PARTS OF SPEECH: NOUNS

 

PARTS OF SPEECH

 

NOUNS:    What is a Noun?

 

A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea.

 

Nouns are usually the first words which small children learn.

 

There are five kinds of Nouns. They are 1) Proper Nouns, 2) Common Nouns, 3) Collective Nouns, 4) Material Nouns and 5) Abstract Nouns.

 

Proper Nouns:

 

A Proper Noun is the special name of a particular person or place, as Ramana, The Golden Temple, Sri Lanka etc. All proper nouns start with a Capital letter.

 

Common Nouns:

 

A Common Noun is the name the name given in common to every person or thing of the same class or kind; as boy, girl, bird, tomato, shirt, hammer, key board etc.

 

Collective Nouns:

 

A Collective Noun is the name of a number of persons or things considered as one; as class, army, crowd, flock, bundle etc. A class is a collection of pupils, Army is a collection of soldiers, A flock is a collection of sheep etc.

 

Material Nouns:

 

A Material Noun is the name of the matter or substance of which things are made, as gold, silver, iron, silk, wood, cotton, plastic, zinc etc.

 

Abstract Nouns:

 

An Abstract Noun is the name of the thing which we can’t see or touch, but we can only think of as; truth, pride, innocence, bravery, wisdom, gentleness, kindness, beauty.

 

Countable Nouns:

 

Countable nouns are those nouns that we can count them.  Ex:  Ten tables are there.

 

Un-Countable Nouns:

 

Un-Countable nouns are those nouns that we cannot them. Ex: Water, sand, milk etc.

 

NOUNS, THE CASE

Case is that form of the Noun (Pronoun) which shows its relation to other words in a sentence. These are 1) The Nominative Case, 2) The Objective Case, 3) The Possessive Case, and 4) The Vocative Case.

The Nominative Case:

 

A Noun (Pronoun) that is the subject of a verb in a sentence is called the Nominative Case.

 

Ex: Latha sings a song. The Jug is full of water. My dog is sleeping on the bed.

 

The Objective Case:

 

A Noun (Pronoun) that is the object of a verb in a sentence is called the Nominative Case.

 

Ex: Latha sings a song. The Jug is full of water. My dog is sleeping on the bed.

 

The Possessive Case:

 

A Noun (Pronoun) that denotes the possessor or owner of anything is said to be in Possessive Case.

 

Ex: This I sour house. Seetha’s dress is beautiful. It’s yours.

 

·       The Possessive case is chiefly used with the names of living things. Ex: Father’s house, Mohan’s bag etc.

 

·        The lifeless objects form the Possessive case by of instead of ‘s. Ex: The leg of table is broken. The roof of the house is leaking.

 

·        The Possessive case is used with the names of personified objects. Ex: The duty’s call. At death’s door.

 

·        The Possessive Case is used with the nouns denoting time, space or weight. Ex: a month’s leave, six day’s journey, a meter’s length.

 

·        The Possessive case is also used in certain phrases. Ex: the court’s decree. For money’s sake. At his wit’s end.

 

Formation of Possessive Case:

 

·   The Possessive case of singular nouns is formed by adding as apostrophe (‘s) to it. Ex: my father’s pen. The boy’s book.

 

·   The Possessive case of plural nouns not ending in ‘s’ is also formed by adding ‘s at the end. Ex: Men’s hats. Women’s cosmetics. Children’s toys.

 

·   The Possessive case of plural nouns ending in ‘s’ is formed by adding apostrophe (‘) only. Ex: boys’ playground. Books’ cover.

Agreement Features (NOUNS):

 

·  Some nouns have the same form both in the Singular and the Plural Ex: deer, sheep, fish, apparatus etc.

 

·  Sheep live in flocks (not sheeps)

 

·  Here are the apparatus we brought (not apparatuses)

 

·  Some collective nouns though singular in form are always used as plurals. E.g. cattle, poultry, people, gentry, public, off spring, police, swine, company, poor, progeny etc. Whose cattles are these? (wrong, say cattle)

 

 

·  Some nouns, though plural in form, are used as singular. E.g., scissors, spectacles, trousers, measles, news, means (as in means and ends), economics, mathematics, politics etc.

 

·  Some nouns are used in the singular only. E.g., Scenery, information, poetry, hair, furniture, advice, mischief, business, bread etc

 

·  Bread takes the plural form ‘breads’ to express breads of different varieties. However, in the ordinary sense we say ‘one loaf of bread’, two loaves of bread etc.

 

·  On the same way ‘fish’ also. ‘Fishes’ means different varieties of fishes. To express the singular of ‘police’ we use police man or police woman.

 

·  The sceneries of Kashmir are very charming. (Wrong say scenery). However we can say scenes.

 

·  Material names denoting a mass of matter are used in the singular only. Ex. Houses are made of brick and stone are now common in Indian villages. There are many kinds of copper.

 

·  A noun which is made to do the work of an adjective in compound word should not be pluralized. E.g. a five-rupee note. A five-thousand people, A seven-men committee, A four-mile walk.

 

 

 

COLLECTIVE NOUNS: A noun is collective when it denotes a single group of similar individuals. There is not strict rule for the use of the singular with such nouns. Thus, we may say, The committee has (or have) recently published its (or their) reports. The company regret (or regrets) its (or their) need to revise prices, depending on whether we wish to stress the idea of the group or of the individuals comprising it. The important thing is the consistence use of the singular or the plural throughout the same document.