Basic of GRAMMAR - LET US REVISE What is NOUNS with simple exercise

What is a noun?
"A noun is the name of a person, place or thing. " A common noun is the name of persons, places and things in general such as man, school and book.

A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place or thing, such as Sathish, Chennai, Onida etc. All proper nouns start with a capital letter.

A collective noun is the name given to a group of things, for example a flock of birds or a herd of cows.
An abstract noun is something you can't see, hear, touch or taste These can be emotions (happiness, sorrow) orstates (peace, quiet) Material noun is the name of the material with which a thing is made of Example : cotton, wood, silk etc.

EXERCISE - COMMON NOUNS:
Identify the Common Nouns in the following sentences
1. We arrived early at the station.
2. There are different species of fish.
3. The man was trying to steal her car

EXERCISE - PROPER NOUNS:
Use capital letters for Proper Nouns in the following sentences
1. paris is the capital of france. ___________________
2. william shakespeare is a famous english dramatist ___________________
3. ‘war and peace‘ was written by leo Tolstoy  ______________________
EXERCISE - ABSTRACT NOUNS:
Form Abstract Nouns of the following words
e.g., child - childhood
happy____________        scholar____________
know _____________    think ______________
strong ___________     wise _____________

EXERCISE - COLLECTIVE NOUNS:
Fill in the blanks with suitable collective nouns from the box given below
(herd, pride, flock)
1.A_______of birds flew high in the sky.
2. They saw a _____of lions at the zoo.
3. The farmer has a ______of cattle on his farm.

Collective Noun - Singular or Plural

None of the equipment was damaged. (None refers to the singular noun equipment)
None of the machines were damaged. (None refers to the plural noun machines.)
Most of the food has been eaten. (Most refers to the singular noun food)
Most of the sandwiches have been eaten. (Most refers to the plural noun sandwiches)

Note: The word none is singular when it means “ not one” and plural when it means “ not any.”

Examples:

None of the hats fits. (No one fits)
None of the hats fit. (Not any fit)

Task: Identifying Subjects and Verbs that agree in Number -For each of the following sentences, identify the subjectof the verb in parentheses. Then choose the verb form that agrees in number with the subject.


Example: Not one of the pears (look, looks) ripe. one-looks

1. Many of the recipes in this cookbook (is, are) adaptable tomicrowave cooking.
2. Neither of my parents (has, have) any trouble using the metric system.
3. I know that all the workers (is, are) proud to help restore the Statue of Liberty.
4. Most of the English classes in my school (stresses, stress) composition skills.
5. Few of the students (was, were) able to spell bureaucracy correctly.
6. (Do, Does) each of you know what you’re supposed to bring tomorrow?

Compound Subjects

A compound subject is two or more subjects that have the same verb.

Subjects joined by ‘and’ usually take a plural verb:

Examples: Basil and thyme are plants of the mint family.
A compound subject may name a single person or thing. Such a compound subject takes a singular verb.

Examples: The secretary and treasurer is Govind. (one person)Grilled chicken and rice is the restaurant’s specialty.
(one dish)

Singular subjects joined by ‘or’ or ‘nor’ take a singular verb:

Examples: Neither Juan nor Jeff wants to see the movie.
Either Faridha or Tara plans to report on Latha.
Has your mother or your father met your teacher?

When a singular subject and a plural subject are joined by ‘or’ or ‘nor’, the verb agrees with the subject nearer the verb:

Examples: Neither the performers nor the director was eager to rehearse the scene again. (The singular subject director is nearer the verb.)
Neither the director nor the performers were eager to rehearse the scene again. (The plural subject performers is nearer the verb.)

Task: Correcting Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement - Most of the following sentences contain verbs that do not agree with their subjects. If the verb does not agree, give the correct form of the verb. If the verb agrees with its subject, write C.

Example: Each of the issues were resolved. was

1. One or both of the Shakespearean plays about Henry IV are likely to be performed this summer.
2. The effective date of the new regulations for nuclear power plants have not yet been determined.
3. The fact that compact discs do not wear out and do not have to be flipped over make them attractive.
4. The sales representative, with the help of her assistant, are making plans to expand her territory.
5. Not one of the speakers in the debate on South America were eager to suggest a solution to the problem.
6. Neither the proposals of the air traffic controllers nor the report of the FAA’s committee have been heeded.

Collective nouns may be either singular or plural:

A collective noun is singular in form but names a group of persons or things.

A collective noun takes a singular verb when the noun refers to the group as a unit and takes a plural verb when the noun refers to the parts or members of the group.

Singular : The band practices every day.(The band practices as a unit.)
Plural : The band buy their own uniforms.(The members of the band buy separate uniforms.)
Singular : The tour group is on the bus.(The group as a unit is on the bus).
Plural : The tour group are talking about what they expect to see. (The members of the group are talking to one another).
Singular : A flock of geese is flying over. (The flock is flying as a unit.)
Plural : The flock of geese are joining together in a V-shaped
formation. (The members of the flock are joining together.)

