Day-3
LEARN ONLINE ENGLISH WITH SIR SAMAD
SOOMRO
Noun
Nouns refer to persons, animals, places, things,
ideas, or events, etc. Nouns encompass most of
the words of a language.
Noun can be a/an -
Person – a name for a person: - Rani, Samra,
Maryam, Ahmed, Ayaan, etc.
Animal – a name for an animal: - dog, cat, cow,
kangaroo, etc.
Place – a name for a place: - London, Australia,
Canada, Mumbai, etc.
Thing – a name for a thing: - bat, ball, chair,
door, house, computer, etc.
Idea – A name for an idea: - devotion,
superstition, happiness, excitement, etc.
Types of Noun:
1. Common Noun:
A common noun is a name for something which is common for many things, person, or
places. It encompasses a particular type of things, person, or places.
Example: Country (it can refer to any country, nothing in particular), city (it can refer to any
city like Melbourne, Mumbai, Toronto, etc. but nothing in particular).
So, a common noun is a word that indicates a person, place, thing, etc. In general and
a proper noun is a specific one of those.
2. Proper Noun:
A proper noun is a name which refers only to a single person, place, or thing and there is no
common name for it. In written English, a proper noun always begins with capital letters.
Example: Karachi (it refers to only one particular city), Sarim (refers to a particular person),
Australia (there is no other country named Australia; this name is fixed for only one
country).
3. Abstract Noun:
An abstract noun is a word for something that cannot be seen but is there. It has no physical
existence. Generally, it refers to ideas, qualities, and conditions.
Example: Truth, lies, happiness, sorrow, time, friendship, humor, patriotism,
etc.
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.
Note: Concrete nouns are names of material things, i.e. things having a material form, shape or size. Abstract
nouns are the names of qualities found in various kinds of objects. Since they have no material form, they cannot
be seen or touched. We can know of them only through our mind:
Concrete nouns Abstract nouns
sugar wetness
book beauty
milk hatred
We can see sugar but cannot see sweetness, so sugar is a concrete noun and sweetness an abstract noun. In short,
concrete nouns refer to physical properties and abstract nouns to mental Properties.
Material nouns :
A material noun is the name of a material, substance, or ingredient things are made of. They can be articles of food
or drink as well: iron, copper, steel, gold, coal, silver, rice, wheat, milk, water, tea, sugar Note: A material noun is a
type of common noun but a distinction is made between the two. A common noun is usually a countable noun but
a material noun is an uncountable noun. The cow gives us milk. Cow is a common noun (countable), but milk is a
material noun (uncountable).
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)
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)
Abstract nouns and proper nouns are always non-countable nouns, but common
nouns and concrete nouns can be both count and non-count nouns.
Collective Noun:
A collective noun is a word for a group of things, people, or animals, etc.
Example: family, team, jury, cattle, etc.
Collective nouns can be both plural and singular.
However, Americans prefer to use collective nouns as
singular, but both of the uses are correct in other parts
of the world.
Compound Noun:
Sometimes two or three nouns appear together, or even
with other parts of speech, and create
idiomatic compound nouns. Idiomatic means that those
nouns behave as a unit and, to a lesser or greater
degree, amount to more than the sum of their parts.
Example: snowball, mailbox, homemade, sunflower,
cupboard, etc.
Nouns: Gender
In English, the four genders of noun are masculine, feminine, common, and neuter.
Masculine nouns refer to words for a male figure or male member of a species (i.e. man, boy,
actor, horse, etc.)
Feminine nouns refer to female figures or female members of a species (i.e. woman, girl, actress,
mare, etc.)
Common nouns refer to members of a species and don't specify the gender (i.e. parent, friend,
client, student, etc.)
Neuter nouns refer to things that have no gender (i.e. rock, table, pencil, etc.)
Singular & Plural Nouns
Singular Noun Definition: When a noun means one only, it is said to be singular.
