Grammar Fanatic

Thu, 25 Jun, 2020

Learn everything about Nouns in 6 minutes!

Linked Table of Contents:

What is a Noun?

Taj Mahal, Argentina, Paul, Lenovo. What do you think is the one common link between these words? Yes, you got that right! All these words depict the name of a place, country, name and a brand. In this article, we will be taking a deep dive into how we categorise these words into a special category called ‘Nouns’. But, is that really it? Learning nouns during the primitive stages of a child’s education journey is really important and hence it's really important that they start learning nouns in English during Class 1 itself. Don't you want your child to embark upon this journey and get started? Book a FREE Class NOW!

Now that we have an initial understanding of what nouns are, let us dive deeper to understand their types and how they are used in sentences. To make it easier to understand, nouns are the words that are used to identify a person, name, place or a thing. To learn about Class 1 English nouns in greater detail, let's look at some examples of nouns, which are listed below 

Person

Man, woman, Shaun, Paul

Place

Delhi, Mumbai, home, country, town

Thing

Banana, Watermelon, fan, chair

Examples of Noun Sentences for Class 1

  • The boy is playing cricket.

  • He loves to eat chocolates.

  • China has the largest population in the world.

  • Eat watermelons in the summer.

  • Alexa went shopping.

In the above sentences, words such as boy, cricket, chocolates, China, population, world, watermelons, summer, and Alexa are nouns.

Types of Nouns

However, you must be wondering, how are all of these words Nouns? Well, to make our understanding easier, nouns are categorised further in the following categories.

  • Common Nouns

  • Proper Nouns

  • Collective Nouns

  • Abstract Nouns

  • Material Noun

A crucial part of CBSE Class 1 English nouns is to understand how each category of noun works and how they can be applied in the sentences. PlanetSpark PSAT Qualified Expert can help your child master grammar in 60 days! Why not BOOK a FREE Class with the expert and get started?

So, let's look at each type of noun in detail.

1. Proper Noun: Name of a person, place, or a thing is referred to as a proper noun. For example, Paris, Ronaldo, California, Buckingham Palace, all these words come under proper nouns as they name a specific person or place.  In fact, your name is also a proper noun.

Rule: Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter.

Let's have a look at some sentences of proper nouns used in the English language:

  • My friend visited Dubai this week.

  • Ashoka was one of the greatest kings in history.

  • Mark Zuckerberg is the founder of Facebook.

  • Susan is my best friend.

  • Paris is my favourite city.

  • I like going on drives on a Sunday.  

  • Issac Newton discovered gravity.

  • My birthday is in August.

  • Taj Mahal is located in Agra.

2. Common noun: The term "common noun" refers to generic naming of people, place, animals, things, and abstract notions. A common noun is a name that is shared by all people or things of the same kind, such as a boy, a country, a car, and so on.

Words that refer to undefined or general individuals, places, or things are termed as common nouns. The word city, for example, is a common noun that refers to a general location, whereas the word Paris is a proper noun that refers to a specific city.

Rule: Capitalise common nouns only when they begin sentences or are used in the names or titles of things, such as Iron Man, etc.

Have a look at the following examples of common noun sentences for Class 1:

  • Drinking enough water is good for your health.

  • That car looks beautiful.

  • He is a very notorious boy. 

  • I want to eat pizza.

  • I don't like drinking milk.

  • She bought a couple of books to read.

  • He has multiple bikes.

  • I love my country.

  • He purchased a new laptop.

  • I like watching television.

3. Collective noun: Collective nouns refers to the name for a group or collection  of people or things, e.g. herd, crowd, flock, fleet, etc.

Let's have a look at some of the examples of collective noun:

  • An army of ants

  • A flock of birds

  • A flock of sheep

  • A herd of deer

  • A hive of bees

  • A litter of puppies

  • A crowd of people

  • A gang of thieves

  • A class of students

4. Abstract Noun: Things you can't touch are referred to as abstract nouns. Feelings, thoughts, concepts, or a state of mind or characteristic, such as kindness, happiness, laughter, truth, bravery, and so on, are abstract nouns.

