Verbal Ability - Nouns

Definition of a Noun

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, quality, animal, idea or activity.

For Example

• Person − Mahima
• Thing − Disk
• Animal − Duck
• Activity − Navigation
• Place − Delhi
• Quality − Weight
• Idea − Intelligence

Types of Nouns

Proper Nouns

The names used for specific things, places, and people. For example — Jon, Paris.

Common Nouns

The names used for things in general. For example — table, house.

Concrete Nouns

The objects that can be identified through one of the five senses. For example – phone, chair.

Abstract Nouns

The names denoting quality, feeling or idea. For example – freedom, justice.

Count Nouns

Count nouns are those that can be counted. They are singular or plural. Plurals usually end with “s.” For example — Singular – Card, Plural – Cards.

Important

Most nouns ending in ‘s’, ‘sh’, ‘o’, or ‘ch’ sounds need an ‘-es’ suffix to be plural. Nouns ending in a consonant followed by ‘y’ become plural by ending with ’ies’.

For Example

• Singular — Bus (Ends with ‘s’ sound)
  Plural — Buses
• Singular — Dish (Ends with ‘sh’ sound)
  Plural — Dishes
• Singular — Potato (Ends with o’ sound)
  Plural — Potatoes
• Singular — Church (Ends with ‘ch’ sound)
  Plural — Churches
• Singular — Mystery (Ends with ‘y’ sound)
  Plural — Mysteries

Irregular Nouns

These are nouns that don’t end with either “s” or ‘es’ as suffixes in plural.

For Example

• Singular — Mouse
  Plural — Mice
• Singular — Ox
  Plural — Oxen

Uncountable Nouns

These are nouns that cannot be counted and usually do not have a plural form.

For Example

• Happiness
• Sand
• Oil

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns refer to groups of people or things. Unlike uncountable nouns, they can usually be counted, so they usually have plural forms.

For Example

• Singular — Batch
  Plural — Batches

Possessive Nouns

These names are called possessive as they express ownership. They commonly use “of.” For example – An act of God.

Most singular possessives are formed by adding an apostrophe and “s.” If the noun is plural, the possessive form becomes “s” and apostrophe.

For Example

• Singular Subject: Boy
• Singular Possessive: Boy’s
• Plural Subjects: Boys
• Singular Possessive: Boys’

Important

If the plural noun does not end with an “s,” the possessive is formed by adding apostrophe and “s.”

For Example

• Singular Common: Woman
• Singular Possessive: Woman’s
• Plural Common: Women
• Plural Possessive: Women’s
• Plural Possessive: Oxen’s