Types of Nouns in English
Types of Nouns in English :
A Noun is a word used for naming some person or thing.
Book
Computer
Abraham
Holiness
River
Letters
Country
India
America
England
Mouse
House
School
Teacher
Road
These are nouns which denote either persons or things or concepts.
Nouns are of five different kinds.
1. Proper
2. Common
3. Collective
4. Material
5. Abstract
Proper Nouns
A Proper Noun is used for one particular person or thing as different from every other as
James (a person)
Ganges (a river)
Lucknow (a city)
India (a country)
The writing of a Proper Noun should always be commenced with a capital letter.
Common Nouns
A Common Noun denotes no one person or thing in particular, but is common to any and every person or thing of the same kind as man, book and country.
Thus…
The word Man need not be used to point out any particular man, such as Kaja but could be used for any and every man.
River does not point out any particular river such as Ganges, but can be used for any and every river.
Country does not point out any particular country, such as India, but can be used for any country in any part of the world.
A Proper Noun becomes a Common Noun when it denotes a class of persons or things and is used in a descriptive sense.
He is the Newton of the age. That is…the greatest astronomer of the age.
Collective Nouns
A Collective Noun denotes a group or collection of similar individuals, considered as one complete whole. For instance, there may be many sheep in a field, but only one flock. Here sheep is a Common Noun, because it may stand for any and every sheep. But FLOCK is a Collective Noun. Because, it stands for all the sheep at once and not for any one sheep taken separately.
Every Collective Noun is also a kind of Common Noun. Thus the term FLOCK may stand for many different flocks (or groups of sheep).
CLASS may stand for many classes (or groups of students).
Nouns of Multitude
There is a difference between a Collective Noun and a Noun of Multitude.
A Collective Noun denotes one undivided whole and hence the Verb following is Singular.
A jury consists of twelve persons.
Nouns of Multitude denote the individuals members of the group and hence the Verb is taking Plural, although the Noun is Singular.
The jury (the men on the jury) were divided in their opinions.
Material Nouns
A Noun of Material denotes the matter or substance of which things are made.
Thus sheep is a Common Noun. But mutton (or the flesh of sheep) is a Material Noun.
The same word can be a Material Noun or a Common Noun according to the context.
Fish live in water.
Fish is good for food.
In the first sentence the Noun denotes individual fish or fishes and is therefore a Common Noun.
In the second it denotes the matter of which the bodies of fish are made and is therefore a Material Noun.
Abstract Nouns
An Abstract Noun speaks of the condition of quality, state or action, apart from anything possessing the quality, etc.
She has beauty. Here the word SHE is a noun where as BEAUTY is an abstract noun.
Quality — Cleverness, height, humility, roguery, colour….
State — Poverty, manhood, bondage, pleasure, youth….
Action — Laughter, movement, flight, choice, revenge…..
The kinds of nouns (four types) described above all speak about the objects of sense, that is, to things which can be seen, touched, heard, smelt or tasted in a word perceived by the senses.
But an Abstract Noun speaks about the qualities and states which cannot be seen or touched and which are thought of apart from any object of sense.
We know that a stone is hard. We also know that iron is hard. We also know that a hammer is hard. We can therefore speak of hardness apart from stone or iron or hammer or any other object having the same quality.
Abstract means drawn off (abstracted in thought) from the object.
Hence hardness is an Abstract Noun while stone or brick or iron is a Material Noun.
The names of Arts and Sciences (e.g., philosophy, music, chemistry, etc.) are also Abstract Nouns.
RELATED PAGES :
- The Noun
- Kinds of Nouns
- Kinds of Nouns in English
- Correct Usage of Nouns
- Classification of Nouns
- Proper Nouns
- Common Nouns
- Abstract Nouns
- Collective Nouns
- Nouns of Multitude
- Material Nouns
- Compound Nouns
- Concrete Nouns
- Countable Nouns
- Uncountable Nouns
- Count Nouns
- Mass Nouns
- Pronouns
- Abstract Nouns formed from Adjectives
- Abstract Nouns formed from Common Nouns
- Abstract Nouns formed from Verbs
- Abstract Nouns of the same form as Verbs
- Absolute Phrases
- Noun and Gender
- Nouns and Gender
- Masculine Nouns and Feminine Nouns
- Masculine Nouns
- Feminine Nouns
- Ways of forming the feminine of nouns
- Exceptional Masculine Nouns and Feminine Nouns
- Exceptional Feminine Nouns
- Foreign Feminine Nouns
- Nouns in Common Gender
- Common Gender Nouns
- Neuter Pronouns
- Neuter Gender Nouns
- Gender of Personified Things
- Noun and Case
- Kinds of Cases in English
- Noun and Number
- Singular and Plural
- Singular Nouns and Plural Nouns
- Ways of forming plurals
- Formation of Plurals
- Compound Nouns and Plurals
- Noun Infinitive
- Noun to Verb
- The Noun
Types of Nouns in English :
The Sentences Index
