What is a noun?
A noun is a word that functions as the name of something.
Nouns are the most common class of word in English.
The eight main types of nouns are:
common nouns
proper nouns
countable nouns
uncountable nouns
concrete nouns
abstract nouns
compound nouns and
collective nouns.
Let's look at what each type of noun is with examples.
Common nouns
Common nouns are used to name people, places or things.
In general it refers to the class or type of person or thing without being specific.
Some examples of common nouns are:
girl, city, animal, house, fruit.
I don't give the specific name of them.
It's a girl in general
an animal in general
a fruit in general.
Girl is a common noun because it refers to a girl in general without giving her name.
Dog is a common noun because it refers to a dog in general.
I don't give the specific name of that dog.
Mountain is a common noun.
It refers to a mountain in general and again, I don't specify the name of that mountain.
So girl, dog and mountain are common nouns
because it is the general name of that type of person or thing.
Common nouns can be divided into smaller classes such as countable and uncountable nouns
as well as concrete and abstract nouns.
Proper nouns
Proper nouns are used to name a specific or individual person, place or thing.
Examples of proper nouns are: John, London, Pluto, France.
Notice that an English proper nouns begin with a capital letter.
London begins with a capital L and not a small L.
Pluto begins with a capital P and not a small P.
So if we look at our examples again,
John is the specific name of a person.
London is the specific name of a city.
France is the specific name of a country.
They all begin with a capital letter.
So let's look at these pictures again.
Girl is a common noun as it refers to a type of person without being specific.
Susan is a proper noun because we specify the name of that girl.
Dog is a common noun as refers to a type of animal without being specific.
Max is a proper noun because we specify the name of that dog.
Here Max, come here Max, your dinner's ready.
Max is the name of the dog so Max is a proper noun.
Mountain is a common noun as it refers to a type of
geological formation and we do not specify the name of that mountain.
Mount Everest is a proper noun because we specify the name of a mountain.
Countable nouns
Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted.
Countable nouns have a singular form and a plural form
and can be used with a number or with A or AN before it.
Sometimes countable nouns are called count nouns.
Some examples of countable nouns are:
car, disk, cup, house, bike.
You can count cars.
You can say one car, two cars.
Cup is a countable noun because you can count one cup and two cups.
Bike is countable too because you can say one bike and two bikes.
Let's look at the pictures.
Umbrella is a countable noun because you can say one, two, three or a thousand umbrellas.
It is possible to count them.
Table is also an uncountable noun because we can count them.
Books is a countable noun in its plural form.
You normally add the letter S to make a countable noun plural...
one book, two books.
Uncountable nouns
Uncountable nouns are nouns that cannot be counted.
For example, you cannot count rain.
No, you do not say 1 rain or 2 rains.
No, it's not possible so rain is uncountable.
Cheese is also an uncountable noun
because you can't count cheese in English.
You can count slices of cheese but then you're counting slices as in one slice or two slices and not cheese.
The same with blood, blood is uncountable.
You can count drops of blood but then you're counting the number of drops... one drop, two drops
and you're not counting blood.
Uncountable nouns often refer to substances like paper, gold and wood.
Also liquids like milk, oil and juice.
These are usually uncountable nouns just like blood is a liquid and is also uncountable.
Uncountable nouns often refer to abstract ideas like happiness, time, information.
You cannot count happiness.
You cannot say: Oh look, I have three "happinesses".
No, it's not possible so happiness is an abstract idea and is uncountable.
Sometimes uncountable nouns are also called mass nouns.
Some examples of uncountable nouns are:
wood, air, milk and happiness.
You cannot count these.
Wood is a substance or material.
Milk is a liquid.
Happiness is an abstract idea.
See our video about the difference between countable nouns and uncountable nouns for more details and examples.
Concrete nouns
Concrete nouns, sometimes known as material nouns,
are nouns that refer to people or things that exist physically
and that at least one of the senses can detect it.
This means you can see, touch, hear, smell or taste it.
Some examples of concrete nouns are: dog, tree, apple, moon and sock.
Dog is a concrete noun as you can see a dog or hear or touch a dog.
Apple is a concrete noun because you can touch and taste an apple.
Sock is a concrete noun because you can smell a sock or touch a sock.
Our examples with pictures.
Frog is a concrete noun because it physically exists.
You can see touch or hear a frog.
Hamburger is also a concrete noun because you can taste it and see it.
The same with flower. It is a concrete noun because you can smell a flower
or see a flower.
It physically exists for us to see or touch.
Abstract nouns
Abstract nouns are the opposite of concrete nouns.
Abstract nouns are nouns that have no physical existence.
They refer to ideas feelings and emotions or concepts. So you cannot see, you cannot touch,
you cannot hear, you cannot smell or you cannot taste an abstract noun.
Some examples of abstract nouns are: love, time, fear, freedom and luck.
Love is a feeling so we cannot touch love, we feel love.
The same with fear. Fear is an emotion and we cannot touch or see it.
Luck is a concept that does not have a physical existence so it is also an abstract noun.
Let's look at our pictures:
Justice is not a physical thing. You cannot touch it so it is an abstract noun.
You cannot touch or smell or taste time.
It is a concept that exists that does not have a physical form or physical existence,
so time is an abstract noun.
And we already mentioned that love is a feeling not something that you can touch.
Compound nouns
Compound nouns are two or more words that create a noun.
Compound nouns can be written as one word like toothbrush.
They can be joined by a hyphen like jack-in-the-box
or they can be written as separate words like bus stop.
You need to learn which way a compound noun is written,
as in, are the words joined with a hyphen or written together
or written separately as each compound noun usually has only one form.
Some examples of compound nouns are:
rainfall which is written as one word.
son-in-law which is joined by hyphens
and credit card which are separate words
Notice how the main stress is normally on the first part of the compound word:
rainfall, son-in-law, credit card, toothbrush, jack-in-the-box, bus stop.
Collective nouns
Collective nouns are words that refer to a set or group of people, animals or things.
It is the name of a group of things.
Some examples of collective nouns are:
team, pile, flock, stack and bunch.
A team is a group of people,
often players or members of something who have come together to achieve a common goal.
A flock is a group of birds.
A bunch is a group of things, typically bananas, grapes or flowers.
Collective nouns are often followed by OF plus a plural noun, except when referring to people.
We say a flock of seagulls, a bunch of grapes or a bunch of flowers, a pile of magazines.
Something important to know is that a noun can belong to more than one type.
For example: with the noun toothbrush.
Toothbrush is a common noun which is the general name of a type of thing.
Toothbrush is also a concrete noun because you can physically touch it and see it.
It is a countable noun because you can say one toothbrush, two toothbrushes.
It is also a compound noun because it is made up of two words... tooth and brush.
This was just a quick summary of types of nouns in English
and we will go into more detail about each type of noun in other videos.
For practice, give me one example of each type of noun in the comment section below.
I personally check all of the answers.
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