Thorough understanding of 'The Noun'

  

 

Apart from the definition if one wants to grasp the entire substance or thorough understanding of 'The Noun', following are the outline sub-topics which constitute the main topic.

1. Kinds of Noun
2. Number (8 methods and 4 important points to be remembered)
3. Gender (6 methods and 7 rules)
4. Apostrophe s (7 usage methods, 5 rules)

 

These are the four sub-topics that constitute the thorough understanding of 'The Noun'. 

So it is clear that if we understand the above sub-topics it means we thoroughly understand the Noun and its usage.

Before going into details about above four sub-topics the foremost step is to know what actually the noun is.

Noun is a part of speech used for naming persons, places and things.

Keep this in mind that things may be living or dead, tangible or intangible, visible or invisible.¹

Now the students may ask why this must be kept in mind. 

I have marked it above as a query # 1 and the answer will be seen in subsequent section which describes Kinds of Noun.

Now we discuss the first sub-topic to initiate our endeavor of thorough understanding of 'The Noun';

 Kinds of Noun

In English Grammar, Noun has only five kinds as given below;

A.       Proper Noun
B.        Common Noun
C.        Collective Noun
D.      Material Noun
E.       Abstract Noun  (You will find your answer to query#1 in the description of this kind of Noun)

Let us discuss them one by one in a very easy manner that contains definition, examples, and the last will be grammatical rules about it. 

So that you may become familiar with them while their usage in your speech or writings.

A. Proper Noun

It is the name of some distinguished, famous, notable person, place and thing.

Examples:

·      Allama Iqbal (person)

·   Baghdad        (Place)

·   Bible              (Thing)

 

Rules

There are two grammatical rules about Proper Noun.

It will always begin with capital letter irrespective of its position is sentence, whether it begins the sentence or situates in any position in a sentence.

If Proper Noun contains two or more words, every one of them will begin with capital letter.

Allama Iqbal was the great scholar.

He attributes his scholarly wisdom to Allama Iqbal.

Both rules are illustrated in above examples.

 

B.  Common Noun

It represents the name given in common to person, place and thing of same class or kind.

Examples:

woman, cow, kine, teacher, student, baby, boy, girl, man (Person)

farm, street, road, city, village, town, shop (Place)

television, radio, cup, bottle, book, table, chair (Thing)

 

 Rules

The only grammatical rule about usage of common noun is that it will always begin with small letter unless it begins the sentence. 

Means, it will begin with capital letter only when it begins the sentence.

Cow gives milk. (Common noun beginning the sentence)

I bought a cow.  (Not beginning the sentence)

 

C.  Collective noun

It denotes the name of group of persons or things spoken of as one whole.

 

Examples:

swarm, pile, bundle, crowd, mob, pack, army, fleet, army, jury, union, flock, team, committee, stock, herd

 

Rules:

Remember there are three rules regarding usage of collective noun.

Capital letter is used in beginning if it begins the sentence.

The jury consists of five members.

Jury of five members gave the verdict.

When collective noun is used as a subject in the sentence it takes singular verb and singular pronoun.

The army moves to its positions.

The team is going to play its final match.

When collective noun implies some divide in a group or does not imply collectiveness as a single entity, and denotes individuality within group, it takes the plural verb in a sentence.

 

The jury were divided in opinion.

   

This stock have different rates/prices.

      

 D.  Material Noun

It is the name of matter or substance of which anything is made.

 

Example:

gypsum, clay, silt, iron, steel, rubber, plastic, milk, gold, rice, sugar, copper

 

Rules

Alike common noun it begins with capital letter only when it begins the sentence, otherwise it is always begun with small letter.

 

E.  Abstract Noun

It represents the quality, state and action and is considered apart from the object to which it belongs.

To elaborate further the Abstract noun is the name of intangible concepts or ideas rather than anything having physical existence.

As we know noun is nothing but the name of person, place or thing, but there are certain things which does not have physical existence. 

To name such things which are physically non-existent, means we cannot see or touch them comes into this category which we call Abstract Noun. 

To make it further easier to understand we have differentiated them in three categories i.e Quality, State and Action. 

Following examples will help us clearing the concept about Abstract Nouns.

Example:

bravery, wisdom, truth, honesty, integrity, kindness, mildness (Quality)

fever, addiction, death, health, grief, pleasure, brotherhood, childhood, happiness, slavery, sickness (State)

hatred,  love, theft,  laughter,  judgment (Action)

 

Recall the query # 1, which required you to remember that things can be tangible or intangible, living or dead and visible or invisible. 

The above examples of abstract noun are the answer to that query. 

These are the names of things which are invisible, intangible, cannot be perceived or touched, physically non-existent objects.

Hope the answer to query # 1 is grasped very well.

