Nouns –
Nouns are a part of speech that comprise words that are used to name people, places, animals, objects and ideas.
Classification of nouns-
Nouns are classified into five categories.
They are:
1) Common Nouns
2) Proper Nouns
3) Collective Nouns
4) Material Nouns
5) Abstract Nouns.
1) Common Nouns
The names of common (generic) things, persons and places are called common nouns.
e.g.
Bag, cat, man, houses, flower, water, gold, boy, teacher, farmer, city, garden, website, etc.
2) Proper Nouns
The names of specific persons, things and places are called proper nouns. Proper nouns begin with a capital letter.
e.g.
Tushar, Shakespeare, Raju, Sunita, Pune, India, Ganga, Bandra etc.
3) Collective Nouns
Collective nouns are the names used to denote a group of objects, animals or people.
e.g.
Family, flock, band, crew, committee, bunch, army, crowd, herd, bouquet, fleet, pair, mob, team, jury, parliament etc.
4) Material Nouns
The names of materials or substances are called material nouns.
e.g.
Gold, Iron, Wood, Cotton, Silver, Brass, Copper, Steel, Honey, Milk, Wool, Plastic, Glass, Metal, Rubber, etc.
5) Abstract Nouns
The names of qualities, state and action are called abstract nouns.
e.g.
Quality:
Honesty, goodness, kindness, beauty, bravery, wisdom, innocence etc.
Action:
Judgement, theft, laughter etc.
State:
Sleep, freedom, childhood, poverty, slavery, youth, etc.
Noun – Gender
The Gender of a noun indicates the male or female type or the absence of them.
The different genders are :-
1) Masculine Gender
2) Feminine Gender
3) Common Gender
4) Neuter Gender
1) Masculine Gender
A noun that denotes male objects like persons or animals is called masculine gender.
e.g.
boy, men, tiger, lion, bullock, dog, cock etc.
2) Feminine Gender
A noun that denotes female objects like persons or animals is called feminine Gender.
e.g.
girl, women, tigress, lioness, cow, bitch, hen etc.
3) Common Gender
A noun that denotes both male and female objects is called Common Gender.
e.g.
child, servant, enemy, neighbour, cousin, pupil, student, friend etc.
4) Neuter Gender
A noun that refers no gender is called Neuter Gender (Neither male/female).
e.g.
pen, pencil, books, tree, fruits, chairs, etc.
Frame feminine nouns-
1) Using different words
| Masculine | Feminine |
| Father | Mother |
| Gentleman | Lady |
| Son | Daughter |
| Brother | Sister |
| Husband | Wife |
| Man | Woman |
| Lord | Lady |
| King | Queen |
| Boy | Girl |
| Bachelor | Spinster |
| Monk | Nun |
| Cock | Hen |
| Sir | Madam |
| Dog | Bitch |
| Uncle | Aunt |
| Bull | Cow |
| Nephew | Niece |
2) By adding a suffix -ess
| Masculine | Feminine |
| Lion | Lioness |
| Count | Countess |
| Shepherd | Shepherdess |
| Steward | Stewardess |
| Author | Authoress |
| Priest | Priestess |
| Prophet | Prophetess |
| Heir | Heiress |
| Poet | Poetess |
| Jew | Jewess |
| Patron | Patroness |
| Baron | Baroness |
| Host | Hostess |
| Mayor | Mayoress |
3) By adding suffix -ess after dropping the vowel in end part.
| Masculine | Feminine |
| Actor | Actress |
| Benefactor | Benefactress |
| Emperor | Empress |
| Instructor | Instructress |
| Preceptor | Preceptress |
| Founder | Foundress |
| Hunter | Huntress |
| Tempter | Temptress |
| Conductor | Conductress |
| Tiger | Tigress |
| Duke | Duchess |
4) Minor addition in words
| Masculine | Feminine |
| Hero | Heroine |
| Sultan | Sultana |
| Czar | Czarina |
| Signor | Signora |
| Duke | Duchess |
| Master | Mistress |
5) By adding a word as ‘suffix or prefix’
| Masculine | Feminine |
| Man-servant | Maid-servant |
| Grand-father | Grand-mother |
| He-goat | She-goat |
| Land-lord | Land-lady |
| Cock-sparrow | Hen-sparrow |
| Milk-man | Milk-maid |
| Pea-cock | Pea-hen |
Noun – Number
There are two numbers in English
1) Singular Number
A noun that denotes only one person or thing is said to be in the Singular Number.
e.g.