English pronouns

PRONOUNS.
When we wish to speak of a name several times in succession, itis clumsy and tiresome to repeat the noun. For instance, instead ofsaying, "The pupil will succeed in the pupil's efforts if thepupil is ambitious," we improve the sentence by shortening it thus,"The pupil will succeed in his efforts if he is ambitious."

Again, if we wish to know about the ownership of a house, we evidentlycannot state the owner's name, but by a question we say, "Whosehouse is that?" thus placing a word instead of the name till we learnthe name.

This is not to be understood as implying that pronouns were inventedbecause nouns were tiresome, since history shows that pronouns are asold as nouns and verbs. The use of pronouns must have sprung upnaturally, from a necessity for short, definite, and representativewords.
A pronoun is a reference word, standing for a name, or for a personor thing, or for a group of persons or things.

Pronouns may be grouped in five classes:--

(1) Personal pronouns, which distinguish person by their form
(2) Interrogative pronouns, which are used to ask questions aboutpersons or things.
(3) Relative pronouns, which relate or refer to a noun, pronoun, orother word or expression, and at the same time connect two statementsThey are also called conjunctive.
(4) Adjective pronouns, words, primarily adjectives, which areclassed as adjectives when they modify nouns, but as pronouns whenthey stand for nouns.
(5) Indefinite pronouns, which cannot be used as adjectives, butstand for an indefinite number of persons or things.

Numerous examples of all these will be given under the separateclasses hereafter treated.

Adjective Sentences
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Reading Practice
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singular plural nouns

In nouns, number means the mode of indicating whether we are
speaking of one thing or of more than one.


Our language has two numbers,--singular and plural. The
singular number denotes that one thing is spoken of; the plural, more
than one.


There are three ways of changing the singular form to the
plural:--

(1) By adding -en.

(2) By changing the root vowel.

(3) By adding -s (or -es).

The first two methods prevailed, together with the third, in Old
English, but in modern English -s or -es has come to be the
"standard" ending; that is, whenever we adopt a new word, we make its
plural by adding -s or -es.

I. Plurals formed by the Suffix -en.

This inflection remains only in the word oxen, though it was
quite common in Old and Middle English; for instance, eyen (eyes),
treen (trees), shoon (shoes), which last is still used in Lowland
Scotch. Hosen is found in the King James version of the Bible, and
housen is still common in the provincial speech in England.


But other words were inflected afterwards, in imitation of the
old words in -en by making a double plural.


Brethren has passed through three stages. The old plural was
brothru, then brothre or brethre, finally brethren. The
weakening of inflections led to this addition.

Children has passed through the same history, though the
intermediate form childer lasted till the seventeenth century in
literary English, and is still found in dialects; as,--


Kine is another double plural, but has now no singular.

II. Plurals formed by Vowel Change.

40. Examples of this inflection are,--

man--men
foot--feet
goose--geese
louse--lice
mouse--mice
tooth--teeth

Some other words--as book, turf, wight, borough--formerly had
the same inflection, but they now add the ending -s.


Akin to this class are some words, originally neuter, that have
the singular and plural alike; such as deer, sheep, swine, etc.

Other words following the same usage are, pair, brace, dozen,
after numerals (if not after numerals, or if preceded by the
prepositions in, by, etc, they add -s): also trout, salmon;
head, sail; cannon; heathen, folk, people.

III. Plurals formed by Adding -s or -es.

Instead of -s, the ending -es is added--

(1) If a word ends in a letter which cannot add -s and be
pronounced. Such are box, cross, ditch, glass, lens, quartz, etc.



If the word ends in a sound which cannot add -s, a new syllable is
made; as, niche--niches, race--races, house--houses, prize--prizes,
chaise--chaises, etc.

-Es is also added to a few words ending in -o, though this sound
combines readily with -s, and does not make an extra syllable:
cargo--cargoes, negro--negroes, hero--heroes, volcano--volcanoes,
etc.

Usage differs somewhat in other words of this class, some adding -s,
and some -es.

(2) If a word ends in -y preceded by a consonant (the y being then
changed to i); e.g., fancies, allies, daisies, fairies.

Formerly, however, these words ended in -ie, and the real ending is
therefore -s. Notice these from Chaucer (fourteenth century):--

(3) In the case of some words ending in -f or -fe, which have
the plural in -ves: calf--calves, half--halves,
knife--knives, shelf--shelves, etc.

What is Grammer in English
What is noun
Common nouns
Abstract noun

Abstract noun

8. Abstract nouns are names of qualities, conditions, or actions,
considered abstractly, or apart from their natural connection.

When we speak of a wise man, we recognize in him an attribute or
quality. If we wish to think simply of that quality without describing
the person, we speak of the wisdom of the man. The quality is still
there as much as before, but it is taken merely as a name. So
poverty would express the condition of a poor person; proof means
the act of proving, or that which shows a thing has been proved; and
so on.

Again, we may say, "Painting is a fine art," "Learning is hard to
acquire," "a man of understanding."


9. There are two chief divisions of abstract nouns:--

(1) ATTRIBUTE NOUNS, expressing attributes or qualities.

