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Types of Nouns
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Types of Nouns
There are nine types of common nouns:- Abstract nouns. Abstract nouns are things you cannot see or touch.
- fear, anger, comfort
- Concrete nouns. Concrete nouns are things you can see and touch.
- gerbil, igloo, zoo
- Collective nouns. Collective nouns represent groups.
- team, gang, choir
- Compound nouns. Compound nouns are made up of two or more words.
- mother-in-law, bus stop, snowman
- Gender-specific nouns. Gender-specific nouns are male or female.
- lady, boy, waiter
- Gerunds. Gerunds end "-ing" and come from verbs.
- singing, talking, thinking
- Non-countable nouns. Non-countable nouns have no plural.
- milk, water, patience
- Countable nouns. Countable nouns can have a plural.
- coin, note, robot
- Verbal nouns. Verbal nouns come from verbs, but they're not gerunds.
- development, drawing, attack

Proper Nouns
A proper noun is the specific name given to a person, place, or thing (e.g., a personal name or a title). For example:- Michael
- Africa
- Peking
- Dayton Peace Accord
- United Nations
- The Tower of London
- Uncle George ("Uncle" is written with a capital letter because it is part of his name.)
- Auntie Sally
- The Red Lion
Common Nouns
A common noun is the word used for something. In other words, it is the word that appears in a dictionary. For example:- car
- man
- bridge
- town
- water
- metal
- ammonia
Common Noun | Proper Noun |
---|---|
dog | Butch |
building | Taj Mahal |
car | Ford Mustang |
city | Boston |
movie | Taken |
street | Carnaby Street |
- He disobeyed a direct Order.
- It is the largest Church in Birmingham.
Types of Common Noun
Below are nine different types of common noun. Every common noun can be classified as at least one of the following noun types.(1) Abstract Noun
An abstract noun is something you cannot see or touch (e.g., "bravery," "hate," "joy"). Here are some more examples of abstract nouns categorized under conceptual headings:Heading | Examples |
---|---|
Feelings | anxiety, fear, sympathy |
States | freedom, chaos, luxury |
Emotions | anger, joy, sorrow |
Qualities | courage, determination, honesty |
Concepts | opportunity, comfort, democracy |
Moments | birthday, childhood, marriage |
(2) Concrete Noun
A concrete noun is something you can see or touch (e.g., "tree," "cloud," "garlic"). Here are some more examples of concrete nouns:- abbey, banjo, camel, daughter, eclipse, fawn, gerbil, hatchet, igloo, jackal, kangaroo, locket, monsoon, nuts, owl, palm, quill, raspberries, sea, tavern, usher, vulture, wasps, xylophone, yacht, zoo
(3) Collective Noun
A collective noun is the word used for a group of people or things (e.g., "team," "group," "choir"). Here are some more examples of collective nouns:- band, board, choir, class, company, congregation, crew, crowd, gang, horde, jury, mob, group, pack, party, team, tribe, bunch, cluster, fleet, range, gaggle, herd, hive, school, shoal, pride, swarm, tribe
- That team is the worst in the league.
- The team are not communicating among themselves.
(4) Compound Noun
A compound noun is a noun made up of two or more words (e.g., "court-martial," "water bottle," "pickpocket"). Some compound nouns are hyphenated, some are not, and some combine their words to form a single word. For example:Hyphenated compound nouns:
- mother-in-law
- forget-me-not
- paper-clip
- black market
- board of members
- washing machine
- blackbird
- anteater
- snowman
- Mothers-in-law
- Paper-clips
- Forget-me-nots
(5) Gender-Specific Nouns
A gender-specific noun refers to something specifically male (e.g., "man," "boy," "bull") or a female (e.g., "woman," "girl," "vixen"). Below are some more examples of gender-specific nouns:Always masculine:
- actor, boy, brother, emperor, father, gentleman, grandfather, grandson, headmaster, husband, man, master, mister, nephew, prince, son, steward, uncle, waiter, wizard
- actress, aunt, daughter, empress, girl, granddaughter, grandmother, headmistress, lady, lioness, lioness, madam, mistress, mother, niece, princess, princess, sister, stewardess, stewardess, tigress, tigress, waitress, waitress, wife, witch, woman
(6) Gerund
All gerunds end "-ing." A gerund is a noun formed from a verb (e.g., running quickly, guessing a number, baking cakes). Here are some examples of gerunds in sentences.- Running the tap will clear the air pocket. (This is formed from the verb "to run.")
