What is a Noun?

noun (noun): a word (except a pronoun) that identifies a person,

place or thing, or names one of them (proper noun)

Types of Nouns

Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

Common Nouns

Most nouns are common nouns. Common nouns refer to people,

places and things in general like chair or dog. Any noun that is not
a name is a common noun.

Examples: teacher, car, music, danger, receipt

Have you seen my dog?

The books are on your desk.

...the pursuit of happiness.

Proper Nouns

Names of people, places or organizations are proper nouns. Your

name is a proper noun. London is a proper noun. United Nations is
a proper noun.

Rule: Proper nouns always start with a capital letter.

Examples: Jane, Thailand, Sunday, James Bond, Einstein, Superman,

Game of Thrones, Shakespeare

Let me introduce you to Mary.

The capital of Italy is Rome.

He is the chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

I was born in November.

Note: Adjectives that we make from proper nouns also usually

start with a capital letter, for example Shakespearian, Orwellian.

Concrete Nouns and Abstract Nouns

Concrete Nouns

Concrete nouns are physical things that you can touch.

Examples: man, rice, head, car, furniture, mobile phone

How many stars are there in the universe?

Have you met James Bond?

Pour the water down the drain.

Abstract Nouns

Abstract nouns are the opposite of concrete nouns. They are

things that you cannot touch. Abstract nouns are ideas, concepts
and feelings.

Examples: happiness, courage, danger, truth

He has great strength.

Who killed President Kennedy is a real mystery.

Sometimes it takes courage to tell the truth.

Their lives were full of sadness.

Countable Nouns and Uncountable Nouns

Countable Nouns

(also called count nouns)

You can count countable nouns. Countable nouns have singular

and plural forms.

Examples: ball, boy, cat, person

I have only five dollars.

The Earth was formed 4.6 billion years ago.

There are lots of people but we don't have a car.

Uncountable Nouns

(also called mass nouns)

You cannot count uncountable nouns. You need to use "measure

words" to quantify them.

Rule: We never use uncountable nouns with the indefinite article

(a/an). Uncountable nouns are always singular.

Examples: water, happiness, cheese

Have you got some money?

Air-conditioners use a lot of electricity.

Do you have any work for me to do?

Many Asians eat rice.

Collective Nouns
A collective noun denotes a group of individuals.

Examples: class (group of students), pride (group of

lions), crew (group of sailors)

Rule: Collective nouns can be treated as singular or plural. More

about this at rules of subject-verb agreement with collective
nouns.

His family live in different countries.

An average family consists of four people.

The new company is the result of a merger.

The board of directors will meet tomorrow.

ARTICLES:-
Introduction

The word that defines a noun either as specific or unspecific is

called an article.

It can be categorized into two different categories:

Definite articles

Indefinite articles

Definite Article : The definite article limits the meaning of a noun

to a specific thing.

“The” is called definite article.

The definite article can be used with singular, plural, or

uncountable nouns.

For example,

Please pass me the bottle of water.

In this example, you are pointing to the specific bottle of water. So

we are using the definite article “the”.

Indefinite Article :The indefinite article denotes a general noun

rather than indicating a specific noun.
“A” and “An” are called the indefinite articles. They are used to
specify non-specific objects.

Examples

I ate an apple

I went to buy a notebook

Use of “a”

“A” is used:

Before a singular noun beginning with a consonant.

For example,

He owns a car.

She drives a taxi.

Before a singular noun beginning with a consonant sound.

For example,

She is studying in a University.

The word University begins with “Yee” sound where “y” is a

consonant. So we use a university.

She lives in a European country.

Before some number collectives and numbers.

For example,

A dozen of apple.

Is it safe to drink a gallon of water a day?

With nouns to form adverbial phrases of amount or quantity

For example,

She is a bit depressed after the incident

I am a bit disappointed by her behavior

Use of “an”

“An” is used:

Before a singular noun beginning with a vowel.

