Nouns

Nouns are simply the names we give to everything around us, whether it be a person, an event, a place or an object, etc. Every particular name used to define something is a noun. E.g. : Amsterdam, Anita, Blackberry, Honesty, Waiter, etc.
The names given to a group of noun to identify them as a whole are called Collective Nouns. E.g.:  pride of lions, gaggle of geese etc.
Nouns or pronouns can also modify themselves to show possession of another noun, usually by attaching‘s to the end of the noun. These nouns that show possession are called Possessive Nouns.
Sometimes nouns have different forms for different genders, although this practice has been largely abandoned by the people who prefer to use the same noun for both genders. For example - Actor (male) - Actress (female), but people nowadays refer to women who act as female actors rather than actresses.
Most nouns can be converted into plural forms by adding ‘-s’ or ‘-es’ at the end of the word. E.g.:  box-boxes, cat-cats, echo-echoes , etc.
But some nouns require the last consonant to be modified before adding ‘-es’. For e.g.: the ‘Y’ in ‘city’ changes to ‘I’ to form  cities, kitty to kitties and ‘f’ to ‘v’ in  dwarf to dwarves, wharf to wharves, etc.
Some nouns become plurals irregularly by changing the entire word: mouse- mice, ox - oxen, etc.
You can learn more about Plurals here: How to make Plurals : Making Plurals-Easy Guide

Grammarians have divided nouns into different categories based on their use and purpose. Learning these divisions within the nouns will help in sentence construction and vocabulary.  The different types of Nouns are -

PROPER NOUNS
These nouns are the names of specific people and places. These nouns also refer to the names of the days of weeks and months, and also the various names for religions, organizations, institutions, etc. Proper nouns basically refer to the names that are specific to that particular noun.  These nouns are always capitalised as they need to be distinct from other nouns.
 

• William Shakespeare was a playwright. - Proper noun that is the name of a specific person.

• I will be visiting New York next month. - Proper noun that is the name of a specific place.

• Everyone dislikes Monday mornings. - The names of days are proper nouns. 

• The holy book of Islam is the Koran. - Name of a religion and religious text.

COMMON NOUNS
These are the nouns that are used to denote a general category of people, places or things. They are capitalized only when they are at the beginning of a sentence. Common Nouns don’t refer to something specific rather they are a general term used for every noun of a particular kind or type.
 

• The boys went to play cricket. - Both boys and cricket are common nouns as they can refer to any boy or any cricket match. There is nothing specified by these nouns.

• This neighbourhood is one of the best in the area. - Here neighbourhood is the common noun as there are innumerable neighbourhoods all over the world.

• She was trying to answer her phone while buying coffee. - Here we see phone and coffee that both are general indicators of the object and the drink. 

ABSTRACT NOUNS
These nouns are the names of things that we cannot perceive through our five senses of touching, smelling, seeing, hearing and tasting. These nouns can also refer to medical conditions related to the mind and are also used to express  thoughts.
 

• She screamed with great delight. - Delight is an abstract noun as it tells about the state of a person’s mind and any actual physical thing. 

• His bravery in the war won him a medal. - The abstract noun bravery is used to name the motivation behind certain actions made by people.

• One should learn to be as independent as possible. – Here, independent describes a state or a way of being, hence it is an abstract noun.

COUNTABLE NOUNS
The nouns that fall under this category are the ones that have both singular and plural forms. They can be counted either relatively or completely, and form plurals to associate with plural verbs in a sentence. They can also be expressed in numerical terms
 

• I need to buy four new suitcases for my trip.  - Suitcase (s) is a countable noun as adding ‘s’ to it makes it plural.

• Does anyone want some oranges? - Here some is being used to count the noun orange(s).

• She had a pet dog. - Dog is also a countable noun as its plural is dogs.

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
These nouns are the exact opposite of Countable Nouns. These nouns are the names of things that cannot be counted and have only a singular form. These nouns use singular verbs in a sentence.
 

• The furniture was damaged in moving out. - Furniture is an uncountable noun and therefore, we use the singular ‘was’ in referring to it.

• Is 250gms of sugar enough? -  Here, sugar is an uncountable noun as sugar itself cannot be counted. It can only be weighed. 

• He always answers questions with honesty. - Honesty is an uncountable noun as it has no plural and cannot be counted in physical terms either. 