- She is known for talking quietly. (This is formed from the verb "to talk.")
- My highlight was visiting New York. (This is formed from the verb "to visit.")
- I like baking. (This is a gerund.)
- I need some baking powder. (This is a present participle used as an adjective.)
- She was baking a cake. (This is a present participle used to form the past progressive tense.)
- The quick development of the process is essential. (This eight-word sentence is clunky. There is no gerund.)
- Quickly developing the process is essential. (In this six-word sentence, a gerund has been modified by the adverb "quickly" and has the direct object "the process." It is two words shorter than the first example and more natural sounding.)
(7) Non-Countable Nouns (Mass nouns)
A non-countable noun (or mass noun as it's also known) is a noun without a plural form (e.g., "food," "music," "ice"). Non-countable nouns usually fall into one of the following categories: concept, activity, food, gas, liquid, material, item category, natural phenomenon, or particles. Here are some more examples of non-countable nouns shown in the categories.Category | Example |
---|---|
Concept | bravery, honesty, patience |
Activity | playing, reading, sleeping |
Food | bread, butter, milk |
Gas | air, helium, hydrogen |
Liquid | coffee, petrol, water |
Material | concrete, wood, metal |
Item Category | luggage, money, software |
Natural Phenomenon | gravity, snow, sunshine |
Particles | dust, flour, sugar |
(8) Countable Nouns
A countable noun is a noun that can be pluralized (e.g., "cat/cats," "argument/arguments," "device/devices"). Here are some more examples of countable nouns:- aardvark, backbone, coin, daffodil, eagle, face, gorilla, house, igloo, jaguar, koala, log, man, note, orange, package, queen, robot, suitcase, table, udder, vacation, waltz, xylophone, yacht, zombie
(9) Verbal Nouns
A verbal noun is a noun that has no verb-like properties despite being derived from a verb (e.g., a building, an attack, a decision). Being normal nouns, verbal nouns can be modified by adjectives, be pluralized (if the sense allows), and be followed by prepositional phrases (e.g., "...of men," ...by me"). Here is another example of a verbal noun:- I am responsible for the funny drawing of the monster. (Notice that the verbal noun has been modified by the adjective "funny." It could also be pluralized to "drawings," and it precedes a prepositional phrase "of the monster.")
- I am responsible for drawing the funny monster. (This time, the word "drawing" is a gerund. It cannot be modified by an adjective, it cannot be pluralized, and it cannot be followed by "of the monster." It has, however, taken a direct object ("the funny monster"), which a verbal noun cannot do.)
More about Noun Types
In real-life sentences, nouns rarely appear by themselves. Most nouns appear in noun phrases or noun clauses.- Noun Phrase. A noun phrase is a group of two or more words that is headed by a noun. For example:
- How much is the doggy in the window? (Here, the noun phrase is shaded. The head noun is bold. The other words are modifiers.)
- Noun Clause. A noun clause is a clause (i.e., a group of words with its own subject and verb) that plays the role of a noun. For example:
- Whatever you wish is my command. (The noun clause is shaded. The clause subject is "you," and the clause verb is "wish.")
- How much is he? (Here, the noun phrase "the doggy in the window" has been replaced by the pronoun "he.")
- It is my command. (The noun clause "Whatever you wish" has been replaced by the pronoun "it.")
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