CBSE Class 4 English Nouns Notes Set 02

What is a noun?

A noun is a naming word. It is the name of a person, a place, an animal or a thing. Nouns are one of the eight parts of speech. We use nouns in almost every sentence we speak or write.

The eight parts of speech

Words are put into groups according to the job they do in a sentence. These groups are called parts of speech.

1. Noun

2. Pronoun

3. Verb

4. Adjective

5. Adverb

6. Preposition

7. Conjunction

8. Interjection

Four kinds of naming

1. Person: artist, teacher, fireman, doctor, girl.

2. Place: park, playground, school, market, city.

3. Animal: owl, ant, tiger, horse, parrot.

4. Thing: car, pencil, book, table, ball.

Common and proper nouns

A common noun is the general name of any person, place, animal or thing. Examples are girl, city, dog and river. A proper noun is the special name of one particular person, place or thing. It always begins with a capital letter. Examples are Meera, Delhi, Tommy and the Ganga.

So "girl" is a common noun, but "Meera" is a proper noun. "City" is common, but "Delhi" is proper.

Singular and plural nouns

A noun that names one person, animal, place or thing is singular, such as girl, owl or park. A noun that names more than one is plural. Most nouns add -s to become plural: girls, owls, parks. Nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch or -x add -es: bus becomes buses, brush becomes brushes and box becomes boxes. A few nouns change in other ways, such as child to children and man to men.

Nouns we cannot see

Some nouns name things we cannot touch, such as happiness, honesty, fear and friendship. These are also nouns, because they are names of feelings and ideas.

Finding nouns in a sentence

To find a noun, ask yourself whether the word names a person, place, animal or thing. In the sentence "The boy fed the cow in the field", the nouns are boy, cow and field. The words "the", "fed" and "in" are not nouns.

Using nouns well

1. Use a noun that fits the meaning. "I like to eat mangoes" makes sense, but "I like to eat tables" does not.

2. Begin the name of a person or place with a capital letter. Write "Ravi lives in Pune", not "ravi lives in pune".

3. Do not repeat a noun again and again. Later in the same paragraph you can use a pronoun such as he, she or it in its place.

Worked examples

Example 1. Sort the nouns: fireman, park, owl, pencil. Fireman is a person, park is a place, owl is an animal and pencil is a thing.

Example 2. Pick the nouns in "My pet is a rabbit." The nouns are pet and rabbit. "My", "is" and "a" are not nouns.

Example 3. Complete "There are four ______ at our ______." One answer is "There are four swings at our playground."

Remember

A noun names a person, place, animal or thing. A proper noun names one particular person, place or thing and begins with a capital letter. There are eight parts of speech in English, and the noun is the first of them.

Quick Check Questions