NOUN

Kinds of Noun: 
1. Proper Noun: a proper noun is the name of some particular person or place. 
Ex- Ram , Shyam, Delhi. 

2. Common Noun: A Common noun is a name given in common to every person or thing of the
same kind or class. 
Ex- boy, girl, teacher etc. 

3. Collective noun: A collective noun is the name of a group of persons or things. 

Ex- army, committee, crowd etc. 

4.Abstract Noun: a noun denoting an idea, quality, or state rather than a concrete object.
Ex- strength, innocence, fear, judgment. Etc. 

5. Material Noun: Material noun is the name given to the material, substance or things made
up of The alloy.
Ex- cotton, gold, silver etc. 

NOUN: Gender
1. Masculine Gender
A noun that denotes male animal is said to be of the Masculine Gender. 
Ex- Man, boy, Tiger, Sun etc. 

2. Feminine Gender: A noun that denotes a female animal is said to be of the Feminine
Gender. 
Ex- woman, girl, nature, lioness etc. 

3. Common Gender: A noun that denotes either a male or a female is said to be of the
common gender.
Ex- Parent, child, student, cousin etc. 

4.Neuter Gender: A noun that denotes a thing without life , neither male nor female , is said to
be of the Neuter gender. 
Ex- Book, Pen, room etc. 

NOUN: NUMBER 
1. Singular Noun: 
A noun that denotes one person or thing , is said to be in the Singular Number. 
Ex- pen, cow, boy etc. 

2. Plural Noun: A noun that denotes more than one person or thing , is said to be in the plural
Number. 
Ex- Pens, Boys, Cows etc

NOUN: countable / uncountable  

Countable nouns are the names of objects, people etc that we can count. 
Ex- book, apple, doctor, horse etc. 

Uncountable nouns are the names of things which we can’t count. 

They mainly denote substance and abstract things. 
Ex- milk, oil, sugar, gold, honesty etc. 

NOUN: CASES
The case of a noun tells us about the position of that noun or pronoun in a sentence. 
In English, there are five cases. 

Nominative case: a noun is said to be in the nominative case if it is the subject of a verb. 
Ex- Ram is an intelligent boy. 

Objective case: Nouns or Pronouns are said to be in objective case if they are the direct object
of verbs or the objects of the preposition. 

Dative case: A noun is said to be in Dative case if it is the indirect object of the verb. 
Rohan brought me a flower. (‘Me’ is in dative case) 

Possessive case: A noun is said to be in the possessive case if it denotes possession or

ownership.  
Ex- This is your pencil. (‘your’ is in possessive case) 

Vocative case : A noun or pronoun is said to be in vocative case if it is used to call ( or to get
attention of a person or persons) 
Ex- Mr. Mallya , people are waiting for you in the hall. (Mr. Mallya is in vocative case)

NOUN in Apposition
when one noun follows another to describe it, the noun which follows is said to be in apposition
to the noun which comes before it. 
Ex- Ram , our captain, made fifty runs. 
Kabir , the great reformer, was a weaver. 

RULES AND EXAMPLES

☞1. Some nouns always take a singular verb.

Scenery, advice, information, machinery, stationery, furniture, abuse, fuel, rice, gram, issue,
bedding, repair, news, mischief, poetry, business, economics, physics, mathematics, classic,
ethics, athletics, innings, gallows.
(A) The scenery of Kashmir are enchanting. (Correct use- is)
(A) He has given advices. (Correct use- advice)

☞2. Some nouns are singular in meaning, but they are used as plural nouns and
always take a plural verb.
Cattle, gentry, vermin, peasantry, artillery, people, clergy, company, police.
(A) The cattle is grazing in the ground. (correct use- are)
(B)  Police has controlled the situation. ( correct use- have)

☞3. Some nouns are always used in a plural form and always take a plural verb.
Trousers, scissors, spectacles, stockings, shorts, measles, goods, alms, premises,
thanks, tidings, annals, chattels, etc.
(A) Where is my trousers? (correct use- are) 
(B) Where are my trousers? Correct
(A) Spectacles is  a costly item. ( correct use- are) 

