of Congress.

Abstract Noun

An abstract noun is something you cannot see or touch (e.g., "bravery," "hate," "joy"). Here are some more examples of abstract nouns categorized under conceptual headings:

Heading	Examples
Feelings	anxiety, fear, sympathy
States	freedom, chaos, luxury
Emotions	anger, joy, sorrow
Qualities	courage, determination, honesty
Concepts	opportunity, comfort, democracy
Moments	birthday, childhood, marriage

An abstract noun is the opposite of a concrete noun.

Concrete Noun

A concrete noun is something you can see or touch (e.g., "tree," "cloud," "garlic"). Here are some more examples of concrete nouns:

· abbey, banjo, camel, daughter, eclipse, fawn, gerbil, hatchet, igloo, jackal, kangaroo, locket, monsoon, nuts, owl, palm, quill, raspberries, sea, tavern, usher, vulture, wasps, xylophone, yacht, zoo

A concrete noun is the opposite of an abstract noun.

Collective Noun

A collective noun is the word used for a group of people or things (e.g., "team," "group," "choir"). Here are some more examples of collective nouns:

· band, board, choir, class, company, congregation, crew, crowd, gang, horde, jury, mob, group, pack, party, team, tribe, bunch, cluster, fleet, range, gaggle, herd, hive, school, shoal, pride, swarm, tribe

Singular or Plural? Writers are sometimes unsure whether to treat a collective noun as singular or plural. In fact, a collective noun can be singular or plural depending on the sense of the sentence. For example:

· That team is the worst in the league.

(Here, the collective noun "team" is treated as singular.)

· The team are not communicating among themselves.

(This time, "team" is treated as plural because the focus is on the individuals within the team.)

Compound Noun

A compound noun is a noun made up of two or more words (e.g., "court-martial," "water bottle," "pickpocket"). Some compound nouns are hyphenated, some are not, and some combine their words to form a single word. For example:

Hyphenated compound nouns:

· mother-in-law

· forget-me-not

· paper-clip

Two-word compound nouns (also called "open compound nouns"):

· black market

· board of members

· washing machine

One-word compound nouns (also called "closed compound nouns"):

· blackbird

· anteater

· snowman

Pluralizing a Compound Noun. To form the plural of a compound noun, pluralize the principal word in the compound. When there is no obvious principal word, add "s (or "es") to the end of the compound. For example:

· Mothers-in-law

(Pluralize the principal word "mother.")

· Paper-clips

(Pluralize the principal word "clip.")

· Forget-me-nots

(Here, there is no principal word, so add "s" to the end.)

Gender-Specific Nouns

A gender-specific noun refers to something specifically male (e.g., "man," "boy," "bull") or a female (e.g., "woman," "girl," "vixen"). Below are some more examples of gender-specific nouns:

Always masculine:

· actor, boy, brother, emperor, father, gentleman, grandfather, grandson, headmaster, husband, man, master, mister, nephew, prince, son, steward, uncle, waiter, wizard

Always feminine:

· actress, aunt, daughter, empress, girl, granddaughter, grandmother, headmistress, lady, lioness, lioness, madam, mistress, mother, niece, princess, princess, sister, stewardess, stewardess, tigress, tigress, waitress, waitress, wife, witch, woman

Gerund

All gerunds end "-ing." A gerund is a noun formed from a verb (e.g., running quickly, guessing a number, baking cakes). Here are some examples of gerunds in sentences.

· Running the tap will clear the air pocket.

(This is formed from the verb "to run.")

· She is known for talking quietly.

(This is formed from the verb "to talk.")

· My highlight was visiting New York.

(This is formed from the verb "to visit.")

Be careful. Not every word that ends "-ing" is a gerund. Present participles are formed from verbs and they also end "-ing." In fact, the present participle of a verb and the gerund are always identical. The difference is how they are used. Gerunds are used like nouns, but present participles are used as adjectives or to form verb tenses. For example:

· I like baking.

(This is a gerund.)

· I need some baking powder.

(This is a present participle used as an adjective.)

· She was baking a cake.

(This is a present participle used to form the past progressive tense.)

Gerunds are different to other nouns because they maintain some of their verb-like properties. More specifically, gerunds can take direct objects and be modified by adverbs. This makes them useful for writing concise sentences that flow naturally.

· The quick development of the process is essential.

(This eight-word sentence is clunky. There is no gerund.)

· Quickly developing the process is essential.

(In this six-word sentence, a gerund has been modified by the adverb "quickly" and has the direct object "the process." It is two words shorter than the first example and more natural sounding.)

Non-Countable Nouns (Mass nouns)

A non-countable noun (or mass noun as it's also known) is a noun without a plural form (e.g., "food," "music," "ice"). Non-countable nouns usually fall into one of the following categories: concept, activity, food, gas, liquid, material, item category, natural phenomenon, or particles. Here are some more examples of non-countable nouns shown in the categories.

Category	Example
Concept	bravery, honesty, patience
Activity	playing, reading, sleeping
Food	bread, butter, milk
Gas	air, helium, hydrogen
Liquid	coffee, petrol, water
Material	concrete, wood, metal
Item Category	luggage, money, software
Natural Phenomenon	gravity, snow, sunshine
Particles	dust, flour, sugar

Non-countable nouns are the opposite of countable nouns.

Countable Nouns

A countable noun is a noun that can be pluralized (e.g., "cat/cats," "argument/arguments," "device/devices"). Here are some more examples of countable nouns:

aardvark, backbone, coin, daffodil, eagle, face, gorilla, house, igloo, jaguar, koala, log, man, note, orange, package, queen, robot, suitcase, table, udder, vacation, waltz, xylophone, yacht, zombie

Countable nouns are the opposite of non-countable nouns.

Verbal Nouns

A verbal noun is a noun that has no verb-like properties despite being derived from a verb (e.g., a building, an attack, a decision). Being normal nouns, verbal nouns can be modified by adjectives, be pluralized (if the sense allows), and be followed by prepositional phrases (e.g., "...of men," ...by me"). Here is another example of a verbal noun:

· I am responsible for the funny drawing of the monster.

(Notice that the verbal noun has been modified by the adjective "funny." It could also be pluralized to "drawings," and it precedes a prepositional phrase "of the monster.")

Gerunds are sometimes called verbal nouns, but there is a distinction. Compare the example above with this example featuring "drawing" as a gerund:

· I am responsible for drawing the funny monster.

(This time, the word "drawing" is a gerund. It cannot be modified by an adjective, it cannot be pluralized, and it cannot be followed by "of the monster." It has, however, taken a direct object ("the funny monster"), which a verbal noun cannot do.)

More about Noun Types

In real-life sentences, nouns rarely appear by themselves. Most nouns appear in noun phrases or noun clauses.

· Noun Phrase. A noun phrase is a group of two or more words that is headed by a noun. For example:

· How much is the doggy in the window?

(Here, the noun phrase is shaded. The head noun is bold. The other words are modifiers.)

· Noun Clause. A noun clause is a clause (i.e., a group of words with its own subject and verb) that plays the role of a noun. For example:

· Whatever you wish is my command.

(The noun clause is shaded. The clause subject is "you," and the clause verb is "wish.")

Let's end this lesson with this point. There are lots of different types of noun, and, most of the time, your noun will appear in a noun phrase (i.e., it will be accompanied by some modifiers). These noun phrases (and even noun clauses) will all have one thing in common: they can all be replaced with a pronoun. For example:

· How much is he?

(Here, the noun phrase "the doggy in the window" has been replaced by the pronoun "he.")

· It is my command.

(The noun clause "Whatever you wish" has been replaced by the pronoun "it.")