It is needless to say that noun is one of the building blocks of basic english grammar. Noun is a word we use it to name things that we perceive by our five senses. Obviously, it has so many types positions, usages, and roles to play. So, for correct use, explaining properties and types of noun in detail is essential.
Grammatical meaning of noun
Noun is a vital component of parts of speech in basic english grammar. It is used to name things we perceive (touch, taste, smell, see, think, and hear) in our day-to-day activities.
Generally, names of noun can be a proper name, group, material things, class of things, qualities, attributes, etc.
Understanding properties of noun in terms of number, gender and types of noun
Thomas, a master craftsman, makes swords, arrows, spears from iron and steel and other metals. Apart from craftsmanship, his honesty and diligence make him different from other groups.
- Thomas – name for person – proper noun.
- Craftsman – name for class of professional – common noun.
- Sword, arrow, and spear – class of weapons – common noun.
- Iron and steel – materials used to make things – material noun.
- Craftsmanship, diligence – name for qualities – abstract noun.
- Group, team – name for collectivity- collective noun.
Explaining major types of noun
Here, I’m not going to elaborate different typologies but focus on simple one. For fresh learners, at the basic level, noun word class is classified into five major types based on meanings.
Proper noun meaning and examples
A word is called proper noun when it is used to identify totally unique person, things Or places. And, irrespective of place in sentence, such proper noun is introduced by capital letter.
Examples of proper noun
- Names of persons – Mike, Andy, Hillary, etc.
- Geographical names – Himalayas, Andes, Pacific Ocean, Asia, Europe, Amazon etc.
- Brand names – Pepsi, Nike, etc.
- Names of cities and villages – New York, London, etc.
- Names of nations – America, Japan, India, etc.
- List is never ending.
1.Meaning and examples of Common noun
When a word is used to denote general things Or class of things, is called common noun. Suppose, you have purchased a table without any brand, it is called common. But, if you bought table of particular Brand, then it becomes proper noun such as Zikra table.
For clarity, any objects with class without particular brand becomes common noun. Else, with particular brand name becomes proper noun.
Shoe, bat, chair, person, child, tree, boy, girl etc.
2.Collective noun definition and examples
Group, pack, team, bundle, flock, herd, of common names like things, animals, players, etc. become collective nouns.
Examples of collective noun
- A committee of legislatures,
- A class of students,
- A bale of cotton,
- A carvan of traders,
- A flock of birds.
- A flock of sheep.
- A herd of deer.
- A hive of bees.
3.Material noun an overview
If we name raw substance of which different things are prepared, teamed material noun such as wood, iron, paper, wheat, cotton etc.
Milk, gold, rice, clay, ink, water, are some of examples of material noun.
4.What is mean by “Abstract noun”
Abstract noun is used to denote an abstract action, state, quality, Or merits like honesty, goodness, bravery etc.
Childhood, craftsmanship, longevity, protection, purity, goodness, are examples of abstract noun.
Understanding Correct usages Of Nouns
Nouns have multiple positions and roles in sentence formations. It can be placed as subject, object, predicate noun or complements. So, through this blog, you will learn correct use of nouns in details.
Basically, noun is a word used to names things we perceive in our day-to-day operations or activities. It may either be concrete or abstract. In previous blog, I have already discussed its types and forms.
Roles and positions of nouns in sentence
We know that the correct use of nouns depends on the in depth understanding of word itself.
Semantically, nouns play the roles of actor, receiver, and affected things in the context. So, the syntactic structure follows in sentence formation.
Usages of nouns in sentence
Now, let’s learn the correct use of nouns in the forms of subject, object, complement and so on.
Using nouns as subjects
Subject in the sentence plays role of actor or doer to do, perform, actions as per the context or situation in demand. But, in case of complement, it is used to rename or describe itself.
Examples of subject in sentence
- Alex draws a picture daily. (Alex – proper noun and subject is doer and performing action to draw a picture.)
- Water carries a lot of sand and mud in rainy season. (Water – material noun and subject is actor of action carry.)
- Dogs are faithful pets. (Dog – common noun and subject is renamed as faithful pet.)
- Thomas gave me a football last night. (Thomas — proper noun and subject is performing action to affect two objects.)
- The leopard is on the mango tree. (The leopard – common noun and subject of location on the mango tree.)
Position of noun as object
There are two types of objects. One is direct and other indirect. It is also called dative case of noun. In such structure, we use two affected nouns.
Here, I’m going to deal with both roles of noun as direct and indirect objects.
Once again let’s take above third example, “A football”, is direct object of verb gave and” Me” is indirect object.
- Selectors offered him a chance again. (Him – indirect object while “A chance” is direct object of verb offered.
Nouns used as complements
Sometimes, nouns are used describe themselves in the form of subject or object complements.
- Mike is a smart student. (A smart student is description of” Mike “.) Here, student is complement of Mike – subject.
Secondly, in the above example, ” The leopard is on the mango tree ” Mango tree is complement of preposition “On”.
Final words on types of “Nouns”
In this ways, nouns are used in the sentences to make correct sense of sentence or situation.
Apart from this, noun phrases, noun clauses are also used in the same positions like types of nouns.
Besides, for derailed explanation, I’m going to write blogs on various types of complements used in the english grammar.
At last,
While explaining properties and types of noun, we came to know that types of noun is nothing but the different attributes of same thing.
At base level, we denote it as material noun; whereas, objects made from material termed as common noun.
Abstract noun is the qualitative aspects of objects in question. When we link brand name, it becomes proper noun.
Explaining role of complements
Noun Clause And Adjective Clause