Noun
A Noun is the name of a person, animal, place or thing.
There are four kinds of nouns:
1. The Common Noun
A Common Noun is the name given in common to every person or thing of the same class or kind; such as, man, woman, boy, girl, town, country, book, desk.
2. The Proper Noun
A Proper Noun is the special name of a particular person or place; such as, Ramesh, Suresh, Sangeeta, Sanjana, Bangalore, India.
3. The Abstract Noun
We can see the sun; we can touch a book; but can we see or touch courage? No. It is the name of something that we can only think of. Such a name is called an Abstract Noun.
An Abstract Noun is the name of something that we can only think of; such as, sweetness, kindness, darkness, weakness, pity, pain, hope, doubt, greed, childhood, misery, honesty, sleep, sickness, death, decency, hate, self-respect, Love, Sleep, strength, poverty, cruelty.
Abstract Nouns are nouns which cannot be identified by using our five senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell).
4. The Collective Noun
When a noun is the name of a number (or collection) of people or things considered as one, such as army, crowd, flock, fleet, it is called a Collective Noun.
examples: army, crowd, flock, fleet.
A Collective Noun is the name of a number of people or things considered as one.
Here are more examples of Collective Nouns:
- a swarm of ants/flies/bees
- a pack of wolves
- a bunch of keys/flowers/grapes/bananas
- a flight of stairs
- a clump of trees
- an anthology of stories/poems
- a cluster of stars/grapes
- a herd of cows/deer/elephants
- a shoal of fish
- a row of books/houses/trees
- a band of musicians
- a company of actors
- a gang of thieves
- a crew of sailors
- a team of players
- a crowd of people
- a choir of singers
- a sheaf of grains
- a volley of bullets
- a quiver of arrows
- a jury of judges
EXERCISE (Write your answers in comment box)
EXERCISE 1
Underline the Common Nouns and circle the Proper Nouns in the sentences given below.
- Shilpi is her cousin.
- I bought some papers from People’s unit.
- Annie played with her brother.
- Mrs Bhatia brought her baby to the park.
- New Delhi is the capital of India.
- Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe.
- Our new classmate came from Tamil Nadu.
- We went to the zoo in New Delhi.
- Araadhya likes her new dress.
- Saurabh has a bag of lollies.
- The twins went to a football match in Shimla.
- Did you know that President Obama was elected for two terms?
- The strawberries in the ice cream came from Vinayak Farms.
- Surabhi got a great score on her research report about Mohenjo-daro.
EXERCISE 2
Identify the underlined word in each sentence as a Proper or Common Noun. Write (P) for proper and (C) for common.
1. The Atlético de Kolkata is a good football team. ______
2. The Pune City shall play their first match tonight. ________
3. The family will eat together at the table. ________
4. The bear climbed up the tree. ________
5. I live in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. ________
6. We travelled down the Brahmaputra River. ________
7. The Chennaiyin FC is a good football team. ________
8. We will play basketball at the park. ________
9. I will walk home after school. ________
10. We saw a lion at the zoo. ________
11. We went to Lansdowne for vacation. ________
12. The Spelling Bee is an amazing championship. ________
13. We need to prepare for going back to school. ________
EXERCISE 3
Underline each Collective Noun in the following sentences.
1. The choir practised in the new auditorium.
2. I sing tenor in a quartet.
3. Everyone in the group received a door prize.
4. The team arrived early and went to the locker room.
5. As I watched, a flock of geese flew overhead.
6. The jury listened to the judge’s instructions.
7. During lunch today the committee will meet to plan fund-raising events.
8. Can you find your way through this thick grove of trees?
9. The cat and her litter found a home in my dog’s abandoned doghouse.
10. When Jared hit the beehive with a stick, a swarm of angry bees flew out.
11. For this short flight, the plane needs a crew of only three.
EXERCISE 4
Fill in the blanks with the correct form of Nouns.
1. He is a man of ……………………… (strong)
2. India got ………………………. from British rule in 1947. (free)
3. Every year on 15th of August, ………………………. awards are given to
the people by the prime minister. (brave)
4. He is on a ………………………. to Mecca. (pilgrim)
5. I have great …………………………. to welcome you. (please)
6. …………………………. is the best period of one’s life. (child)
7. ……………………….. of any kind should always be avoided. (waste)
8. As a parent my children’s …………. is of utmost importance to me. (safe)
9. As the sun went below the horizon ………. enveloped the planet. (dark)
10. There is no end to his ……………………….. (wicked)
EXERCISE 5
Pick out the Nouns in the following sentences and say whether they are
Common, Proper, Abstract, or Collective.
1. Mary had a little lamb.
2. My cousin has a dog, called Fido.
3. A cold wind blew last night.
4. The girl has a sweet voice.
5. The people who live in Holland are called the Dutch.
6. There was a large crowd in the street.
7. The child has caught a cold.
8. The elephant has great strength.
9. Are you speaking the truth?
10. Columbus discovered America.
11. Mumbai is a big city.
12. Solomon was famous for his wisdom.
13. He treats his children with great kindness.
14. Agra has many fine buildings.
15. Ashoka was a great king.
16. The wind and the sun had a quarrel.
17. Kolkata is on the banks of River Hooghly.
18. The girl showed great courage.
19. Ali gave his sister a great fright.
20. Our class consists of twenty pupils.
21. Without health, there is no happiness.
22. Our team is better than theirs
EXERCISE 6
Identify the Nouns in the following sentences.
1. Mrs D’Souza was planning a field trip to the Great Himalayan Valley in Uttarakhand.
2. Parts of the Great Himalayan Valley are still unexplored.
3. The giant formations produce feelings of awe in many visitors.
4. She captured our interest by describing cave-dwelling animals and fish.
5. Blindfish live in dark areas such as caves and underground streams.
6. They have nerves on their bodies that have a special sensitivity.
7. When tiny animals such as amphipods move, the blindfish sense the movement.
8. In this way, the fish can find and eat smaller animals without using sight.
9. A blindfish may eat its own offspring if it senses their movement.
10. These young fish stop moving when they feel something swimming nearby.
11. Mammoth Cave is part of the longest known cave system in the world.
12. Can you find your way through this thick grove of trees?