Parts of Speech - Nouns

'What type of noun is woman?'

You probably know that a noun is a type of 'thing'. For example 'table' and 'car' are both types of nouns. Here we take a look at all the different types of nouns there are and how to spot them:

concrete nouns

As above, 'car' and 'table' are concrete nouns. These are the nouns which we can touch, see, feel, smell and hear. Basically, these are nouns which we are connected to our senses.

'What a delicious apple.'
'Please open the window.'
'I put it in my pocket.'

proper nouns

Proper nouns are the names of people and places. We use capital letters with proper nouns.

'Jack will go shopping tomorrow.'
'She comes from Russia.'
'The Nile is the longest river.'

common nouns

Common nouns are nouns which describe a group of objects. For example, Oxford University is a proper noun because it is the name of a place. University is a common noun because it refers to a group. Common nouns are  used to describe groups of people.

Coffee shops are popular.'
'He took his children to the zoo.'
'I'd rather live in the city.'

abstract nouns

These nouns refer to things which we can't experience with our senses. Abstract nouns refer to emotions (love, hate), states (peace, beauty), concepts (faith, truth) and movements (education, progress). The following suffixes are used with abstract nouns:

• -tion
• -ism
• -ity
• -ment
• -ness
• -age
• -ence
• -ship
• -ability
• -acy

'He takes a lot of pride in his work.'
'India has an interesting culture.'
'Do you ever give to charity?'

collective nouns

Collective nouns refer to a group of people, animals or things.

'A flock of birds.'
'A herd of cattle.'
'My family is important to me.'

pronouns

Pronouns are used instead of nouns to  describe people and things.

'That bag is his.'
'I am here.'
'It is good.'

countable nouns

Countable nouns can be used to describe singular nouns (car) and plural nouns (cars)

'Where is my hat?'
'Where are my hats?'
'The girl is pretty.'
'The girls are pretty.'

uncountable nouns

Also known as mass nouns, uncountable nouns only use the singular. They are nouns which can't be counted. We can use 'the' with uncountable nouns, but not 'a' or 'an'.

'Can you lend me some money?'
'The grass is very green.'
'I hate rain.'

Now decide which type of noun is used in the sentences below:

Link: Parts of speech

• POLLUTION is a problem in my country.
  
  collective
  countable
  proper
  uncountable
  
  
• He comes from CHINA.
  
  common
  abstract
  collective
  proper
  
  
• I don't like HOSPITALS.
  
  proper
  common
  abstract
  uncountable
  
  
• You should eat more FRUIT.
  
  concrete
  abstract
  proper
  uncountable
  
  
• TRUST is important.
  
  proper
  collective
  abstract
  common
  
  
• The AUDIENCE looked bored.
  
  countable
  abstract
  proper
  collective
  
  
• Where did SHE go?
  
  proper
  common
  collective
  pronoun
  
  
• I rode a HORSE.
  
  proper
  concrete
  pronoun
  collective