 

Rules

  It does not begin with capital letter except when it begins the sentence.

-        Honesty is the best policy

-        He is famous for his honesty.

 

Hopefully the sub-topic # 1 of thorough understanding of 'The Noun' is clear to you now.

Now we discuss sub-topic # 2

Number

Noun of these kinds can be one or more than one in number, so there are two numbers related to Noun in English Grammar.

 

a.  Singular Number

b.  Plural Number

 

When the noun denotes the single person, place or thing, it is said to be in singular number.

However if it represents two or more than two persons, places or things, then it is said to be in plural number.

 

Now there are 8 (Eight) methods of forming plural of a singular noun. 

We must remember these methods for the right and correct use of nouns in our conversations or writings.

Method # 1:

Plural noun is formed by adding‘s’ to the singular noun.

 

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Girl	Girls
Leg	Legs
Poet	Poets
Bottle	Bottles
Medicine	Medicines
Book	Books
Chair	Chairs

 

Method # 2:

Singular nouns that ends in s, sh, ch and x will be added with ‘es’ to form Plural number.

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Bus	Buses
Truss	Trusses
Class	Classes
Bush	Bushes
Brush	Brushes
Bench	Benches
Ditch	Ditches
Box	Boxes
Tax	Taxes

 

Note: Fish remains fish as it is singular or plural alike. We discuss such nouns which are singular or plural alike in subsequent sections.

 

Method # 3

The singular nouns ending in ‘y’ are governed by two conditions for forming plural noun. 

What are those conditions?

 

Condition 1: Singular noun ending in ‘y’ preceded by consonant will be pluralized by dropping ‘y’ and adding ‘ies’.

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Army	Armies
Fly	Flies
City	Cities
Lady	Ladies
Duty	Duties
Story	Stories
Jury	Juries
Levy	Levies
Copy	Copies

 

 

Condition 2: Singular noun ending in ‘y’ preceded by vowel will be pluralized by adding only‘s’ without dropping ‘y’.

 

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Boy	Boys
Day	Days
Key	Keys
Monkey	Monkeys
Toy	Toys

Method # 4

Singular nouns which end in ‘o’ may be added with ‘es’ in most of the cases for forming plural nouns.

 

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Mango	Mangoes
Potato	Potatoes
Negro	Negroes
Hero	Heroes
Buffalo	Buffaloes

 

But in some specific cases such nouns ending with ‘o’ take only ‘s’ for forming plural number.

 

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Canto	Cantos
Dynamo	Dynamos
Piano	Pianos
Quarto	Quartos

 

Mosquito, Calico, Portico can be pluralized by either of above mentioned methods for forming plural number as both methods are applicable on them.

 

Method # 5

Singular Nouns ending in oo, io, eo are pluralized by adding‘s’ only.

 

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Bamboo	Bamboos
Cuckoo	Cuckoos
Portfolio	Portfolios
Seraglio	Seraglios
Cameo	Cameos

 

Method # 6

 

Singular Nouns ending in f and fe may form plural in most cases by dropping f and fe and adding ‘ves’.

 

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Wife	Wives
Knife	Knives
Life	Lives
Half	Halves
Thief	Thieves

 

But in some specific cases such singular nouns are pluralized by adding only ‘s’.

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Dwarf	Dwarfs
Proof	Proofs
Roof	Roofs
Chief	Chiefs
Grief	Griefs
Gulf	Gulfs
Safe	Safes
Strifes	Strifes

 

Method # 7

Some singular nouns are pluralized by changing inside vowel or by adding en or ne.

 

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Cow	Kine
Brother	Brethren
Tooth	Teeth
Goose	Geese
Foot	Feet
Man	Men
Child	Children
Mouse	Mice
Louse	Lice
Ox	Oxen

 

Method # 8

Singular nouns comprising more than one word i.e compound nouns are pluralized by adding ‘s’ to the principal word.

 

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Passer-by	Passers-by
Governor-General	Governors-General or Governors-Generals
Looker-on	Lookers-on
Coat-of-mail	Coats-of-mail
Commander-in-Chief	Commanders-in-Chief
Court-martial	Courts-martial
Step-son	Step-sons
Father-in-law	Fathers-in-law
Maid-servant	Maid-servants
Handful	Handfuls

 

Note: Man-servant, Woman-servant, Knight-errant, Lord-justice are exempted from above rule and they takes‘s’ with both words for forming plural.

 

Singular Noun	Plural Noun
Lord-justice	Lords-justices
Man-servant	Men-servants
Woman-servant	Women-servants
Knight-errant	Knight-errants

Now remember these 4 (four) points about following nouns.

This will supplement your capability to the thorough understanding of 'The Noun'.

Point # 1:

Following nouns are always considered in plural sense. Never are they singular.

