Unit - 1: Nouns
Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Definition of Nouns
1.3 Noun and Noun Phrase
1.4 Kinds of Nouns
1.4.1 Proper nouns
1.4.2
Common nouns
1.4.3 Collective nouns
1.4.4 Material nouns
1.4.5 Abstract nouns
1.5 Nouns: Countability
1.5.1
Coun table
nouns
1.5.2 Uncountable nouns
1.6 Nouns: Gender
1.0
Objectives
This unit will
give you a fairly good idea about
the most common
of the parts
of speech – Nouns. In Hindi you call them संyा
1.1
Introduction
Nouns
are naming words.
Every language has
its own set of nouns
and the list
is open ended i.e.
newer nouns one added to the older
ones with the changing times.
1.2
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)
1.3 Noun and Noun Phrase
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)
1.4
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
1.4.1
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
1.4.2
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
1.4.3
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
1.4.4
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).
1.4.5 Abstract nouns
An abstract noun
is the name
of a quality, state, or concept:
beauty, sweetness, childhood, love
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 roperties.
1.5 Nouns: Countability
Nouns
are of two kinds from the viewpoint of countability:
a) Countable nouns b) Uncountable nouns
1.5.1
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.
1.5.2
Uncountable nouns
Nouns that cannot be counted are called uncountable nouns:
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 Indias, 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?
1.6 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)
|
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 characterstics 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.
1.6.1 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 baron count/earl
duke
god heir host hunter
Actress Baroness
Countess Duchess Goddess heiress
hostess huntress
lion master murderer priest prince shepherd tiger waiter
lioness mistress murderess priestess princess shepherdess tigress
waitress
Note: a) English has only a small number
of feminine forms
(noun + ess). Professional activities are
often referred to in the
common gender.
The
feminine forms authoress, poetess, directress, inspectress are no longer
in use.
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.
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 |
1.6.2
Common/dual gender
1) Nouns denoting profession
Most of the nouns denoting profession/occupation are in the common gender:
1.9
Conclusion
Now
you have a basic idea about the kinds of nouns and gender.
1.10
Unit end Questions
1. Name any ten nouns
around you and
classify them accordingly.
2 How are feminine forms formed in English. Give examples.
