Education Info

Nouns refer to people as well as animals, places items, concepts, or events, etc. A majority of words in the language are composed of nouns.

Nouns may be a/an

Person - The name of somebody: Max, Julie or Catherine, Michel, Bob or other.

Animal - A name for animals, such as an animal like a cat, dog or cow.

Place - a name for an area: London, Australia, Canada, Mumbai, etc.

Thing - A term used to describe something like bat, ball, or chair; door, house, computer, and so on.

Idea - The name given to an idea: - love, faith, happiness exuberance.

Different kinds of Nouns

Proper Noun

A proper noun is a name which refers only to a specific person, place or thing, and there is no common term for it. Proper nouns are always written in capital letters.

Example: Melbourne (referring to only one city), Steve (referring to an individual).

Australia (There isn't a country called Australia The name Australia is only applicable to one country).

Common Noun

Common nouns are an expression used to describe something that is common for many objects, people, or places. It refers to a particular type of thing, location, or person.

Example Examples: Country (it can be used to refer to any country in the world, and nothing specifically), city (it can refer to any city such as Melbourne, Mumbai, Toronto and so on. But nothing in particular. So, a common noun is a word that refers to an individual, place, thing or other thing. A proper noun on the contrary, is a particular one.

Abstract Noun

An abstract noun is a term used to describe something that can't be seen , but is present. It has no physical existence. Generally, it refers to concepts, qualities and circumstances.

Examples: Truth, lies and sorrow, happiness and time. Humor, friendship, patriotism etc.

Concrete Noun

A concrete noun is exactly the opposite of an abstract noun. It is a reference to things we see and have physical existence.

Example: Table, chair ball, bat and water. Money, sugar, etc.

Nouns that are Countable

Countable nouns are nouns which can be easily counted. Countable nouns can take an article: A, an, or the. Navigate to this website to find out additional info on Nouns.

Examples: Table, chair bat, ball etc. It is possible to count the chairs using 1 chair, 2 chairs or 3 chairs.

The ability to count Noun Examples in sentences

Non-countable Noun

Non-countable nouns are those that aren't countable.

Examples: Sugar, water, oil, salt, etc. (you cannot say "1 water 2, 3 water" because water isn't countable.)

Abstract nouns as well as proper nouns cannot be counted. However concrete nouns, concrete nouns or common nouns may be countable and non-countable.

Collective Noun

A collective noun refers to the term used to describe an entire group of people, animals or other things.

Ex family, team, jury or cattle.

Both singular and plural collective nouns are possible. However, Americans prefer to use collective nouns as singular, but both of the usages are valid in other parts of the world.

Nouns in Compound

Sometimes two or three nouns occur together, or with word creating idiomatic compound nouns. Idiomatic refers to the fact that these nouns function as a unit and, in an extent, or to a lesser degree exceed the sum of their components.

Examples: six-pack, five-year-old, and son-in-law, snowball, mailbox, etc.

Nouns' Functions

Nouns are used to signify possession, as subjects, or as indirect objects of verbs, as prepositional objects, and as adjectives and adjectival phrases. Nouns also indicate possession.

Subject: The business is doing great. The roses are the symbol of love.

Direct object: I finally bought a new phone.

Indirect object: Max gave Carol another piece of chocolate.

Object of preposition The roses are the symbol of love.

Adverb: The train departs today.

Adjective The office building faces towards the mall.

Possession The cage of the predator is a danger. My brother's daughter is adorable.