Here are some of the examples of abstract nouns:

  • Satisfaction is the key to happiness.

  • Anger is a disaster.

  • I was happy at his success.

  • Innovation differentiates a leader from a follower.

  • He should get justice.

  • Animals also deserve love.

  • I want freedom in my life.

  • Happiness is my prime goal.

  • It takes courage to tell the truth.

5. Material noun: A material noun refers to a substance or material from which anything is manufactured, such as wood, iron, gold, plastic, cotton, diamond, etc.

Have a look at some examples of material nouns:

  • Gold is a symbol of status in the modern world.

  • Diamond is a precious mineral.

  • This table is made out of wood.

  • Plastic is harmful for the environment.

  • He gifted her a ring made out of diamond.

  • Aluminium is lighter than iron.

  • Copper is used in making electrical equipment.

Important note: A noun may belong to more than one category.

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Countable Nouns and Uncountable Nouns

Nouns can be countable or uncountable, and knowing the difference between the two is vital in English because their usage differs.

  1. Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted using numbers. Countable nouns have both  singular as well as plural forms.

Let's look at a few examples

  • I paid him 20 dollars for the food.

  • The distance between Earth and Mars is almost 34 million miles.

  • I added two new black cars in my garage.

  • My house has three floors.

  • I ate two bananas for breakfast.

  • I went on a vacation with three of my friends.

2. Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns are used to describe things that can't be counted, such as air, wrath, love, knowledge, tea, sugar, and so on. They could refer to abstract concepts or qualities (pleasure, grief, beauty, etc.) as well as tangible items that are too little or amorphous to be counted (powder, etc.). With a singular verb, uncountable nouns are used. They don't frequently have a plural form.

Here are a few examples of uncountable nouns

  • I have put in a lot of hard work on this project.

  • He wanted some sugar from me.

  • I purchased some rice from the market.

  • I love my family a lot.

  • I was very angry at his activity.

Noun Activities for Kids

Activity: Identify the nouns and their kind in each sentence below. 

  1. She likes to eat chocolates

  1. My mother cooks tasty food

  1. We saw lions in the zoo.

  1. I like juice.

  1. He loves driving cars.

  1. She likes to read books.

  1. Monkeys are jumping on trees.

  1. The boy kicked the ball.

  1. My brother has a shop for gold.

  1. He is watching television.

  1. Alexa is going to the supermarket.

  1. Satisfaction is the key to happiness.

  1. This car is very expensive.

  1. The audience clapped for the performers.

  1. My father is an architect.

  1. Our team won the match.

  1. My watch is made out of silver.

  1. A flock of sheep. 

  1. Russia is the largest country in the world.

  1. The policemen followed the gang of thieves. 

 Answers

1.Chocolates: common noun

2. Mother: common noun 

 Food: common noun

3. Lions: common noun

Zoo: collective noun

 4. Juice: common noun

 5. Cars: Common noun

 6. Books: Common noun

 7. Monkeys: Common noun

Trees: Common noun

 8. Boy: Common noun

Ball: Common noun

 9. Brother: Common noun

Shop: Common noun

Gold: Material noun

 10. Television: Common noun

 11. Alexa: Proper noun

Supermarket: Common noun

 12. Satisfaction: Abstract noun

Happiness: Abstract noun

 13. Car: Common noun

 14. Audience: Collective noun

Performers: Collective noun

 15. Father: Common noun

Architect: Common noun

 16. Team: Collective noun

Match: Common noun

 17. Watch: Common noun

Silver: Material noun

 18. Flock: Collective noun

Sheep: Common noun

 19. Russia: Proper noun

Country: Common noun

World: Common noun

20. Policemen: Common noun

Gang: Collective noun

Thieves: Common noun

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