Examples: boy, girl, book, church, box
Plural Noun Definition: When a noun means more than one, it is said to be
plural. Examples: boys, girls, books, churches
Rule #1
The plural of nouns is usually formed by adding s to a singular noun. Example: lamp, lamps;
cat,cats; fork, forks; flower, flowers; pen, pens
Rule #2
Nouns ending in s, z, x, sh, and ch form the plural by adding es.
Example: moss, mossesbuzz, buzzes box, boxes dish, dishes
church, churches
Rule #3
Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant is formed into a
plural by changing y to ies. Examples: lady, ladies; city, cities;
army, armies
Rule #4
Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel form their plurals by
adding s. Example: boy, boys; day, days
Rule #5
Most nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant is formed into a plural by adding es. Example: hero;
heroes; grotto, grottoes
motto
calico
buffalo
hero
potato
cargo
volcano
grotto
mosquito*
tomato
halo*
tornado*
buffalo*
portico*
veto
*may add s or es
Special Note
Special Note
Most nouns ending in o preceded by a vowel is formed into a
plural by adding s. Example: folio, folios; cameo; cameos;
studio, studios; portfolio, portfolios
Rule #6
Some nouns ending in f or fe are made plural by changing f
or fe to ves. Example: beef, beeves; wife, wives
Exercise
Write the plural of the following words
calf self leaf sheaf
loaf shelf half Woolf
elf half thief wife
chief dwarf proof turf
proof gulf knife life
Exceptions: The following may form their plurals by adding s.
chief, chiefs
fife,
fifes
mischief, mischiefs
hoof, hoofs
roof, roofs
grief, griefs
kerchief, kerchiefs
safe,
safes
IRREGULAR PLURALS
man, men
foot, feet
mouse, mice
woman, women
tooth, teeth
louse, lice
child, children
ox, oxen
goose, geese
The following nouns have no singular:
scissors
oats
tongs
dregs
trousers
pinchers
bellows
snuffers
cattle
shears
measles
mumps
victuals
tweezers
vespers
Some nouns are always singular. Some of these nouns may be
used in the plural when different kinds are meant as sugars,
coffees, cottons
gold, silver, wheat, corn, molasses, copper, sugar, cotton news,
gallows, mathematics, ethics (other words ending in ics)
Singular nouns use this and that.
Plural nouns use these and those.
Special note:
singular plural
son-in-law, daughter-in-law, maid of honor secretary of state
sons-in-law
daughters-in-law
maids of honor
secretaries of state
In forming the plural of proper names with a title, some pluralize the title,
e.g., the Mrs Rehan.
Others pluralize the name, e.g., the Mrs Rehan
If a title belongs to each of the two names, it should take the s in forming the
plural, e.g., Drs. Safdar
Functions of Nouns
Nouns can be used as a subject, a direct object, and an indirect
object of a verb; as an object of a preposition; and as an adverb or
adjective in sentences. Nouns can also show possession.
Subject: The company is doing great. Roses are the flowers of love.
Direct object: I finally bought a new mobile.
Indirect object: Sarim gave Salar another chocolate.
Object of preposition: Roses are the flowers of love.
Adverb: The train leaves today.
Adjective: The office building faces the mall.
Possession: The lion’s cage is dangerous.
My brother’s daughter is adorable.
Exercise
Q1. Name any ten nouns around you and classify them accordingly.
Q2. Underline the Nouns in the following sentences:
[Link] Azam is a wonderful player.
[Link] Lions is the team he plays for.
[Link] was not born in this country.
[Link] is the city he lives in.
[Link] is a man of dream.
[Link] bat is made of wood from a tree.
[Link] brother has a mobile phone.
[Link] phone is made of plastic and
9.I need some water for the cake.
The jug is on the table.
10.
[Link] is also a pen and a diary on it.
[Link] is a virtue that is rare nowadays.
[Link] depends mostly on truthfulness and integrity.
[Link] cat used to eat a cookie every day.
15.I have a phone, few books, a notepad, a table-calendar, and a computer on my desk.
