ENGLISH GRAMMAR 101 THE NOUN: COLLECTIVE AND ABSTRACT.
Collective Noun.
A Collective Noun is the name of a number (or collection) of persons or things taken
together and spoken of as one whole.
For Example - Crowd, mob, team, flock, herd, army, fleet, jury, family, nation, parliament,
committee.
The police dispersed the crowd.
Here the crowd is a collection of people.
We call the crowd as collective noun.
The French army was defeated at Waterloo.
Here army is a collection of soldiers.
We call a army as collective noun.
The jury found the prisoner guilty.
Here jury is a collection of judges.
We call the jury as collective noun.
Abstract Noun.
An Abstract Noun is usually the name of a quality, action, or state considered apart
from the object to which it belongs.
Examples of Quality include - Goodness, kindness, whiteness, darkness, hardness, brightness,
honesty, wisdom, bravery Examples of Action include - Laughter, theft,
movement, judgment, hatred.
Examples of State include - Childhood, boyhood, youth, slavery, sleep, sickness, death, poverty.
The names of the Arts and Science (e.g., grammar, music, chemistry, etc.) are also Abstract
Nouns.
Abstract Nouns are formed From Adjectives “Kindness” as abstract noun is formed
from the adjective “kind”.
“honesty” as abstract noun is formed from the adjective “honest”.
Abstract Nouns are formed From Verbs “Obedience” as abstract noun is formed
from the verb “obey”.
“growth” as abstract noun is formed from the verb “grow”.
Abstract Nouns are formed From Common Nouns “Childhood” as abstract noun is formed
from the common noun “child”.
“Slavery” as abstract noun is formed from the common noun “slave”.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR 101 THE NOUN: COLLECTIVE AND ABSTRACT.