NOUNS..

NOUN

NOUNS AND THEIR CORRECT USAGE:

Noun is a naming word, name of a person, place, thing, animal, etc.

The subject of a sentence is also noun.

Nouns are divided into five kinds. They are:

          Proper noun

          Common noun

          Collective noun

           Abstract noun

           Material noun

Countable and uncountable nouns:

          Nouns are further classified into countable nouns and uncountable nouns.

          Countable nouns are the nouns that we can count.

          Ex: one girl, three girls, etc.

          Common nouns and collective nouns come under countable      nouns.

           Uncountable nouns are the nouns that cannot be counted.

           Ex: Sugar, anger, etc.

            Abstract nouns and material nouns come under uncountable nouns.

The following comes under uncountable nouns:

1. Branches of learning

Ex: Economics, English, etc.

• Gases

Ex: Nitrogen, air, mist, etc

• Liquids

Ex: Water, honey, honey, milk, etc.

• Materials

Ex: Wood, silver, Dust, etc.

• Natural Phenomena

Ex: heat, electricity, cold, etc.

• Abstract nouns like stages of life, actions, ideas, processes, qualities, etc.

Ex: happiness, courage, Freedom, childhood, etc.

1. Proper Noun:
2. Proper noun is the name of a particular person, place or thing.

Ex: Shakuntala was a great mathematician.

•  A proper noun always begins with a capital letter.
•  A proper noun becomes a common noun when it is used in plural   form.

Ex: There are five Srinivasas in our class.

• A proper noun becomes a common noun when article ‘the’ is placed before it.

Ex: He is the Kishore Kumar of our college.

• Common noun:

         A common noun is a name given in common to every person, thing or place of the same class or kind.

      Ex: woman, horse, town, etc.

• Collective noun:

       a) Collective noun is the word which stands for a collection of    persons or things as one complete whole.

    Ex: army – Collection of soldiers

       b) A collective noun takes a singular verb when the whole unit is considered as one unit.

    Ex: The committee have taken their seats.

1. If Committee refers to the members of it has separately then it takes a plural verb.

 Ex: The committee have taken their seats.

• Abstract Noun:

     a) An abstract noun refers to the things that can’t be seen or touched but can only be felt.

        Ex: happiness, childhood, etc.

     b) An abstract noun can also be used as a common noun by placing an article before it.

       Ex: Ramya is a beauty.

     c) An abstract noun can also be used in the sense of a collective noun and takes a plural verb.

        Ex: Youth are the pillars of the nation.

• Material Noun:
• Material noun is a noun which is made of some material.

Ex: Linen, cotton, gold, etc.

• When a material noun denotes a mass of matter, then it can’t be used in plural form.

Ex: Their house is built of brick and stone.

1. Singular and plural nouns:

 Generally, nouns change their form from singular to plural by the addition of suffixes ‘-s’, ‘-es’, ‘-ies’, etc.

1. Nouns are used in two forms, namely singular and plural.

Ex: boy – boys, bench – benches, etc.

• Some nouns have same form for both singular a plural.

Ex: sheep, species, deer, aircraft, etc.

• Some nouns are only used in singular.

Ex: advice, justice, clothing, etc.

• Some nouns are only used in plural.

Ex: Scissors, spectacles, outskirts, premises, shorts, cattle, poultry, people, etc.

• Some nouns are plural in form but singular in use.

Ex: news, ethics, physics, economics, etc.

• Some nouns are always used in plural.

Ex: Police, poultry, people, etc.

• Inanimate things which are known for strength, courage, violence, etc   are considered as masculine.

Ex: fear, thunder, death.

• Inanimate objects which are known for beauty, gracefulness, tenderness, etc are considered as feminine gender.

Ex: the moon, pity, virtue, modesty, virtue, etc.

POSSESSIVE CASE OF NOUNS:

1. Possessive case is formed when we add ‘s’ to the noun (apostrophe s).

Ex: The girl’s dress etc.

• Possessive case is used with living things but not with inanimate objects.

Ex: Table’s leg is incorrect,

       leg of the table is correct.

• Possessive case is used with the names of personified objects.

Ex: death’s icy hands.

• Plural noun which ends with ‘s’, takes the apostrophe ‘s’ after it.

Ex: girl’s hostel etc.

• When noun is plural without ‘s’, then it becomes  possessive by adding apostrophe ‘s’ to it.

Ex: Men’s club, children’s park etc.

• Compound words become possessive case when ‘-s’ is added to the last word.

Ex: Sister-in-law’s house etc.

• When two or more nouns are joined by ‘and’ and is a common possession, then ‘-s’ is added to the second noun.

Ex: Anita and Sita’s Rangoli was selected for the first prize.

• When the noun consists of a group of words, then ‘-s’ is added to the word to make it possessive.

Ex: The President of America’s visit is in the next week.