The Noun & Its Kinds | English Olympiad class 5 PDF Download

What is a Noun?

Nouns are a part of speech comprising words used to name people, places, animals, objects and ideas. 

Almost every sentence will definitely have a noun, and they perform different roles in a sentence.

Examples of Nouns:

1. People: Rahul, Sheela, Man, Person, Tommy, Women, Girl, The Prime Minister
2. Places: Bangalore, India, Mexico, North Pole, South Africa, The Nile River, Classroom, Bedroom, Basketball Court, Cricket Ground, Swimming Pool
3. Animals/Birds/Aquatic Animals/Reptiles: Lion, Zebra, Snake, Ostrich, Flamingo, Bear, Cat, Fish, Shark
4. Ideas: Evolution, Invention, Extinction, Argument, Destruction
5. Objects/Things: Bat, Cycle, Curtains, Paper, Bag, Blackboard, Cupboard

Kinds of Noun

Nouns can be further divided into the following groups:

1. Common Noun

• Common Noun is a name given to any person, place, or thing in general. 
• The name ‘boy’ refers to all boys (Rakesh, Raju, Amit, Rajesh, Mayank etc.) but does not mention any particular boy. Hence, the name ‘boy’ is a common noun. 
• Similarly, the name ‘city’ refers to any city in the world (Delhi, Patna, Japan, New York, etc.) but does not mention any particular city. Thus, ‘city’ is a common noun.

We must use an article before a singular Common noun.
Common nouns are not capitalised unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence. 

2. Proper Noun

• A proper

  noun is a name given to a particular person, place, or thing.
• For example, Rakesh and Amit are the names of boys; Delhi is the name of a city; Taj Mahal the name of a monument; Ganga is the name of a river; Mt Everest is the name of a mountain range. 
• Hence Rakesh, Mayank, Delhi, Taj Mahal, Ganga, and Mt. Everest are proper nouns.

A Proper noun always begins with a capital letter.

3. Singular nouns

These words are used to name a person, place, animal, bird or object.

Examples:

• There is a little boy in front of our house. (Single person)
• That is my daughter. (Single person)
• I found a wounded sparrow in the bush. (Single bird)
• A red van has been following us for a long time. (Single object)

4. Plural nouns

Plural nouns refer to a number of people, places, animals, or things. Nouns are plural by adding an ‘s’ or ‘es’ or ‘ies’ or ‘ves’ to the root word. Nouns that end with an ‘s’ remain the same. Some nouns remain the same in singular and plural forms, and others have totally different spelling.

Examples:

• I need some apples.
• Did you find the boxes you were looking for?
• I bought mangoes from the market.
• We took photos of some deer on our way.

5. Countable Noun

• The nouns that can be counted are called countable nouns. 
• Countable nouns can take an article: a, an, the.
• Example: Chair, table, bat, ball, etc. 

You can say 1 chair, 2 chairs, 3 chairs, so chairs are countable.

6. Non-countable Noun

• The nouns that cannot be counted are called non-countable nouns.
• Example: Water, sugar, oil, salt, etc. 

You cannot say “1 water, 2 water, 3 water” because water is not countable.

7. Abstract Noun

• Abstract Noun is not the name of something which we can see, or touch, but of something that we can think of. 
• They are names given to some quality, feeling, state or action. 
• Charity is an abstract noun for it is the name of a quality which cannot be seen but can only be understood by seeing certain actions or behavioural pattern of a person.

Formation of Abstract Nouns

Abstract nouns can be formed from adjectives, verbs, and common nouns.

• vain vanity
• miser miserly
• cruel cruelty
• efficient efficiency
• honest honesty
• brave bravery

By addition of ness

Addition of ‘ce’ replacing ‘t’

Addition of ‘th’ and change in vowels

Deletion of ‘y’

By addition of “ence or ance or ce”

Abstract nouns formed from verbs by addition of “tion/sion”

Abstract nouns formed from common nouns by addition of “hood”:

Names of Arts and Sciences, Grammar, Physics, Music, Pottery etc. are also Abstract nouns.

8. Concrete Noun

• A concrete noun is the exact opposite of abstract noun. 
• It refers to the things we see and have physical existence.
• Example: Chair, table, bat, ball, water, money, sugar, etc.

9. Collective Noun

• An army is a group of soldiers,
• A swarm is a collection of bees or flees,
• A flock is a group pf sheep, gang
• A shoal is a group of fish.

10.  Material Noun

• The names used to mention materials or substances made up of and can be perceived by our senses are material nouns. 
• Examples: Gold, Aluminium, Iron, Plastic, cement, etc.