What is a Noun? Definition, Types, and Examples

What is a Noun? Definition, Types, and Examples here we will learn about noun.

What is a Noun?

A Noun is a part of speech that is used to name a person, place, thing, quality, or idea. A noun can function as a subject, object, complement, appositive, or object of a preposition.

Definition of Noun

A Noun is a word which is used as the name of a person, a place, a thing, an action, quality or state as:

     Name of persons : Khushboo, Manish, Trisha, Raju etc.

     Name of places : Circus, Dispensary, School, Hospital etc.

     Name of actions : Choice, Work, Dance, Sing etc.

     Name of things : Pen, Slate, Book, Duster etc.

     Name of qualities : Truth, Silence, Honesty, Patience etc.

     Name of situations : Sleep, Death, Birth etc.

(A noun is a word that is the name of a creature, object or place. In this definition, the word ‘object’ has been used in a very broad sense. Under this, country, place, river, mountain, quality, demerit, State, feeling, action means whatever is there in this creation, all come.)

Types of noun/ Kinds of Noun

There are five types of Noun:

1. Proper Noun

2. Common Noun

3. Collective Noun

4. Material Noun

5. Abstract Noun

1. Proper Nouns

 Proper Nouns is the name of a particular person, place or thing.

     The First Letter of Proper Noun is Capital.

Examples:

• India is a great country.
• Newton was a great scientist.
• The Gita is a holy book.
• Ram is a boy.
• Sita is a girl.
• Delhi is a city.
• The Bible is a book.
• Delhi is the capital of India.
• Shakespeare was a poet.
• The Bhagwad Gita is a religious scripture.

Usually the number of Proper Noun remains the same in the world, So Ram, Sita, Delhi and Bible are Proper Noun in the above sentences, because they are one in number in the world, but the Noun with them i.e. boy, girl, city and book are Common Noun because they are not one, but many.

     (Mostly the number of Proper Nouns remains the same in the world, so in the above sentences Ram, Sita, Delhi and Bible are Proper Nouns, because they are one in number all over the world, but the accompanying Nouns i.e. boy, girl, city And book is a Common Noun because they are not just one, they are many.)

     The difference between Proper Noun and Common Noun is explained in the following sentences:

     Proper Noun                     Common Noun

• Ram             is           a                   boy.
• Shyam          is           a                   boy.
• Hari              is           a                   boy.
• Robin           is           a                   boy.

     In the above examples, the four boys Ram, Shyam, Hari and Robin have different names while they are all boys and are counted as boys.

     (In the above examples Ram, Shyam, Hari and Robin are different names of four boys while all of them are boys and they are counted among boys only.)

2. Common Noun

Common Noun is the name given to the things which are many of the same class.
Like- a table, chair, pen, pencil, man, woman etc.
Sometimes, a Proper Noun may be used as a Common Noun, but even in that state, it will be begin with a capital letter.

• Munshi Prem Chand is the Charles Dickens of India.
• Kalidas is the Shakespeare of India.
• Ritesh is the Newton of our class.
• It is a dog.
• She is a girl.
• You are a boy.
• It is a pen.
• Sharda has read many books.
• Man is a social animal.
• Cows give us milk.
• His books are lying on the table.

     Here it is meant by Common Nouns, which make sense of every object of a caste. Like- boy, girl, city, state, country etc.

3. Collective Noun 

Collective Noun is the name of the same type of persons or things taken together and regarded as one entity

Collective Noun Examples

• 1. A bunch of keys or grapes.
• 2. A gang of bandits.
• 3. A class of students.
• 4. An army of soldiers.
• 5. A hive of bees.
• 6. A fleet of ships.
• 7. A constellation or galaxy of stars.
• 8. A crowd of people.
• The army fought bravely.
• The meeting sat for long.
• The flock of sheep left the field.
• There are sixty students in my class.
• Parliament is considering the bill.
• Our team won the match.
• A crowd gathered there.

In these sentences, team, army, crowd and class make sense of the group. Like- A class of boys, A crowd of people, A team of players etc. Hence these words are Collective Nouns.

Some Important Collective Nouns:-

• Family – a group of parents and children or near relatives.
• Gang – a company or band of persons.
• Assembly – a meeting of people.
• Anthology – a collection of poems.
• A troop of children
• A volley of arrows
• A heap of rubbish
• A flock of pigeons
• A batch of bread
• A suit of armor
• A volley of shots
• A volley of stones
• A heap of dust
• A pinch of salt
• A band of travelers
• A flight of birds
• A sheaf of grain
• A heap of sand
• A bunch of keys
• A galaxy of stars
• A fleet of ships
• An army of ants
• A shoal of fishes
• A bouquet of flowers
• A choir of singers
• A crowd of people
• A herd of cattle
• A group of students
• A gang of robbers
• A gang of workmen
• A team of players
• A swarm of ants
• A clump of trees
• A series of events
• A bundle of clothes
• A flight of locusts
• A congregation of worshipers
• A party of politicians

NOTE:
A Collective Noun comprises a collection of Common Nouns and is itself used as if it were a Common Noun, e.g.;
1.This class consists of fifty students.
2. The jury was unanimous in its opinion.
3. The mob attacked the police station.

