Let’s Learn Online

English For All Examination

By:GS-DAL # 03332895890

Introduction
Noun
Definition of Nouns

Noun and Noun Phrase

Kinds ofNouns

Proper nouns

Common nouns

Collectivenouns

Material nouns

Abstract nouns

Nouns: Count ability

Countable nouns

Uncountable nouns

Nouns: Gender

Masculine and Feminine forms

Common/dual gender

Mentor: TNA_@ABBASI Page 1

 Introduction
Nouns are naming words. Every language has its own set of nouns and the list is
openended i.e. newer nouns one added to the older ones with the changing times.
Definition of Nouns
A Nouns is the name of a person place or thing. A thing includes a quality (fear) a
material (gold), a collection (herd, army), a state (adherence) and an action (cheat,
mock, movement)
Noun and NounPhrase
A noun is often called a' noun phrase. A noun phrase can be a single-word noun:
Teachers love their pupils. (noun phrase: teacher)
But a noun phrase is usually longer than a single word because it consists of an
adjective or a determiner plus a noun.
A good teacher loves his pupils. (noun phrase: a good teacher)
Kinds of Nouns
Nouns can be classified into five kinds:
1. Proper nouns
2. Common nouns
3. Collective nouns
4. Material nouns
5. Abstract nouns

2
Proper nouns
A proper noun is the name of a particular person or thing, i.e. a name used for an
individual person or place, river, or mountain etc.:
Mary, Rahul, Godavari, India, Everest
Common nouns
A common noun refers to any and every person or thing of the same kind or class,
not to a particular person or thing:
cow, dog, girl, boy, man, woman
Common nouns Proper nouns
girl Latha
dog Rover
man Aslam
Collective nouns
A collective noun is the name of a collection, group of people, or things of the
same kind: class, team, government jury, federation
Material nouns
A material noun is the name of a material, substance, or ingredient things are made
of. They can be articles of food or drink as well:
iron, copper, steel, gold, coal, silver, rice, wheat, milk, water, tea, sugar
Note: A material noun is a type of common noun but a distinction is made between
the two. A common noun is usually a countable noun but a material noun is an
uncountable noun.
The cow gives us milk.
Cow is a common noun (countable), but milk is a material noun (uncountable).
Abstract nouns
An abstract noun is the name of a quality, state, or concept:
beauty, sweetness, childhood, love

3
Note: Concrete nouns are names of material things, i.e. things having a material
form, shape or size. Abstract nouns are the names of qualities found in various
kinds of objects. Since they have no material form, they cannot be seen or touched. We
can know of them only through our mind:
Concrete nouns Abstract nouns
sugar weetness
book beauty
milk hatred
Patna fear
We can see sugar but cannot see sweetness, so sugar is a concrete noun and
sweetness an abstract noun. In short, concrete nouns refer to physical properties
and abstract nouns to mental Properties.
Nouns: Countability
Nouns are of two kinds from the viewpoint of countability:
a) Countable nouns b) Uncountable nouns
Cou table nouns
Nouns that can be counted are called countable nouns:
a book one book two books
an egg one egg two eggs
Generally a noun used in answer to the question how many? is a countable noun:
How many films did you watch?
I watched six films.
How many flights are there from here to Delhi?
There are only two flights.
Note: Common nouns and collective nouns are by and large countable.
Uncountable nouns
Nouns that cannot be counted are called uncountable nouns:

4
 milk, water, ink, sugar,
butter (not, a milk, one water,
two sugar)
A noun used in answer to the question how much? is an uncountable noun.
When we want to refer to the quantity of these items we use values of
measurement which are countable:
How much milk do you
need? We need a litre of
milk.
Note: a) Material nouns and abstract nouns are uncountable. So are proper
nouns, though they can be used as countable nouns in special
situations:
There are two _____ the rural and the urban.
b) Certain nouns can be used both as countable and uncountable
depending on the context.
Uncountable Countable
I prefer chicken to fish. These chickens are lovely.
Petrol catches fire easily. Shall we make a fire out here?
Nouns: Gender
Gender is of four kinds:
Masculine (denotes male)
Feminine (denotes female)
Common (denotes both male and female)
Neuter (denotes neither male nor female)

5
Masculine Feminine Common Neuter
Boy Girl student Gold
Man Woman teacher Rice
Brother Sister doctor Flower
Uncle Aunt child River
bull cow diplomat table
Note: The words masculine and feminine can be used as adjectives to describe the
looks or qualities of human beings. In this sense masculine means: having the
characteristics of a man, so it can be used of a woman or girl as well.
The lady standing in the centre has masculine looks.
Similarly with feminine. Notice that in this sense masculine/feminine indicates
characteristics or attributes, not sex.
Masculine and feminine forms
The feminine of nouns is formed in two ways:
i) by adding ess to the masculine form
ii) by adding she/girl/woman to the masculine form
i) By adding ess to the masculine form

actor Actress lion lioness

baron Baroness master mistress
count/ear Countess murdere murderess
l duke Duchess r priest priestess
god Goddess prince princess
heir heiress shepherd shepherdess
host hostess tiger tigress
hunter huntress waiter waitress
Note: a) English has only a small number of feminine forms (noun + ess).
Professional activities areoften referred to inthe common gender.
6
Thefeminineforms authoress, poetess, directress, inspectressareno longer inuse.
She is the director of this institute. (not, directress)
She is an inspector of police. (not, inspectress)
b) The feminine form of hero is heroine.

7
ii) By adding she/girl/woman
he-goat she-goat
boy-friend girl-friend
student woman student
businessman businesswoman
policeman policewoman
sportsman sportswoman
salesman saleswoman
statesman stateswoman
But in many cases, the feminine form is not derived from the masculine form. In
the examples listed below, the feminine form is a totally new word, not related to
the masculine form phonetically.

bachelor - maid/spinster Gander - goose

boar - sow gentleman - lady
boy - girl Hart - roe
brother - sister Horse - mare
buck - doe husband - wife
bull/ox - cow Lord - lady
bullock - heifer Man - woman
cock - hen nephew - neice
colt - fi lIy Sir - madam
dog - bitch Stag - hind
drake - duck Uncle - aunt
drone - bee Wizard - witch
father - mother Fox - vixen
friar/monk - nun mon/dual - gender

8
Let’s Learn Online
English For All Examination
By:GS-DAL # 03332895890

Common/dual gender
1) Nouns denoting profession
Most of the nouns denoting profession/occupation are in the common gender:
ambassador doctor minister pupil
artisan editor monarch reader
artist enemy monitor relation
artiste engineer musician scientist
author fool neighbour secretary
baby foreigner novelist servant
captain friend orphan singer
child infant person speaker
clerk judge player student
collector lawyer poet teacher
cook lecturer politician typist
cousin librarian president worker
criminal magician principal writer
dancer trlagistrate professor

Conclusion

Now you have a basic idea about the kinds of nouns and gender.

Mentor : Ms TNA_@abbasi Page 9

Let’s Learn Online
English For All Examination
By:GS-DAL # 03332895890

Mentor : Ms TNA_@abbasi Page 10