Nouns are words that 'name' things such as people, places, objects and ideas.
A. TYPES OF NOUN:
Nouns can be divided into several different types, each of which performs a particular function.
1. Common nouns-name the objects that we see around us. (Common here means shared by all.) E.g. girl, city, cat, etc.
2. Concrete nouns-refer to things which can be observed and measured
3. Proper nouns - are the names of specific people, places, times, occasions, events, etc. E.g. John, Mumbai, Mary, Etc.
4. Collective nouns - are the names of collections or groups of things. E.g. fleet, army, etc.
5. Abstract nouns - are the names of emotions, qualities, ideas, feelings, etc.
Another classification of nouns is whether they are "countable" or "uncountable".
Countable nouns (or countable) are the names of objects, people, etc. that we can count, e.g., book, pen, apple, boy, sister, doctor, horse.
Uncountable nouns (or uncountable) are the names of things which we cannot count, e.g., milk, oil, sugar, gold, honesty. They mainly denote substances and abstract things.
Countable nouns have plural forms while uncountable nouns do not. For example, we say "books" but we cannot say "milks".
THE NOUN: GENDER
1. Nouns may be in the Masculine, Feminine, Neuter or Common Gender,
a. Names of males are in the Masculine gender; as,
John, man, horse.
b. Names of females are in the Feminine gender: as,
Mary woman cow.
c. Names of things without life are in the Neuter gender; as,
Table, chair, stone.
d. A noun that can be either a male or a female is said to be of the Common gender; as
child, servant, thief, relation, cousin, student
How Feminines of Nouns are formed
1. By using an entirely different word; as,
Masculine Feminine
Boy girl
Brother sister
Buck doe sister
Buck doe
Bull (ox) cow
Bullock heifer
Cock hen
Colt filly
Dog bitch
Drake duck
Drone bee
Earl countess
Father mother
Gander goose
Gentleman lady
Hart roe
Horse mare
Husband wife
King queen
Lord lady
Man woman
Monk nun
Nephew niece
Papa mamma
Ram ewe
Sir madam
Son daughter
Stag hind
Uncle aunt
Wizard witch
Note - 'Dog' and 'horse' are now commonly used of both males and females
2. (a) By adding a termination - ess; as,
Masculine Feminine
Author authoress
Baron baroness
Count countess
Giant giantess
God goddess
Heir heiress
Host hostess
Jew Jewess
Lion lioness
Manager manageress
Mayor mayoress
Patron patrones
Peer peeress
Poet poetess
Priest priestess
Prophet prophetess
Shepherd shepherdess
Steward stewardess
Tailor tailoress
Victount viscountess
(b) By adding -ess after dropping the vowel of the Masculine ending; as
Masculine Feminine
Actor actress
Benefactor benefactress
Conductor conductress
Director Directress
Enchanter enchantress
Founder foundress
Hunter huntress
Instructor instructress
Prince princess
Proprietor proprietress
Seamster seamstress
Tiger tigress
Traitor traitress
Waiter waitress
(c) By adding-ess in an irregular way: as,
Masculine Feminine
Duke duchess
Emperor empress
Governor governess
Marquis marchioness
Master mistress
Murderer murderess
Sorcerer sorceress
3. By placing a word before or after, as
Masculine Feminine
Bull-calf cow-calf
Bull=elephant cow=elephant
Buck-rabbit doe-rabbit
Cock-sparrow hen-sparrow
Fisherman fisherwoman
Grandfather grandmother
Greatuncle greataunt
He-bear she-bear
He-devil she-devil
He-goat she-giat
Jack-ass jenny-ass,she-ass
Landlord landlady
Man-servant maid-servant
Milkman milkmaid
Peacock peahen
Washerman washerwoman
4. The feminines of some foreign words:
Administrator administratrix
Czar czarina
Executor executrix
Moneieur madame
Prosecutor prosecutrix
Signor signora
Sultan sultana
Viceroy vicereine
THE NOUN: NUMBER
There are two Numbers in English
- The Singular Number : denotes one person or thing
- The Plural Number: denotes more than one person or things.
Formation of Plurals
1. The simplest method of forming a Plural is by adding "-s" to the Singular
E.g. boy>boys, girl>girls, book>books, etc.
2. When the last letter in Noun is "y" and it is preceded by a Consonant, it may be changed to the Plural form by changing "-y" into "i" and adding "-es" to it,
E.g. story>stories, city>cities.
3. Nouns ending in "-o" generally form Plurals by adding "-es" to them
E.g. hero>heroes, mango>mangoes.
4. The following noun ending in "-o" can be changed into the plural form, simply by adding "-s" to them:
E.g. piano>pianos, photo>photos
5. Nouns ending in "-ss", "-ch", "-sh" and "-x" generally form Plural by adding "-es" to them.
E.g. class>classes,watch>watches,brush>brushes,box>boxes
6. The Nouns ending in "-f" or "-fe" usually have "-ves" ending in Plural form (i.e. Voiced Plurals)
E.g.: calf>calves, wife>wives, leaf> leaves, knife> knives.
7. The following nouns are changed into their plural form through the method of "mutation: (i.e. changes of inside vowel):
E.g. foot>feet, goose> geese, louse>lice,man>men, mouse> mice, tooth> teeth
8. Nouns such as the following ones, have the same Singular are Plural forms:
Brace, Pair, dozen, score, gross, hundred, thousand, million, stone, hundredweight, ton, head (of cattle), rupee etc.
However, we write:
- Dozens of scores of books
- Tons of steel
- Hundreds/thousands/millions of people
- He gave me five Rupees but he gave me a five-rupee note.
Foreign Plurals
- Words ending in -a have a Plural -ae:
E.g. Formula>formulae or formulas;
Larva> larvae, nebula> nebulae or nebulas;
Vertebra>vertebrae or vertebras.
- Words ending in -us with a Plural in -i:
E.g. alumnus> alumni; bacillus>bacilli; focus>foci or focuses; fungus>fungi or funguses; nucleus>nuclei; radius>radii; stimulus>stimuli.
- Words ending in -um with a Plural in -a:
E.g. curriculum,> curriculums of curricula; medium> media; memorandum> memoranda or memorandums;
stratum,>strata or stratums.
- Words ending in -ex, -is with a Plural in -es:
E.g. Apex> apexes or apices; index>indexes or indices; appendix>appendixes or appendices; axis>axes;
Amanuensis>amanuenses; analysis>analyses.
5. Words ending in -on with a Plural in -a:
E.g. criterion>criteria; phenomenon> phenomena