 

List of Nouns, Noun Examples

Nouns Exercise 1

Actor

Garden

Oil

Advertisement

Gas

Orange

Afternoon

Ghost

Oxygen

Airport

Girl

Oyster

Ambulance

Glass

Painting

Animal

Gold

Parrot

Answer

Grass

Pencil

Apple

Greece

Piano

Army

Guitar

Pillow

Australia

Hair

Pizza

Balloon

Hamburger

Planet

Banana

Helicopter

Plastic

Battery

Helmet

Portugal

Beach

Holiday

Potato

Beard

Honey

Queen

Bed

Horse

Quill

Belgium

Hospital

Rain

Boy

House

Rainbow

Branch

Hydrogen

Raincoat

Breakfast

Ice

Refrigerator

Brother

Insect

Restaurant

Camera

Insurance

River

Candle

Iron

Rocket

Car

Island

Room

Caravan

Jackal

Rose

Carpet

Jelly

Russia

Cartoon

Jewellery

Sandwich

China

Jordan

School

Church

Juice

Scooter

Crayon

Kangaroo

Shampoo

Crowd

King

Shoe

Daughter

Kitchen

Soccer

Death

Kite

Spoon

Denmark

Knife

Stone

Diamond

Lamp

Sugar

Dinner

Lawyer

Sweden

Disease

Leather

Teacher

Doctor

Library

Telephone

Dog

Lighter

Television

Dream

Lion

Tent

Dress

Lizard

Thailand

Easter

Lock

Tomato

Egg

London

Toothbrush

Eggplant

Lunch

Traffic

Egypt

Machine

Train

Elephant

Magazine

Truck

Energy

Magician

Uganda

Engine

Manchester

Umbrella

England

Market

Van

Evening

Match

Vase

Eye

Microphone

Vegetable

Family

Monkey

Vulture

Finland

Morning

Wall

Fish

Motorcycle

Whale

Flag

Nail

Window

Flower

Napkin

Wire

Football

Needle

Xylophone

Forest

Nest

Yacht

Fountain

Nigeria

Yak

France

Night

Zebra

Furniture

Notebook

Zoo

Garage

Ocean

 

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns are the name we give to a group of nouns to refer to them as one entity. The most common method of doing this is by using words like group or bunch that can be applicable to most of the nouns in the language today. But there are some specific names given for certain groups of nouns to make things more interesting and funny.
Now, these collective nouns are not based in scientific thought or fact. Most of them come from the poetry and imagination of early to late Medieval English times e.g. - an eloquence of lawyers – Eloquence itself is defined as fine persuasion in speaking or writing, so this particular collective noun is a comment on the profession of lawyers while being their collective noun as well.
The same goes for the collective nouns we find for animals; the names arose from 15th century French and English hunting traditions, where hunting was common and names and terms were given to all aspects of the sport. These names were called Terms of Venery and it had become a tradition of the court to keep extending the list and by the 1500s the list was up-to 165 items long.
Here we have listed some of the more commonly used collective nouns for humans, animals and objects.

These collective nouns are commonly used under the category of people.
 

1. A class of students.

2. An army of soldiers.

3. A choir of singers.

4. A crew of sailors.

5. A band of musicians.

6. A bunch of crooks.

7. A crowd of people/spectators.

8. A gang of thieves.

9. A group of dancers.

10. A team of players.

11. A troupe of artists/dancers.

12. A pack of thieves.

13. A staff of employees.

14. A regiment of soldiers.

15. A tribe of natives.

16. An audience of listeners.

17. A panel of experts.

18. A gang of labourers.

19. A flock of tourists.

20. A board of directors.

Collective Nouns Exercise 1
Collective Nouns Exercise 2
The following collective nouns are used for animals.
 

1. A catch of fish.

2. An army of ants.

3. A flight of birds.

4. A flock of birds.

5. A haul of fish.

6. A flock of sheep.

7. A herd of deer/cattle/elephants/goats/buffaloes.

8. A hive of bees.

9. A litter of cubs.

10. A host of sparrows.

11. A team of horses.

12. A troop of lions.

13. A zoo of wild animals.

14. A pack of wolves.

15. A litter of puppies/kittens.

16. A swarm of bees/ants/rats/flies.

17. A team of horses/ducks/oxen.

18. A murder of crows.

19. A kennel of dogs.

20. A pack of hounds.

The following collective nouns are used for things.
 