(2) VERBAL NOUNS, expressing state, condition, or action.


10. The ATTRIBUTE ABSTRACT NOUNS are derived from adjectives and
from common nouns. Thus, (1) prudence from prudent, height from
high, redness from red, stupidity from stupid, etc.; (2)
peerage from peer, childhood from child, mastery from
master, kingship from king, etc.


II. The VERBAL ABSTRACT NOUNS Originate in verbs, as their name
implies. They may be--

(1) Of the same form as the simple verb. The verb, by altering its
function, is used as a noun; as in the expressions, "a long run" "a
bold move," "a brisk walk."

(2) Derived from verbs by changing the ending or adding a suffix:
motion from move, speech from speak, theft from thieve,
action from act, service from serve.


(3) Derived from verbs by adding -ing to the simple verb. It must be
remembered that these words are free from any verbal function. They
cannot govern a word, and they cannot express action, but are merely
names of actions. They are only the husks of verbs, and are to be
rigidly distinguished from gerunds (Secs. 272, 273).

To avoid difficulty, study carefully these examples:

The best thoughts and sayings of the Greeks; the moon caused fearful
forebodings; in the beginning of his life; he spread his
blessings over the land; the great Puritan awakening; our birth is
but a sleep and a forgetting; a wedding or a festival; the rude
drawings of the book; masterpieces of the Socratic reasoning; the
teachings of the High Spirit; those opinions and feelings; there
is time for such reasonings; the well-being of her subjects; her
longing for their favor; feelings which their original meaning
will by no means justify; the main bearings of this matter.


12. Some abstract nouns were not derived from any other part of
speech, but were framed directly for the expression of certain ideas
or phenomena. Such are beauty, joy, hope, ease, energy;
day, night, summer, winter; shadow, lightning, thunder,
etc.

The adjectives or verbs corresponding to these are either themselves
derived from the nouns or are totally different words; as
glad--joy, hopeful--hope, etc.

What is Grammer in English
What is noun
Common nouns
Abstract noun

What is common noun?

5. A common noun is a name possessed by any one of a class of
persons, animals, or things.

Common, as here used, is from a Latin word which means general,
possessed by all.

For instance, road is a word that names any highway outside of
cities; wagon is a term that names any vehicle of a certain kind
used for hauling: the words are of the widest application. We may say,
the man here, or the man in front of you, but the word man is
here hedged in by other words or word groups: the name itself is of
general application.


Besides considering persons, animals, and things separately, we may
think of them in groups, and appropriate names to the groups.

Thus, men in groups may be called a crowd, or a mob, a
committee, or a council, or a congress, etc.

These are called COLLECTIVE NOUNS. They properly belong under common
nouns, because each group is considered as a unit, and the name
applied to it belongs to any group of its class.



6. The definition given for common nouns applies more strictly to
class nouns. It may, however, be correctly used for another group of
nouns detailed below; for they are common nouns in the sense that the
names apply to every particle of similar substance, instead of to
each individual or separate object.

They are called MATERIAL NOUNS. Such are glass, iron, clay,
frost, rain, snow, wheat, wine, tea, sugar, etc.

They may be placed in groups as follows:--

(1) The metals: iron, gold, platinum, etc.

(2) Products spoken of in bulk: tea, sugar, rice, wheat, etc.

(3) Geological bodies: mud, sand, granite, rock, stone, etc.

(4) Natural phenomena: rain, dew, cloud, frost, mist, etc.

(5) Various manufactures: cloth (and the different kinds of cloth),
potash, soap, rubber, paint, celluloid, etc.

7. NOTE.--There are some nouns, such as sun, moon, earth,
which seem to be the names of particular individual objects, but which
are not called proper names.


The reason is, that in proper names the intention is to exclude all
other individuals of the same class, and fasten a special name to the
object considered, as in calling a city Cincinnati; but in the words
sun, earth, etc., there is no such intention. If several bodies
like the center of our solar system are known, they also are called
suns by a natural extension of the term: so with the words earth,
world, etc. They remain common class names.

What is Grammer in English
What is noun
Common nouns
Abstract noun

What is noun?

1. A noun is a name word, representing directly to the mind an
object, substance, or idea.


3. Nouns are classified as follows:--

(1) Proper.

(2) Common. (a) CLASS NAMES: i. Individual.
ii. Collective.
(b) MATERIAL.

(3) Abstract. (a) ATTRIBUTE.
(b) VERBAL



4. A proper noun is a name applied to a particular object, whether
person, place, or thing.

It specializes or limits the thing to which it is applied, reducing it
to a narrow application. Thus, city is a word applied to any one of
its kind; but Chicago names one city, and fixes the attention upon
that particular city. King may be applied to any ruler of a kingdom,
but Alfred the Great is the name of one king only.

The word proper is from a Latin word meaning limited, belonging to
one. This does not imply, however, that a proper name can be applied
to only one object, but that each time such a name is applied it is
fixed or proper to that object. Even if there are several Bostons or
Manchesters, the name of each is an individual or proper name.

What is Grammer in English
What is noun
Common nouns
Abstract noun