4. Material Noun

Material Noun denotes the original or raw elements or objects existing in nature.

Material Noun Examples:  

• Gold, iron, cotton, wool, silk, sugar, honey, milk, water, wheat, rice etc…
• Copper is a useful metal.
• My ring is made of gold.
• Brass is yellow.
• Axe is made of iron.
• Silver is cheaper than gold.

     In these sentences, copper, gold and brass give the sense of substances from which other things can be made. Hence these words are Material Nouns.

(a) The Definite Article “the” is often not used before a material noun, eg:
(1) Gold is a precious metal.
(2) Milk is good for health.

(b) When a Material Noun is used in a particular sense, the Article “the” is used before it, e.g.:
(1) The iron imported from China is of inferior quality.
(2) The water of this well is cool.

5. Abstract Noun

  An Abstract Noun is the name of something which we cannot see, hear, smell, taste or touch. We can only think of it in the mind.

 Abstract Noun indicates any of the following four things:
(a)  Quality: truth, honesty, kindness, humility, goodness.
(b) Action: movements, action, activity, theft, hatred.
(c) Names of various arts, sciences and professions: economics, politics, history, literature, physics, chemistry.
(d) State: infancy, childhood, boyhood, youth etc.

Examples:

• Gandhiji loved truth.
• We should have love for the poor.
• Kindness is a noble virtue.
• Beauty is only a nine days’ wonder.
• Laughter is the best medicine.
• Poverty is the greatest curse.

     In these sentences, there is a sense of quality from beauty, procedure from laughter and condition from poverty. Hence these words are Abstract Nouns.

Classification of Common Nouns:-

(i) Countable Common Nouns

(ii) Uncountable Common Nouns

Countable and Uncountable Nouns:

Here we will learn about countable and uncountable nouns but before we continue the lesson, look at the following chart and study the nouns.

Countable	Uncountable
books	money
friends	meat
teachers	juice
tables	milk

► Countable nouns

Countable nouns have a singular and a plural form. In plural, these nouns can be used with a number- they can be counted. (That’s why they are called “countable nouns”)

Example:
1 friend,       2 friends,     3 friends…
1 book,        2 books,      3 books…

Countable nouns take many.

Example:
100 friends – many friends

► Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns can only be used in singular. These nouns can not be used with a number- they can’t counted. (That’s why they care called “uncountable nouns”)

Examples:
I have a lot of money. (Not 1000 money)
You say I drink a lot of milk. (Not 5 milk)

► Uncountable nouns take much.

Example:
100 money – much money
Note: Of course we can count money, milk, meat; but then we would use the currency, litre, kilo:

• 5 euros or dollars…; (but not 5 money).
• 2 litres or glasses… of milk (but not 2 milk)
• 3 kilos…. of meat (but not 3 meat)
• 10 bottles of mineral water… (but not 10 mineral water)

NOTE : Concrete nouns are those nouns which can be touched and felt and Abstract nouns are those which cannot be touched and felt.

HOW TO FIND A NOUN ?

( method of finding noun )

Rule 1 : The person, thing, place, action, state or quality that comes in response to the verb who, who, what or whom, will be a Noun.
Example: Roopangi writes a letter.
The word writes in the above sentence is a verb meaning ‘writes.’ 
Now ask the question – who writes? Got the answer – Roopangi
now ask a question – what does he write. Got the answer – letter
So in this example Roopangi and letter are Nouns.

Rule 2 Translate the sentence into Hindi. The word which acts i.e. the subject of the verb or explains it or which is acted upon i.e. the object of the verb, is often a Noun.
Example: Dhruvika, my sister, plays cricket.
English translation: My sister, Dhruvika, plays cricket.
In these sentences the subject is Dhruvika and sister explains it. Hence both of them are Nouns. In this sentence work affects cricket. Hence it is also a Noun. Thus Dhruvika, Sister, Cricket all three became Nouns. Sisteris used like Case in Apposition of Dhruvika.

Rules

Rule 1: Numerals preceding nouns: See following examples:

1. Ten thousand rupees and not ten thousands rupees
2. 30 head of cattle and not 30 heads of cattle
3. Two dozen eggs and not two dozens eggs
4. Two pair of shoes and not two pairs of shoes

BUT-
(a) Dozens of pencils
(b)Thousands of men and women

Rule 2: A collective noun usually takes a singular verb and is substituted by a singular pronoun if it is taken as one whole.

1. The committee has given its decision.
2. The jury has given its opinion.
3.The Parliament has supported the issue with one accord

BUT –
(a)  The jury were divided in their opinion.
(b) Team were wearing different colour shirts.
(c) The Parliament were divided in their support to the bill.
(d) The ship sank and the crew were also drowned.