☞4. There are some nouns that indicate length, measure, money, weight or number.
When they are preceded by a numeral, they remain unchanged in form.
Foot, meter, pair, score, dozen, head, year, hundred, thousand, million.
(A) It is a five – years degree course. (correct use- year)
(A) I have seven dozens of shoes. (correct use- dozen) 
☞5. Collective nouns such as jury, public, team, committee, government, audience,
orchestra, company, etc. are used both as singular and Plural. It depends on the
usage. 
(A) The jury was divided in their opinion. (correct use- were)
(A) The team have not arrived  yet. (correct use- has) 
☞6. Some nouns have one meaning in the singular and another in the plural:
a.Advice = counsel, 
 advices = information
b.Air = atmosphere,
  airs = proud
c. Authority = command,
 authorities = persons in power
d. Good = wise ,
 goods = property
e. Iron = metal,
  irons = fetters, chains
f. Force = strength 
forces = army
g. Content = satisfaction,
 contents = things contained
h. Respect = regards,
 respects = compliments
i. Work = job 
works = compositions, factories,.

☞7. People are often confused or they commit mistakes in the use of certain nouns.
(A) Lecturership is wrong: lectureship is correct.
(B) Freeship is wrong; free – studentship is correct.
(C) Boarding is wrong; boarding house is correct.
(D) Family members is wrong; members of the family is correct.
(E) English teacher is wrong; the teacher of English is correct.
(F) Cousin – brother or sister is wrong; only cousin is correct.
(G) Wages means punishments when used in the singular.
Ex- The wages of sin is death.
(H) It also means charges for the labour when used in the plural sense.
Ex- The wages of daily workers have been raised.

☞8. A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in person, number and gender.
Ex- Every student must bring his luggage.
All students must do their home work.
Each of the boys must carry his own bag.

☞9. While using ‘everybody’ ‘everyone’, ‘anybody’, and ‘each’ the pronoun of the
masculine or the feminine gender is used according to the context.
I shall be happy to help each of the boys in this practice.

But when the sex is not mentioned, we use the pronoun of the masculine gender.
Anyone can qualify this exam if he tries.
Each of the six boys in the class has finished their tasks. (Incorrect)
Each of the six boys in the class has finished his task. (Correct)

☞10. The pronoun ‘one’ must be followed by ‘one’s’.

One must finish his homework in time.  (Incorrect)
One must finish one’s homework in time.  (Correct)

☞11. Enjoy, apply, resign, acquit, drive, exert, avail, pride, absent, etc., when used as
transitive verbs, always take a reflexive pronoun after them. When ‘self’ is added to
‘my’, ‘your’, ‘him’, ‘her’, and ‘it’, and ‘selves’ to our and them – they are known as
reflexive pronouns.
He absented from the meeting.
He absented himself from the meeting.

☞12. ‘Who’ denotes the subject and ‘whom’ is used for the object?
who : It’s the subject of a verb—e.g., Who gave you that book?
It’s a predicate nominative (a noun in the predicate that renames or refers to the sentence’s
subject)—e.g.,This is who I am.
Whom is an objective pronoun, which is a pronoun that receives the action of a verb.
It also has two main uses:
It is the object of a verb—e.g., Whom should I call?
It is the object of a preposition—e.g., From whom did you get this information?

☞13. When two or more singular nouns are connected by ‘either or’; ‘neither nor’, ;
and ‘or’, the pronoun used is singular.
Either Rohan or Sohan will give their bike. (Incorrect)
Either Rohan or sohan will give his book. (Correct)

☞14. When a singular and a plural noun are joined by ‘or’, ‘nor’, the pronoun must be
plural.
Either the student or his teachers failed in his duty. (Incorrect)
Either the student or his teachers failed in their duty. (Correct)

☞15. ‘Whose’ is used for living persons and ‘which’ for lifeless objects.
Which novel did you select? 
Whose photograph is lying there? 

☞16. ‘Each other’ is used when there are two subjects or objects and ‘one another’
when there are more than two.
Ram and Sita loved each other.
Those five students, who are sitting there, love one another.

☞17. When a pronoun stands for a collective noun, it must be in the singular number
and in the neuter gender if the collective noun is viewed as a whole.but  if it gives an
idea of different entities , plural pronoun is used. 
The jury gave ‘its’ verdict.
Here the ‘jury’ gives the idea of one whole.
If the collective noun conveys the idea of separate individuals comprising the whole, the
pronoun standing for it must be plural.
The jury were divided in their opinions.
in this sentence ,  the ‘jury’ gives the idea of several individuals.