 

Cattle

Cattle are grazing in the field.

(plural verb is used as cattle is plural noun)

 

Swine

These swine are healthy.

(plural verb is used as swine is always a plural noun)

 

People

People were free to vote anyone at their choice.

(plural verb and pronoun are used as people is always considered as plural noun).

 

Point # 2:

Following nouns are also used in plural sense

Alms, Annals, Assets, Bellows, Billiards, Breeches, Draughts, Drawers, Measles, Mumps, Nuptials, Pincers, Proceeds, Riches, Scissors, Spectacles, Thanks, Tidings, Tongs, Trousers.

 

Point # 3:

Following nouns are always considered in singular sense

Politics, Mathematics, Physics, Innings, Civics, Ethics, Mechanics, Metaphysics.

 

Point # 4:

Following nouns are singular as well as plural alike. 

They do not need any change in making plural of singular.

Brace, deer, dozen, fish, gross, hair, hundred, news, pair, paisa, yoke.

Nouns denoting number and weight preceded by numerals are not pluralized.

Twelve stone weight, Three thousand rupees, two dozen eggs

Example:

I bought three dozens eggs. (Incorrect)

I bought three dozen eggs. (Correct)

Or if you want to use dozens instead of dozen then it can be as mentioned below

I bought dozens of eggs. (Correct)

 

Similarly

Our team made two hundreds runs.

Our team made two hundred runs.

Or it can be

Our team made hundreds of runs.

I borrowed him ten-rupee note.

When noun is used as an adjective, it does not take 's' after it. Ten-rupee in above case is noun but being used here as an adjective. 

I bought five-kilo mangoes.

He weighed forty-pound.

A twenty-pound fish is caught.

Five-paisa

Remember the use of hyphen (-).

 

Some more details

I gave him five-paisa to buy candy.

paisa in this sentence denotes plural number. Remember using (-) in these situations

 

It has ten-pound weight

Pound in this sentence denotes plural number and (-) is used between adjective ‘ten’ and noun ‘pound’.

 

One rupee note is cancelled

Rupee in this sentence is singular in number.

Hope the sub-topic # 2 of thorough understanding of 'The Noun' is covered holistically.

Now we move to our sub-topic # 3.

Gender

Gender shows the difference of sex, thus it tells the gender of Noun.

There are four kinds of genders in English.

 

1.   Masculine:  for nouns denoting male living beings.

2.   Feminine:  for nouns denoting female living beings.

3.   Common:  for nouns denoting living beings of either sex.

4.   Neuter:  for nouns denoting lifeless things.

 

Now think which nouns are said to be in what gender

 

Masculine	Man, Boy, King, Father, Son, Uncle, Horse
Feminine	Woman, Girl, Queen, Mother, Daughter, Aunt, Mare
Common	Student, Friend, Baby, Parent
Neuter	Chair, Cupboard, Bed, Car, Tractor

 

Rules of forming feminine of masculine gender

6 ways or rules of forming feminine gender

 

1.   Some masculine nouns are added with ‘ess’ for forming feminine genders.

 

Host	Hostess
Jew	Jewess
Heir	Heiress
Giant	Giantess
Author	Authoress
Baron	Baroness
Count	Countess
Lion	Lioness

 

 

2.   Some nouns are changed into feminine gender by adding ‘ess’ but after dropping final vowel or the vowel preceding the final consonant.

 

Ambassador	Ambassadress
Arbiter	Arbitress
Actor	Actress
Director	Directress
Benefactor	Benefactress
Conductor	Conductress
Founder	Foundress
Hunter	Huntress
Instructor	Instructress
Negro	Negress
Preceptor	Preceptress
Prince	Princess
Proprietor	Proprietress
Protector	Protectress
Songster	Songstress
Tempter	Temptress
Tiger	Tigress
Traitor	Traitress
Votary	Votaress
Waiter	Waitress

 

 

3.   Some nouns are haphazardly or irregularly changed from Masculine to Feminine without any particular method.

 

Abbot	Abbess
Duke	Duchess
Emperor	Empress
god	goddess
Governor	Governess
Master	Mistress
Murderer	Murderess
Sorcerer	Sorceress

 

 

4.   Some nouns are changed from Masculine to Feminine gender by other endings

 

Administrator	Administratrix
Don	Dona
Executor	Executrix
Hero	Heroine
Signor	Signora
Sultan	Sultana
Testator	Testatrix
Widower	Widow

 

 

5.    Gender of some nouns is changed by using different words

 

