There
are several ways to classify the types of nouns that exist in the English
language. In traditional grammar, nouns are taught to be words that refer to
people, places, things, animals or abstract ideas.
Classifications
of Nouns
1. Proper
Nouns
Proper nouns are
nouns that refer to specific entities. Writers of English capitalize proper
nouns like Steve, Harvard, or White House to show their
distinction from common nouns.
2. Common
Nouns
Common nouns refer
to general, unspecific categories of entities. Whereas Harvard is a
proper noun because it signifies a specific state, the word state itself
is a common noun because it can refer to any of the 50 states in the United
States. Harvard refers to a particular institution of higher
learning, while the common noun university can refer to any such
institution.
3. Material
Nouns
Material nouns refer
to materials or substances from which things are made. While cotton is
an adjective when used in cotton dress, cotton is a material
noun when used to describe a crop being grown - The farm grew cotton.
4. Compound
Nouns
A compound noun contains
two or more words which join together to make a single noun. Compound nouns can
be words written together (closed form) such as softball and toothpaste,
words that are hyphenated (hyphenated form) such as six-pack and son-in-law,
or separate words such as post office and upper class that
go together by meaning.
5. Countable
Nouns/Count Nouns
To
linguists, these count nouns can occur in both single and plural forms, can be
modified by numerals, and can co-occur with quantificational determiners
like many, most, more, several, etc.
For
example, the noun bike is a countable noun. Consider the following
sentence:
There
is a bike in that garage.
In
this example, the word bike is singular as it refers to one bike that
is presently residing in a particular garage.
However, bike can
also occur in the plural form.
There
are six broken bikes in that garage.
In
this example, the noun, bikes refers to more than one bike as it is
being modified by the numeral six.
In
addition, countable nouns can co-occur with quantificational determiners.
In
that garage, several bikes are broken.
This
sentence is grammatical, as the noun bike can take the modification
of the quantificational determiner several.
6. Uncountable
Nouns/Mass Nouns/Non Count Nouns
Conversely,
some nouns are not countable and are called uncountable nouns or mass nouns.
For example, the word, water is a mass noun.
That lake
is full of water.
This
sentence makes grammatical sense.
Mass
nouns cannot take plural forms, and therefore a sentence containing the word,
waters is ungrammatical.
Substances,
liquids, and powders are entities that are often signified by mass nouns such
as wood, sand, water, and flour. Other examples would be milk,
air, furniture, freedom, rice, and intelligence.
7. Collective
Nouns
In
general, collective
nouns are nouns that refer to a group of something in a
specific manner. Often, collective nouns are used to refer to groups of
animals. Consider the following sentences.
Look
at the gaggle of geese. There used to be herds of wild
buffaloes there. A bevy of swans is swimming in the pond. A colony of
ants lives in the anthill.
In
the above examples, gaggle, herds, bevy, and colony are
collective nouns.
8. Concrete
Nouns
Concrete
nouns are nouns that can be touched, smelled, seen, felt, or
tasted. Table, dog, salt, and wool are all examples of concrete
nouns.
Can I
pet your dog? Please pass the salt. Your sweater is made of
fine wool.
Concrete
nouns can be perceived by at least one of our senses.
9. Abstract
Nouns
More
theoretical concepts use abstract
nouns to refer to them. Concepts like freedom, love, power,
and redemption are all examples of abstract nouns.
They hate us
for our freedom. All you need is love. We must fight the power.
In
these sentences, the abstract nouns refer to concepts, ideas, philosophies, and
other entities that cannot be concretely perceived.
10.
Pronouns
Personal
pronouns are types of nouns that take the place of nouns when referring to
people, places or things. The personal pronouns in English are I, you, he,
she, it, and they.
Ravi works
at a flower shop. She works at a flower shop.
The
Greeks invented democracy. They invented democracy.
These
pronouns take on other forms depending on what type of function they are
performing in a sentence.
For example, when used to signify possession of another noun, pronouns take on
their possessive form such as mine, ours, hers, and theirs.
That bike
belongs to Milani. That bike is hers.
When
used as the object of a preposition, pronouns take on their objective case.
Examples include him, her, me, us, and them.
Hand
the money over to Samudi. Hand the money over to her.
The
police arrested John and Ray. The police arrested them.
11.
Verbal Nouns/Gerunds
1. Collecting
stamps is my hobby.
2. I am
fond of reading books.
Words,
collecting and reading are gerunds.
1. Singular
Nouns: dog/cat/bus
2. Plural
Nouns: dogs/cats/buses
3. Possessive
Nouns: Ravi’s car/Father’s bike/His house