1. A group of islands.

2. A galaxy of stars.

3. A wad of notes.

4. A forest of trees.

5. A stack of wood.

6. A fleet of ships.

7. A string of pearls.

8. An album of stamps/autographs/photographs.

9. A hedge of bushes.

10. A library of books.

11. A basket of fruit.

12. A bowl of rice.

13. A pack of cards.

14. A pair of shoes.

15. A bouquet of flowers.

16. A bunch of keys.

17. A chest of drawers.

18. A pack of lies.

19. A range of mountains.

20. A cloud of dust.

Collective nouns are endless and these are just a list of those used more often. As you continue to work on improving your English, you will stumble across many more. Be sure to add them to your list and use them as frequently as you can.

 

Using Nouns to Show Possession

Possessive nouns are those nouns that show possession. Possessive Nouns are used to show ownership.
A noun is possessive only when a phrase can be modified to say that an idea or commodity belongs to something or someone. Possessive nouns are an integral part of learning English, use them as often as you can to gain confidence.

In the singular form, the possessive case is formed by adding 's to the noun.
 

• The clothes of the girl. 
  The girl’s clothes.  

• The toys of the boy. 
  The boy’s toys.

• Mary goes to this school.
  This is Mary’s school.

King’s castle, grandfather’s stick, my dog’s bowl and all of the above are formed by adding the 's. 
Modify the following sentences by using the apostrophe (') to show possession:
The king’s servants.
The computer’s cover.
My phone’s charger.
 

• The servants of the king.

• Cover of the computer.

• The charger of my phone.

For certain words, instead of 's, only ' is used to avoid a hissing noise. Keep this is mind when using possessive nouns.
Some examples would be:
 

• Boss’ office.

• Dr.Briuss’ house.

• For goodness’ sake. 

There are two rules to follow in case the noun is in plural form.
 

• If the noun ends in s then the possessive case is formed by adding the apostrophe
  E.g. the donkeys’ tail, the boys’ hostel, the cousins’ aunt.

• If the noun does not end in s then the possessive case is formed by adding 's. 
  E.g. the children’s park, the men’s room.

It’s simple as long as you know the plural form of the noun. The plural form of ‘god’ will be ‘gods’ and so the apostrophe will be used after 's' (gods’). In case of nouns like ‘woman’, the plural form is ‘women’ and so the apostrophe followed by 's' will be used (women’s).
Add the apostrophe in the following sentences.
 

• Our cousins short uncle.                  (Apostrophe can be before or after 's')

• Businessmens briefcase.                (Businessmen’s)

• The ladies washroom.                     (Ladies’)

Here are some more examples to show you other possible cases.
 

• Alex and Philip’s shop. (Two nouns are used closely and showing joint possession; here, the apostrophe will be used with the second noun)

• Shakespeare’s and Wordsworth’s works. (Two nouns are used together yet separate possession is implied thus the apostrophe is used with both nouns)

Nouns as Adjective

Sometimes in the English language, a noun is used to describe another noun; in other words, the first noun performs the function of an adjective. Look at the following examples:

Basketball coach – here the noun basketball is being used to describe the noun coach
Garment shop – here the noun garment is being used to describe the noun shop
Painting exhibition – here the noun painting is being used to describe the noun exhibition

In all the above examples, the first noun acts as an adjective.

Rules related to Nouns as Adjective
1. The ‘nouns as adjective’ always come first or before the second or main noun. Let’s see a few more examples:
A cricket bat
A soccer ball
A car race
A love story

2. In general, like adjectives, nouns being used as adjectives are used in the singular form, although in the case of certain words, like clothes, customs, sports, etc, an exception is made. For example:
Bathroom or bathrooms, and not bathsroom or bathsrooms
Badminton racket or badminton rackets, and not badmintons racket or badmintons rackets
In short, the plural form will always appear on the second noun only.
Some nouns are always written or spoken in the plural forms, but we generally treat them as a singular form. For example:
A billiards player
A news editor

Some nouns are always treated in the plural forms when used as an adjective. For example:
Sports museum
Clothes outlet
Accounts manager

3. Multiple nouns can also be used as adjectives. For example:
School cricket team coach
Motor production cost
Child health care research centre

4. We can also use a true adjective before nouns as adjective. For example::
Famous Indian cricket player
Cute coffee mug
Delectable Chinese cuisine
Honest school teacher
Increasing air pollution