Horse	Mare
Bachelor	Maid
Boar	Sow
Boy	Girl
Bridegroom	Bride
Buck	Doe
Bullock	Heifer
Bull	Cow
Brother	Sister
Cock	Hen
Colt	Filly
Dog	Bitch
Drake	Duck
Drone	Bee
Fox	Vixen
Gander	Goose
Gentleman	Lady
Hart	Roe
Husband	Wife
King	Queen
Man	Woman
Lad	Lass
Lord	Lady
Monk	Nun
Mr.	Mrs.
Nephew	Niece
Son	Daughter
Ram	Ewe
Sir	Madam
Earl	Countess
Wizard	Witch

 

6.   Some nouns take a word before or after for changing gender.

 

Buck-rabbit	Doe-rabbit
Bull-calf	Cow-calf
Bull-elephant	Cow-elephant
Cock-sparrow	Hen-sparrow
Doctor	Lady-doctor
Grandfather	Grandmother
He-bear	She-bear
He-goat	She-goat
Jack-ass	Jenny-ass
Landlord	Landlady
Man-servant	Maid-servant
Milkman	Milkmaid
Pea-cock	Pea-hen

 

7 Important rules to be noted about gender

 

1. Gender of Proper noun may be masculine, feminine and neuter.

2.  Gender of Common noun may be masculine, feminine, and common, neuter.

3.  Gender of all Material, collective, and abstract nouns is always neuter.

4.  Collective nouns denoting living beings are also considered to be of neuter gender unless becoming non collective.

5.  Children and small animal are also considered to be of neuter gender.

6.  Objects known for their strength are considered to be of masculine gender.

(The sun, the summer, the winter, death)

7.  Objects known for their beauty, gentleness and gracefulness are considered to be of feminine gender.

(The earth, the moon, the ship, the spring)

 

Hope the sub-topic # 3 of thorough understanding of 'The Noun' is clear now.

Now we move to sub-topic # 4.

Apostrophe s or ’s

Apostrophe s (’s) when attached with noun (living beings only) shows the ownership, authorship and relationship of that noun.

 

Where the Apostrophe s (’s) can be used?

 

a. Used only with nouns representing living things

b. Not used with lifeless things excepting in some particular cases.

 

7 methods and ways of its use

1.  It is only used with the names of living things

( Shahzad’s car, student’s room, family’s section, Cow’s tail, Teacher’s cap)

 

2.  Used with the names of personified objects

(personified objects are more or less like abstract nouns)

 

(fortune’s favorite, duty’s call, death’s door, sorrow’s tears)

 

3.  Used with nouns denoting time

( Year’s absence, day’s journey, week’s holiday, three days’ grace, hour’s meeting)

 

4.  Used with nouns denoting space

(arm’s length, hair’s breadth, stone’s throw)

 

5.  Used with nouns denoting weight

(pound’s weight, ton’s load)

 

6.  Used with nouns representing certain dignified objects

(Sun’s radiation , Heaven’s will, the court’s decree, duty’s call, and Nature’s work)

 

7.  Not used with lifeless things except following  few phrases

(At his finger’s end, to his heart’s content, journey’s end, out of harm’s way, for mercy’s sake, the ship’s passengers, the boat’s crew)

 

Where apostrophe s (’s) is deleted or omitted?

 

2 cases

   If last syllable of singular noun ends in s or ce and the noun is followed by the word sake, the ’s is deleted.

(For goodness sake, for conscience sake)

 

S after apostrophe is deleted in all plural nouns ending in s.(Dogs’ bite, elephants’ show, ladies’ dress, lions’ power)

 

Five (5) rules to be noted about use of apostrophe s ’s

 

Rule # 1

 

Plural nouns which does not end in s, take apostrophe s ’s for showing possession or relationship

(men’s sneakers, children’s bus)

 

Rule # 2

 

Noun which is consist of two or more words takes apostrophe s with last word.

(governor general’s speech, commander-in-chief’s orders, Government of Pakistan’s policy, Mrs. Sultan’s house)

 

Rule # 3

 

If two nouns are in apposition to each other, apostrophe s will attach to latter.

Apposition: Noun or noun phrase follows another to describe it, the latter is said to be in apposition to the former.

 

(Allama Iqbal, the Poet of East’s tomb, This is Quaid – e- Azam, the Founder of Pakistan’s house. Field Marshal, Muhammad Ayub Khan’s book)

 

 

Rule # 4

 

The words shop, school and house are usually omitted after Apostrophe s.

I met him at his uncle’s.  (house omitted)

I met him at tailor’s. (shop omitted)

I studied in saint anthony’s. (school omitted)

 

Rule # 5

 

Apostrophe s is never used with personal possessive pronouns

Yours sincerely

(apostrophe s is not allowed with your, his, her, their, our)

 

Conclusion

All our four sub-topics that comprised the motive of thorough understanding of 'The Noun' are explained in the simplest way so that you may clear all your concepts for its correction use.