Kinds of NOUNS - Common, Proper, Collective, Abstract, Countable, Uncountable

GRAMMAR

Reference: https://i0.wp.com/writinggeeks.in/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/NOUNS.jpg?fit=800%2C521&ssl=1

Only an introduction to the noun was given in ‘Parts of Speech’. Nevertheless the term ‘noun’ owes a broad aspect with different usage and types. In a single sentence, half of the words are nouns.

A noun is a word to name;

o   An object or thing

o   A person

o   A place

o   A quality or state

An object or the thing is something we can see, touch or think of.

With regard to Kinds of nouns there are many as;

              1. Common nouns
              2. Proper nouns
              3. Collective nouns
              4. Abstract nouns
              5. Countable nouns
              6. Uncountable nouns

Reference : https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tquecIG-Pws/maxresdefault.jpg

1. Common nouns 

Note : Common nouns are the nouns used to denote a thing, person or a place most commonly.

As an example, 

Harry is an intelligent boy

Here Harry refers to a particular boy. So boy is the common noun here because we can use the noun boy for any other boy.

eg : 

• New Delhi is the capital of India.
• Ann is a pretty girl.
• Jane Eyre is a famous novel.
• William Wordsworth is an English poet.
• Tokyo is a big city. 

 2. Proper nouns  

     

Note : Proper nouns are the opposite of common nouns. Proper nouns are used to denote a thing, person or a place significantly or most specifically.

As an example, 

Harry is an intelligent boy. 

Here Harry refers to a particular boy. So Harry is the proper noun here because we can specifically call a person called Harry. So the proper noun is Harry while the common noun is boy.

eg : 

• New Delhi is the capital of India.
• Ann is a pretty girl.
• Jane Eyre is a famous novel.
• William Wordsworth is an English poet.
• Tokyo is a big city. 

- Proper nouns are written with a capital letter as the first letter.

eg : William Wordsworth - Ann is name of a person.

       Tokyo - Tokyo is a name of a place(city).        

        

3. Collective nouns

Note : Collective nouns are the common nouns used to denote a collection or number of something; objects, people, animals or places taking together as a whole.

It is a single noun which is singular. Yet it refer to some collection.

eg : fleet     flock    crowd    army    

       gang   herd    team     cluster

       bunch       bunch      bouquet

Here are some collective nouns with their usage.

• An army of soldiers
• A band of musicians
• A brood of chickens
• A board of directors
• A bouquet of flowers
• A class of scholars
• A choir of singers
• A company of actors
• A crew of sailors
• A flock of birds/ sheep
• A gang of thieves
• A host of angels
• A hedge of bushes
• A herd of elephants/ buffaloes/ cattle
• A suit of clothes
• A litter of puppies/ cubs
• A team of players
• A library of books
• A swarm of bees/ insects
• A bale of cotton
• A bunch of grapes
• A troupe of dancers
• A troop of monkeys
• A fleet of ships/ motor cars
• A flight of aeroplanes
• A tuft of grass

-Most of the objects have a unique collective noun used for that object. Sometimes only the collective noun is used without the object.

eg : We say "crowd" for a collection of people. But we do not need to use "of people".  

4.Abstract nouns

Note : Abstract nouns are the nouns used to name an action, a state or a quality. Moreover the names of Arts and Science (or subjects) also fall under abstract nouns.

Abstract nouns cannot be detected by five senses; they are intangible things that the feeling, ideas or qaulities.

Most importantly abstract nouns are formed from common nouns, verbs and adjectives.

1. Abstract nouns formed from common nouns.

Common noun	Abstract noun
child	childhood
brother	brotherhood
sister	sisterhood
mother	motherhood
parent	parenthood
friend	friendship
leader	leadership
king	kingship
member	membership
neighbour	neighbourhood
scholar	scholarship

2. Abstract nouns formed from verbs.

Verb	Abstract noun
accept	acceptance
admire	admiration
afford	affordability
add	addition
allow	allowance
analyse	analysis
amuse	amusement
appear	appearance
applaud	applause
approve	approval
arrange	arrangement
admit	admission
attend	attendance
avoid	avoidance
achieve	achievement
behave	behaviour
bless	blessing
calculate	calculation
clean	cleanliness
collect	collection
complete	completion
connect	connection
decide	decision
define	definition
educate	education
translate	translation
terrify	terror
transport	transportation
verify	verification
unite	unity
win	victory

3. Abstract nouns formed from adjectives.

Adjective	Abstract noun
kind	Kindness
long	length
wide	width
broad	breadth
honest	honesty
cruel	cruelty
angry	anger
strong	strength
happy	happiness
sad	sadness
true	truth
great	greatness
brave	bravery
beauty	beautiful
young	youth
new	newness
hungry	hunger
thirst	thirsty
unique	uniqueness
weak	weakness
wise	wisdom

5. Countable nouns

Note  - Countable nouns are the nouns which are countable. That means they are in numbers which can be counted.

eg:

• pens
• buses
• books
• doors
• windows
• cups
• chairs

- Here we can say 2 pens or 5 buses by calling a number directly because they can be counted.

 6. Uncountable nouns

Note  - Uncountable nouns are quite opposite of countable nouns. They cannot be counted as numbers. So they are called as uncountable nouns.

eg : 

• sand
• water
• rice
• plastic
• gold
• wood
• butter
• bread
• leather
• money
• milk
• wood
• salt
• sugar

Unlike countable nouns we cannot count uncountable nouns as 2 rice or 5 milk. We need a measurement to use with uncountable nouns as;

eg:

 - a 500ml bottle of water

- a piece of leather

- a 250g of sugar/ a 250g packet of sugar

- 2 bottles of milk

- 1 cube of sand

Author : Dinithi Priyashiroma