For example,

An Apple.

An amazing day.

An auspicious day.

I want an ice cream.

Before a noun starting with silent “H”.

For example,

An honest man.
An hour to go.

The nouns beginning with silent “H” begins with the O sound
which is a vowel nd hence we use “An” before it. An M.Tech, an
MBA, an MLA, an MA, an MSc.

For example,

The above mentioned words begins with M and has an “em”

sound where e is a vowel and hence we use an before the above
mentioned words

Use of “the”

“The” is used:

To denote a specific entity.

For example,

Please pass me the bottle of water.

In this example, you are pointing to the specific bottle of water. So

we are using the definite article “the”.

Please shut the window.

Please close the door.

When the entity being denoted is previously mentioned.

For example,

I am going to wear the new dress that I bought yesterday.

In this example, the dress bought the previous day is being
denoted and hence we will use “The”.

I went to the market.

I like the dress you gave me.

In a sentence having uncountable or plural form of the noun.

For example,

The curry is very delicious.

The boxes are kept in the backyard.

To denote a group of people.

For example,

We should help the poor people.

We should help the needy people.

We should try to spread knowledge among the uneducated

people.

With the names of river, sea and oceans

The Ganga, The Nile river, The Bay of Bengal, The Pacific ocean,
The Arctic ocean.

With the names of geographical areas.

The north, The west, the east, The north east.

Have you ever been to the Tropical rainforests?

With the names of point on Globe.

The equator, The Tropic of Cancer, The Tropic of Capricorn, The

Arctic circle.

Name of Gulf, Forest, Peninsula, Mountain, Desert.

The Gulf of Kutch, The Sahara Desert, The Thar Desert.

Prepositions
A preposition shows where, when or how the action took place in a
sentence. Let’s see a few examples because what explains better
than an example:

The glass is on the table.

Kinds of Prepositions

Types of Preposition

Most of the prepositions have many uses. There are some

prepositions which are common in every type of preposition as
they function in a versatile way.

Prepositions of Time
Prepositions of Place and Direction

Prepositions of Agents or Things

Phrasal Prepositions

Prepositions of Time:

Prepositions of time show the relationship of time between the

nouns to the other parts of a sentence.

On, at, in, from, to, for, since, ago, before, till/until, by, etc. are
the most common preposition of time.

Example:

He started working at 10 AM.

The company called meeting on 25 October.

There is a holiday in December.

He has been ill since Monday.

Read More: Prepositions of Time Usage

Prepositions of Place and Direction:

Prepositions of place show the relationship of place between the

nouns to the other parts of a sentence.

On, at, in, by, from, to, towards, up, down, across, between,
among, through, in front of, behind, above, over, under,
below, etc. are the most common prepositions of place/direction.

Example:
He is at home.

He came from England.

The police broke into the house.

I live across the river.

Read More: Prepositions of Places & Direction Usage

Prepositions of Agents or Things:

Prepositions of agents or things indicate a casual relationship

between nouns and other parts of the sentence.

Of, for, by, with, about, etc. are the most used and common
prepositions of agents or things.

Example:

This article is about smartphones.

Most of the guests have already left.

I will always be here for you.

He is playing with his brothers.

Conjunctions
Conjunctions are used to join clauses, phrases, and words
together for constructing sentences. Conjunctions make a link
between/among words or groups of words to other parts of the
sentence and show a relationship between/among them.

Example:

Alex and Robin are playing together.

Alex plays well, but Robin plays better than him.

I play cricket, and Robin plays football.

When he was sick, I went to see him.

Types of Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

Correlative Conjunctions

Subordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions:

The job of a coordinating conjunction is to join two words,

phrases, or independent clauses, which are parallel in structure.
There are seven coordinating conjunctions which are by far the
most common conjunctions: and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet.
Example:

We went to the stadium and enjoyed the cricket match.

Do you want an ice cream or chocolate?

Go away and never come back.