☞18. If pronouns of different persons are to be used together in a sentence, the serial
order of persons should be as follows;
 second person(2) + third (3)+ first person(1) in  normal sentences. But  when mistake or fault
is expressed in the sentence, the order should be; first person(1) + second person(2) + third
person(3). RULE-231
You, he and I have finished the work. (Normal idea)
I, you and he are to blame. ( here Confession of guilt is expressed , it’s a negative idea, hence
order is 123) 

☞19. ‘Some’ is used in affirmative sentences to express quantity or degree. ‘Any’ is

uses in negative or interrogative sentences.
I shall buy some apples.
I shall not buy any apples.
Have you bought any apples?
But ‘some’ may be correctly used in interrogative sentences which are, in fact, requests.
Will you please give me some water?

☞20. The use of ‘few’, ‘a few’’ and ‘the few’ should be used with care. They denote
‘number’.
‘Few’ means ‘not many’, ‘almost nothing’.  A ‘few’ is positive and means ‘some at least’. ‘The
few’ means ‘whatever there is’.
A few men are free from fault. (Incorrect)
Few men are free from fault. (Correct)
(Here the sense is negative and thus ‘a few’ is wrong.)

Few teams will qualify for the world cup. (Incorrect)

A few boys will pass in the examination. (Correct)
Here the sense is positive and thus ‘few’ is incorrect.
I have already read a few books that are in the library. (Incorrect)
I have already read the few books that are in the library. (Correct)
Here the sense is ‘whatever there is’. ’everything that is in the library’

☞21. Use of ‘less’ and ‘fewer’

‘Less’ denote quantity and ‘fewer’ denote number.
No less than fifty students were selected. (Incorrect)
No fewer than fifty students were selected. (Correct)
There are no fewer than five liters of water in the bottle. (Incorrect)
There are no less than five liters of water in the bottle. (Correct)

☞22. Use of little, a little, the little

‘Little’ means ‘hardly any’
There is little hope of his recovery. (Incorrect)
There is a little hope of his recovery. (correct)
‘A little’ means ‘some’, though not much.
Little knowledge is a dangerous thing. (Incorrect)
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. (Correct)

‘The little means ‘not much but all there is’.

 Little water that is in the bottle may be used for the child. (Incorrect)
The little water that is in the bottle may be used for the patient. (Correct)

☞23. Use of elder, older.

‘Elder’ is used for persons of same family. 
‘Older’ refers to persons as well as things and is followed by ‘than’.
Rohan is elder than all other boys of this area. (Incorrect)
Rohan is older than all other boys of this area. (Correct)
Sabu is my older brother. (Incorrect)
Sabu is my elder brother. (Correct)

☞24. Normally ‘than’ is used in the comparative degree, but with words like superior,
inferior, senior, junior, prior, anterior, posterior and prefer ‘to’ is used.
Sara is junior than Neeta.( Incorrect)
Sara is junior to Neeta. (Correct)
I prefer reading than walking. (Incorrect)
I prefer reading to walking. (Correct)

☞25. when a comparison is made by using a comparative followed by ‘than’, the word
‘other’ must  exclude the thing compared form the class of things with which it is
compared.
He is better than any man. (Incorrect)
He is better  than any other man. (Correct)
‘Any man’ includes the man himself and thus the sentences will be awkward.

☞26. In some cases, the comparison is subtle and must be given proper attention.
Ex- The climate of Delhi is better than Mumbai. (Incorrect)
Here the comparison should be between the climate of Delhi and the climate of Mumbai.
The climate of Delhi is better than the climate of Mumbai. (Correct)
Or
The climate of Ranchi is better than that of Gaya. (Correct)
(Here, ‘That of’ means ‘the climate of’)
If the traits are in plural, it will be ‘those of’.
The products of Reliance are better than those of Suzuki.
The scenery of Kashmir is better than Shimla. (Incorrect)
The scenery of Kashmir is better than that of shimla. (Correct)

☞27. ‘many a’ is always followed by the singular verb.

Many a student were drowned in the river. (Incorrect)
Many a student was drowned in the river. (Correct)
☞28. If the subject is ‘the number of’ the singular verb is used. And when the
expression (‘a +number+of) is used , plural verb is used. 
The number of students are very small. Incorrect
The number of students is very small. Correct
A number of girls has passed in the examination. (Incorrect)
A number of girls have passed in the examination.( correct)

☞29. When ‘as well as’, ‘along with’, together with’, ‘no less than’, ‘in addition to’ and
‘not’ and ‘with’ join two subjects, the verb will be used according to the first subject.
Ram, as well as his five friends, are going.( Incorrect)
Ram, as well as his five friends, is going. (Correct)
The teacher, along with the students, were dancing.( Incorrect)
The teacher, along with the students, was going. Correct

================x=======================x==================
PRONOUNS

Personal Pronoun
        “A pronoun is a word used instead of a Noun”.
            (I, we, you, he, she, it, they) are called personal pronouns because they stand for the
three persons.
(i)       The person speaking
(ii)      The person spoken to, and
(iii)     The person spoken of.

