Noun: Definition, Kinds and Examples

Noun: In simple language, nouns are words that are used to identify a class of people, places or things. They are used a number of times as we communicate in our daily lives. Without nouns, communication is impossible.

Nouns: Definition

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines nouns thus: “Any member of a class of words that typically can be combined with determiners to serve as the subject of a verb, can be interpreted as singular or plural, can be replaced with a pronoun, and refer to an entity, quality, state, action, or concept.”

Also Read: Idioms and their meaning

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Kinds of Nouns

Here is a note on the different kinds of nouns:

Proper nouns: A proper noun is the specific name of a person or a place.

Example: India, South Africa

Common nouns: Common nouns are those nouns that are names of things in general.

Example: Bottles, boys, girls

Abstract nouns: These are nouns that refer to names of qualities that have to be experienced in order to be understood.

Example: Warmth

Collective nouns: They are nouns that refer to a collection of things or living beings.

Example: Army, crowd

Countable nouns: In simple words, they are nouns which refer to nouns that can be counted.

Example: Children, tables

Uncountable nouns: They are nouns that can’t be counted.

Example: Salt, sugar, water

It is interesting to note that a few nouns can be categorised in different ways as well. An example:

The time is 4 pm (In this case, time is countable).
Time flies! (Time is used in a general sense here. So it is uncountable).

Also Read: Know what homophones are

Noun Phrases

Noun phrases are phrases that have nouns in them. And as they are phrases, they don’t have verbs in them.

Example: ‘The boy’

Usage of Nouns

When nouns are used, the verbs that follow change in number. Sometimes, nouns can be used as a single entity while, in other cases, they can be used as more than one.

Examples:

The team is having lunch (Here, team is used as one entity having a common goal. Therefore, the singular verb ‘is’).

The team are having lunch (Here, team refers to its members and therefore, the plural verb ‘are’).

Functions of Nouns

Now that we know different kinds of nouns, here are a few functions that nouns perform:

They can be a subject. For example, in the sentence, ‘Partha is a good boy,’ Partha acts as a subject.

They can receive the action of a doer. In other words, they can be direct objects. For example, in the sentence, ‘Rama killed Ravana,’ Ravana is the direct object.

They can be indirect objects as well. For example, in the sentence, ‘The teacher gave students a cake,’ students are the indirect object.

They can be the object of preposition: For example, in the sentence, ‘I gave a book to Partha,’ Partha is the object of preposition.

While we have millions and millions of conversations in our daily lives, it is even unthinkable not to bring nouns as we communicate. While addressing friends or pointing out buildings or in general, for naming anything, nouns are indispensable. In simple words, this part of speech plays a very important role.

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