Correlative Conjunctions:

A correlative conjunction uses a set of words in a parallel

sentence structure to show a contrast or to compare the equal
parts of a sentence. The words of correlative conjunctions have a
special connection between them.

The correlative conjunctions are not only - but also, either- or,
neither - nor, both - and, not - but, whether - or.

Example:

Neither Alex nor Robin can play baseball.

I want both ice cream and

He ate not only the ice cream but also the chocolate.

Subordinating Conjunctions:

A subordinating conjunction joins elements of an unparallel

sentence structure. These elements are usually a dependent clause
and an independent clause.

Most commonly used subordinating conjunctions are:

After, how, than, when, although, if, that, where, as, in order that,
though, which, as much as, inasmuch as, unless, while, because,
provided, until, who/whom, before, since, what, whoever/whomever.

Example:

Before we left home, I had had my breakfast.

Provided they come, we can start class Tuesday.

When he was washing my car, I went to the store.

Even though the weather was horrible, they still went outside.
interjection
An interjection is a kind of exclamation inserted into regular
speech. Actually, it is a brief and abrupt pause in speech for
expressing emotions.

For example:

Good! Now we can celebrate the party.

Oh, what's a surprise.

Hey! Get out of the building!

Yes! I can do it easily.

No! I run so long.

Well! I have a good news.

Types of Interjection

Interjection is divided into following types on the basis of way to

express interjections in the sentence such as greeting, joy,
surprise, approval, sorrow, attention, and calling.
 Adjective:
An adjective is a part of speech (word) that modifies a noun or a
pronoun by qualifying, specifying or describing it.

Adjective Classification:
Following are the different types of adjectives
 Qualitative Adjective or Descriptive Adjective or Adjective of
quality
 Quantitative Adjective or Adjective of quantity
 Numeric Adjective or Adjective of Number
 Demonstrative Adjective
 Distributive Adjective
 Possessive Adjective
 Interrogative Adjective
i. Qualitative Adjective or Adjective of quality:
Expresses the qualities of something or someone.
Such as great, good, bad, wise, poor, nice, happy, pretty, angry,
blue, etc.
Example:
- He gives me a great idea.
- Mr. Rahim is a good person.
- He is a bad guy.
ii. Quantitative Adjective or Adjective of quantity:
Expresses or indicates the quantity of a noun or pronoun.
Such as some, little, much, enough, whole, sufficient, all, none,
more, half, no, etc.
Example:
- I have enough money to but he car.
- The whole countrymen congratulated the president.
- She wants all the money.
iii. Numeric or Adjective of number:
Express the number or order of something or someone. Such
as one, two, three, ………., first, second, third, ……………,
single, double, triple, quadruple, twofold, threefold, fivefold,
………… etc.
Example:
- He can eat ten eggs at a time.
- She is the first girl in the class.
- The house owner does not rent the room to the single person.
Adjective of number is to types Definite and Indefinite.
Definite Numeric adjectives are of three kinds.
Such as
- Cardinal (one, two, ….),
- Ordinal (first, second, ……),
- Multiplicative (Single, double, ……..)
iv. Demonstrative Adjective:
Specifies noun or pronoun. Such as this, that, those, these etc.
Example:
- This boy is good.
- That is her room.
- These are the book to follow.

v. Distributive Adjective:
Express the distributive state of nouns. Such as every, each,
neither, either, both etc.
Example:
- Every movie in the series is popular.
- Both the boys are appreciated by them.
- Each person will get the reward.
vi. Possessive Adjective:
Shows the possession or belongingness in the sentence. Such
as his, her, him, my, our, your, their, etc.
Example:
- This is her cell phone.
- I have seen their house.
- Our house is tow stored house.

vii. Interrogative Adjective:

Interrogative Adjective modifies nouns in interrogative
sentence. Such as which, what, whose, etc.
Example:
- What kind of man he is?
- Whose phone is this?
- Which program are you listening?