‘You’ is both singular and Plural.

Possessive case
(Genitive)
Nominative case Objective case
(Subjective) (Accusative)
I me my, mine,
First Person we us our, ours
you

Second Person you your, yours

he him his
she her her, hers
it it its
Third person they them their, theirs
           
Pronouns are used so that our language is not cumbersome with the same nouns being repeated
over and over in a paragraph.

Subject Pronoun: (Subjective case)

(I, we, you, he, she, it, they)
Example:     She is at work.
‘She’ is main subject of the sentence, hence in the sentence, ‘She’ is the subjective personal
pronoun.

Objective pronoun (objective case)

Example:  He will meet us later.
‘Us’ is the objective personal pronoun, as it is the object of the verb ‘meet.’

Possessive pronoun (possessive case)

Example: That is our clubhouse.

‘Our’ shows the possession of the object ‘clubhouse’.

Gender
Example:  He went to the market.
He is used for male gender.
Other examples – (his, him, he etc.)

Example:  She is doing the laundry.

‘she’ is used for female gender.
(Her, hers, etc.)

Example:  It is important to them.

‘It’ is gender neutral as it shows an object,

 ‘Them’ is also gender neutral as ‘Them’ can consists of both genders.

Others gender neutral pronouns are - (Their, they, its.)

Number
Singular Pronoun – where the pronoun is only referring to one specific Noun.
Example: That book belongs to me.

Plural Pronoun – where the pronoun is used to refer to a number of nouns.

Example: That is Their book, not yours.

REFLEXIVE PRONOUN

“They are object pronouns that we use when the subject and the object are the same Noun.”
Example: I told myself not to bet all my money on one horse.
Example: The robber hurt himself chasing me through the alley.

“Reflexive pronouns are those which are used to indicate a noun which has been used in an
earlier part of the same sentence.
(myself, themselves, yourself, ourselves, herself, himself, itself.)

Example: She blamed herself for the accident.

He is himself today.

EMPHATIC/INTENSIVE PRONOUN

“These pronouns are used to emphasize a Noun or pronoun. 

(myself, himself, herself, themselves, itself, yourself, yourselves and ourselves.)

Example: He himself is his worst critic.

“These pronouns act as appositives of nouns or pronouns for the sake of emphasis,”
Example: You yourself wrote those words.
This request came from the employee themselves.

They themselves know that the Prank was in bad taste.

Avoid reporting things that you yourself haven’t witnessed.

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN

“Demonstrative pronouns are used to show or identify one or a number of nouns that may be far
or near in distance or time.

They are only four in number (This, that, these, those)

This, that → Singular demonstrative pronoun
These, those → Plural demonstrative pronouns.

Example: That is a beautiful house.

They can also be used to show an unspecified quantity in a sentence.

Example: These were made by me.

(These is showing an unspecified quantity of something that was made by a person.)

Example: Everyone remembers those days.

(Those is showing a particular time or period of days in the past, it is being used in place of a
noun that could be – school, summer, college etc.)

Example: This is what he is charging.

This is used as pronoun in place of a number.

These pronouns point out someone or something.

They are identical in form to demonstrative adjective/determiners.

The difference is that…

→ A demonstrative pronoun stands alone (because it is a substitute for a noun or noun phrase)

→ But a demonstrative adjective is accompanied by the noun it modifies.

Example: She gave me this gift.

(This – demonstrative adjective)

I like this.
(This – demonstrative pronoun)

(More example of demonstrative pronoun)

These are my children.
That is a good idea.
The streets of Delhi are more crowded than those of Mumbai. 

INDEFINITE PRONOUN

“These pronouns do stand for some person or thing, but we don’t know for exactly whom.”
When we say, “somebody stole my watch.”
(We don’t know to whom the word ‘somebody’ refers to.  The word ‘somebody’ is an indefinite
pronoun.

Example: One should speak the truth.

                Somebody immediately called the doctor.
                Anybody can solve this problem.
                Nobody was present.
                Many are called, but few are chosen.
               Do good to others.
(Few, all, some, none, everything- indefinite pronouns)

DISTRIBUTIVE PRONOUN
“These Pronouns refer to individual elements in a group or a pair, one individual at a time.”