Rule 3: If the same noun is repeated before and after preposition, the noun is used singular form each time and the verb used is also singular: 

1. Truck after truck is bringing people to the venue.
2. Mistake after mistake was committed by him.
3. Chance after chance was lost by our team to level the score.
4. Wave upon wave was rising, but he controlled the boat.
5. Attempt after attempt was made, but no success could be achieved.

Rule 4: A material noun does not take an article before it and not used in plural form:

1. A book is made of paper and not papers.
2. Give me a paper is wrong, say give me a piece of paper.
3. Cotton is a cash crop.
4. The house is built of stone and brick, and not stones and bricks.
5. Iron is a heavy metal.

Rule 5: Young children and lower animals are referred to as of the neuter gender:

1. The baby is playing with its toys.
2. The mouse lost its tails when a cat pounced on it.

Rule 6: Always use plural noun after ‘one of + noun’ construction:

1. One of my friends has gone to the US.
2. He is one of the servants who hardly ever works.
3. She is one of the students who works very hard.

Rule 7: The following nouns are used in the same form, whether singular or plural:

deer, sheep, fish, apparatus, yoke, price, amends, means etc.
Incorrect: A large number of sheeps died due to polluted water.
Correct: A large number of sheep died due to polluted water.

Rule 8: The following nouns are singular in form but are used as plurals: alphabet, swine, poultry, cattle, peasantry, artillery, police, company, infantry, clergy, gentry, people.

Incorrect: Many cattles were grazing in the field.
Correct: Many cattle were grazing in the field.

Rule 9: The following nouns are plural in form. Their form is not changed whether these are used as singular or plural:

odds, spectacles, alms, trousers, intestines, annals, tongs, riches, credentials, proceeds, scissors, gymnastics, measles, gallows, assets, breeches, wages etc.
Incorrect: Riches have wings.
Correct: Riches has wings. (Riches means wealth) 
Incorrect: The wages of sin is death.
Correct: Wages have been increased.

Rule 10: The following nouns are plural in form but are used as singulars:

Physics, Economics, innings, news, mathematics, statistics etc
Incorrect: No cricket innings are scheduled for this evening.
Correct: No cricket innings is scheduled for this evening.

Rule 11: The following nouns are not changed into plural nor are preceded by an article of indefiniteness (a or an):

Bread, mischief, business, advice, language, hair, furniture, poetry, information, scenery etc.
Incorrect: The sceneries of Switzerland are charming.
Correct: The scenery of Switzerland is charming.

Noun Worksheet & MCQ ( Quiz)

Q.1
Why do you tell a lie?(Choose an abstract noun)

1
Tell

2
Why

3
You

4
Lie

Solution

• Lie- an abstract noun

Q.2
We need peace in our country.(Choose an abstract noun)

1
Our

2
Need

3
Peace

4
Noun

Solution

• Peace- Abstract Noun

Q.3
You can settle everything in a friendly manner. (Choose a concrete noun)

1
Settle

2
You

3
Can

4
Friendly manner

Solution

• Friendly manner- concrete noun

Q.4
I and Sonal will (A)/go to the market (B)/ in the evening (C)/ no error (D).

1
A

2
B

3
C

4
D

Solution

• “Sonal and I” होगा।
  (पहले II person फिर I person)

Q.5
Neither of the two children (A)/said their prayer (B)/before going to bed. (C)/no error. (D).

1
A

2
B

3
C

4
D

Solution

• “Their” की जगह “ her” या “his” का प्रयोग होगा।

Q.6
He told his friends that (A)/each of them (B)/ should be able to carry out the orders oneself (C)/ No error (D)

1
A

2
B

3
C

4
D

Solution

• Oneself की जगह himself.

Q.7
This happened (A) just exactly (B)/five years ago. (C) no error. (D)

1
A

2
B

3
C

4
D

Solution

• ‘just exactly’ की जगह सिर्फ ‘just’ या सिर्फ ‘exactly’ होगा।

Q.8
Bhutan is a beautiful (A) country which almost (B)/eighty percent of the (C) population lives in villages. (D)

1
A

2
B

3
C

4
D

Solution

• ‘which’ की जगह ‘where’ होगा।

Q.9
We had scarcely (a) reached the place, (b)/than it started to rain heavily. (c)/ no error (d)

1
We had scarcely

2
Reached the place

3
Than it started to rain heavily.

4
no error

Solution
‘than’ की जगह ‘when’ होगा, क्योंकि ‘No sooner……….. than’ होता है।

Q.10
There were (a)/ hardly no trees left (b)/ just bare rocky land. (c)/ no error (d)

1
There were

2
Hardly no trees left

3
Just bare rocky lan

4
No error

Solution

• ‘no’ की जगह ‘any’ होगा, क्योंकि hardly व no दोनों negative word है।

Noun	Factor
Pronoun	sentence idea
Adjective	speech
Action	Era
Word	indecent word
adverb	Idioms
Treaty	Proverbs
gender	character idea
Promise	punctuation
Samas	one word for phrase
prefix	Glossary of Terms
suffix	Factors sign
ambiguous words	Antonyms
Synonyms	Derivative words
monosyllable	all other articles