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Nouns
A noun is the name of any person, place or thing. Nouns also name an emotion or quality
or state.
Kavita went to the market.
Put the computer on the table.
His bravery won him an honour.
Kinds of nouns:
1.
proper nouns4.
concrete nouns
2.
common nouns5.
abstract nouns
3.
collective nouns
Nouns are also classified into countable and uncountable nouns (see chapter 2).
Proper Nouns
A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place or thing. Remember, all proper
nouns must be written beginning with a capital letter.
Neha, Lucknow, Ganga
Common Nouns
A common noun is the name given to every person or thing of the same kind. For example,
the word man can be used for any man. It is a name common to all men.
Neha is a girl.
Mr Gupta is a painter.
The books are on the table.
EXERCISE 1
Underline the nouns and write what kind of nouns they are.
1.
Sheela took the dog for a walk.
2.
The crowd gathered to watch the match.
3.
There are twenty apples in the basket.
4.
The Ganga is considered to be a holy river
by Hindus.
5.
Karan ate all the cake.
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Collective Nouns
To speak of a collection or a number of persons or things as a whole or as one group, we
use a collective noun.
a bundle of sticks
a herd of cows
Our team won the match.
The crew looks after passengers during a flight.
Bundle, herd, team and crew are collective nouns, and refer to a collection of people, animals
or things.
EXERCISE 2
Match the collective nouns in column A with the objects they refer to in
column B.
Column A
Column B
1.
album cards
2.
bunch sheep, birds
3.
crew grapes, keys
4.
flightphotographs
5.
littercattle
6.
flocksailors
7.
packthieves
8.
pridegeese
9.
herd pearls
10.
gagglebees
11.
gangplayers
12.
shoal fish
13.
grovedrawers
14.
set
trees
15.
stringrooms
16.
chestpuppies
17.
swarm tools
18.
library stairs
19.
teamlions
20.
suitebooks
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Concrete Nouns
A noun referring to things that can be perceived or experienced through any of our five
senses – which means that it can be seen, touched or felt, tasted, smelt or heard – is called
a concrete noun.
Raman ate an apple.
The dog swam in the water.
Put some sugar in the tea.
In the sentences above, Raman, apple, dog, water, sugar and tea are all concrete nouns.
Thus, concrete nouns can be common, proper or collective nouns.
Abstract Nouns
An abstract noun is usually the name for a state of being, a concept, a quality or an action
that has no physical existence. Things named by abstract nouns cannot be seen, touched,
tasted or smelt.
In his youth, Sami played cricket for his college. (a state of being)
Funny movies are popular because they have a lot of humour. (a quality)
Mahatma Gandhi preached peace and non-violence. (concepts)
Laughter is the best medicine. (action)
Many abstract nouns are formed from
•
adjectives
youth from young
strength from strong
•
verbs
laughter from laugh
freedom from free
•
common nouns
friendship from friend
patriotism from patriot
The names of subjects like art, music, maths, biology, etc. are also abstract nouns because
they are also concepts.
EXERCISE 3
Pick out the nouns from the passage and say what kind each noun is.
Write your answers in the box below.
Akbar was a famous king. He was known for his intelligence and honesty. He was also very
sincere. His favourite courtier was Birbal, who was well known in the court for his wit and
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humour. Troupes of artists visited Akbar’s court in Delhi, and there was a lot of merriment
and laughter.
common
EXERCISE 4
proper
collective
abstract
Fill in the blanks with the correct abstract noun from the ones given in
the box below.
timidity privacy activitykindness truth
strengthhardship justice decisionfreedom
1.
Mother Teresa was renowned for her ______________.
2.
India got ______________ from the British rule in 1947.
3.
We should always speak the ______________.
4.
There was a lot of ______________ in the school on sports day.
5.
He took the ______________ to become a doctor.
6.
Poor people have to undergo a lot of ______________.
7.
A deer is known for its ______________.
8.
Curtains give us ______________ from the outside world.
9.
A judge has to ensure ______________.
10.
He was able to win the tug of war because he had ______________.
EXERCISE 5
Make abstract nouns from the following words.
1.
obey__________________6.
strong__________________
2.
deep__________________7.
appoint__________________
3.
grow__________________8.
coward__________________
4.
treat__________________9.
noble__________________
5.
move__________________10.
friend__________________
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