Example:     Each of the boys gets a prize.

                        Either of these roads leads to the railway station.
                        Either of you can go.
                        Neither of the accusations is true.
                        You may bring any of your friends
                        None of our students failed last year.

Each, either, neither are called distributive pronouns because they refer to persons or things,
one at a time.

Each →used to denote every one of a number of persons or things taken singly.

Either means the one or the other of two.

Neither means not the one nor the other of two.
It is negative of either.

Either and Neither should be used only in speaking of two persons or things.

When more than two are spoken of (Any, No one, and none) should be used.

RECIPROCAL PRONOUN

Each and one really belong to the subject, Other and another are objects, but Each

other and one another have become compound pronouns, (and are called reciprocal pronouns)
and are rarely separated even by a preposition)

Example:     The brothers quarreled with each other.

                        They all gave evidence against one another.
                        Jamie and Jack always sit beside each other in break.

                      They haven’t seen one another since last year.

RELATIVE PRONOUN

These pronouns are used to connect a clause or phrase to a noun or pronoun.

These are: who, whom, which, whoever, whomever, whose, whichever and that.

Example: The driver who Ran the stop sign was careless.

Which and that are generally used for objects.

Who and whom are used for people and whose is used to show possession.

Example: she will choose the color which looks good on everyone

She is complaining to whoever she comes across nowadays.

There is a car in the parking lot that someone has painted a bright pink.
Is there anyone here whose mobile phone has a signal?
I met Hari who had just returned.
I have found the pen which I lost.
There is the book That you lent me.

INTERROGATIVE
Who, whom, which and what are interrogative pronouns as they are used to ask questions about
a person or object that we do not know about.

Compounds of these words are made by attaching (–ever) to the words to strengthen the
emphasis on the word.

Example:     which one would you like?

                        What is your Name?
                        Who will be managing the bullet?
                        Whom did you tell about this?
                        Whoever could have done this?
                        Whichever one will you choose?
                       
‘Who’ is always the subject of the verb.
‘Whom’ is never the subject of the verb.
It is object of the verb.
It is used to show the person to or for whom the action is being done.
                       
Example: whom were you meeting with?

English Short Notes:Pronouns Rules

Shortcut Rule 1 :  We should use the personal pronouns in the order of 231for good results ( I mean,
Second Person, Third Person, First Person).
The order 123 (First Person, Second Person and Third Person) is also possible when we admit guilt. 

Shortcut Rule 2 : A Pronoun in the nominative form should be compared with the same form of the
pronoun. 

Shortcut Rule 3 : A Pronoun in the objective case is used after "Let / Between / Any Preposition"

Shortcut Rule 4 : When a pronoun stands for a collective noun, it should be used in the singular form.

Shortcut Rule 5 : When two singular nouns are joined by "and", refer to the same person, the pronoun
used in their place should be singular in form.

Shortcut Rule 6 : A singular pronoun should be used when two singular nouns are joined by either
or / neither nor

Shortcut Rule 7 : A pronoun in the plural form should be used when two nouns of different members
are joined by "or" or "nor".

Shortcut Rule 8 : The distributive pronouns "Either / Neither / None / Any / No one" are used with
singular verbs.
Either / Neither ........................Used for two Person / Things
None / No one / Any ................ Used for more than two person / things.
Any ............................Used for more than two persons / things.   Have a look at some 
Shortcut Rule 9 : The Reciprocal pronouns "Each other / One another"
Each other - For two persons
One another - For more than two persons.
The two sister hate each other.
The five brother love one another.

Shortcut Rule 10 : The indefinite pronoun "One" should be used as "One's" for  its possessive case.

Shortcut Rule 11 : The verbs such as "Hurt / Cheat / Prostrate / Introduce / Present / Absent /
Satisfy / Prepare / Enjoy / Avail of" are followed by either "an" object or "a" reflexive pronoun. (Myself
/ Ourselves / Yourself / Yourselves) (Himself / Herself / Itself / Themselves)

Shortcut Rule 12 : The use of Relative Pronouns :

Who................. for Persons
Which .................for Things.
That ................. is used both for persons and things.

Shortcut Rule 13 : The word "Who" as a relative pronoun is used in the nominative case, takes a verb.
The word "Whom" as a relative pronoun is used in the objective case (takes no verb)

Shortcut Rule 14 : Agreement of the verb with its antecedent in number and person

Shortcut Rule 15 : If a pronoun is to be placed after "to be", the pronoun in the subjective case is
used.