Cat, Ant, Boy, Girl, Book, Pen, Table, Phone, Car, Dog, Tree, etc.
2) Plural Number
A noun that denotes more than one, is said to be in Plural Number.
e.g.
Cats, Ants, Boys, Girls, Books, Pens, Tables. Phones, Cars, Trees, etc.
Formation of Plural Nouns-
1) By adding ‘s’
| Singular | Plural |
| Cat | Cats |
| Boy | Boys |
| Girl | Girls |
| Dog | Dogs |
| Chair | Chairs |
| Pen | Pens |
| Curtain | Curtains |
| Pencil | Pencils |
| Solo | Solos |
| Photo | Photos |
| Piano | Pianos |
| Dynamo | Dynamos |
| Ratio | Ratios |
| Brief | Briefs |
| Grief | Griefs |
| Chief | Chiefs |
| Roof | Roofs |
| Belief | Beliefs |
2) By adding ‘es’
| Singular | Plural |
| Echo | Echoes |
| Negro | Negroes |
| Hero | Heroes |
| Volcano | Volcanoes |
| Cargo | Cargoes |
| Mango | Mangoes |
| Buffalo | Buffaloes |
| Potato | Potatoes |
| Torch | Torches |
| Watch | Watches |
| Match | Matches |
| Class | Classes |
| Tax | Taxes |
| Box | Boxes |
3) By adding ‘ies’
| Singular | Plural |
| Story | Stories |
| Army | Armies |
| Lady | Ladies |
| Baby | Babies |
| City | Cities |
| Pony | Ponies |
4) By removing ‘f’ or ‘fe’ and adding ‘ves’
| Singular | Plural |
| Life | Lives |
| Knife | Knives |
| Self | Selves |
| Wife | Wives |
| Calf | Calves |
| Loaf | Loaves |
| Thief | Thieves |
| Leaf | Leaves |
| Shelf | Shelves |
| Wolf | Wolves |
5) Change in words
| Singular | Plural |
| Man | Men |
| Woman | Women |
| Foot | Feet |
| Goose | Geese |
| Mouse | Mice |
| Ox | Oxen |
| Child | Children |
6) Adding ‘s’ to first word
| Singular | Plural |
| Sister-in-law | Sisters-in-law |
| Son-in-law | Sons-in-law |
| Daughter-in-law | Daughters-in-law |
| Father-in-law | Fathers-in-law |
| Mother-in-law | Mothers-in-law |
| Brother-in-law | Brothers-in-law |
| Passer-by | Passers-by |
7) Adding ‘s’ to second word
| Singular | Plural |
| Step-daughter | Step-daughters |
| Step-father | Step-fathers |
| Step-son | Step-sons |
| Step-mother | Step-mothers |
| Maid-servant | Maid-servants |
8) Minor change in words
| Singular | Plural |
| Crisis | Crises |
| Basis | Bases |
| Axis | Axes |
| Analysis | Analyses |
| Parenthesis | Parentheses |
| Phenomenon | Phenomena |
| Hypothesis | Hypotheses |
| Criterion | Criteria |
| Radius | Radiu |
| Index | Indices |
| Formula | Formulae |
| Memorandum | Memoranda |
| Bandit | Banditti |
Exceptional cases-
1) Some nouns are used only in plural.
e.g.
Scissors, Spectacles, Trousers, Drawers, Measles, Billiards, Draughts, Assets, Alms, Riches, etc.
2) Some nouns are used commonly in Singular.
e.g.
Civics, Politics, News, Mathematics, Physics, etc.
3) Some nouns have same singular and plural forms.
e.g.
Sheep, Deer, Cod, Swine, etc.
4) Abstract nouns and Material nouns are not used in the plural.
e.g.
Love, Charity, Copper, Gold, Kindness, Humanity, Iron, etc.
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