CBSE Class 5 English Nouns and Their Kinds Notes Set 01

What is a noun?

A noun is a naming word. It tells us the name of a person, place, animal, bird, thing, feeling or idea. In the sentence "Meera feeds the parrot in the garden", the words Meera, parrot and garden are nouns. Nouns can be grouped in several ways, and a single noun often belongs to more than one group at the same time.

1. Common nouns

A common noun names any person, place or thing of a general kind, without pointing to one particular member. Words such as girl, umbrella, road, city and teacher are common nouns. They do not need a capital letter unless they begin a sentence.

2. Proper nouns

A proper noun is the special name of one particular person, place, animal or thing. It always begins with a capital letter. Examples are Ravi, London, Pluto, France, Monday and the Ganga. Compare "a river" (common) with "the Yamuna" (proper).

3. Collective nouns

A collective noun is one word that names a whole group of people, animals or things. It is usually followed by "of" and a plural noun. Learn these pairs: 1. a bunch of flowers or keys 2. a flock of birds or sheep 3. a herd of cows or elephants 4. a fleet of ships 5. a team of players 6. a pack of cards or wolves

4. Abstract nouns

An abstract noun names an idea, feeling, quality or condition. We cannot see, hear, touch or taste it. Happiness, freedom, fear, love, peace, honesty and kindness are abstract nouns. Many are formed from other words: friend gives friendship, true gives truth, clean gives cleanliness, fail gives failure, and speak gives speech.

5. Countable nouns

A countable noun names something we can count one by one. It has a singular and a plural form and can take a number or a/an before it: one car, two birds, four books, an apple.

6. Uncountable nouns

An uncountable noun names something we cannot count as separate units, such as substances, liquids and ideas. Wood, air, milk, sugar, rice, oil, water and poverty are examples. They have no plural form and are not used with a/an or a number. To measure them we use a unit word: a glass of milk, a kilogram of rice, a piece of wood.

Key points to remember

1. Every proper noun starts with a capital letter. 2. A collective noun is singular in form but names a group, as in "a herd of cows". 3. Abstract nouns name things that exist only as ideas or feelings. 4. Countable nouns can be counted; uncountable nouns need a unit word. 5. A noun can belong to two groups: "team" is both common and collective.

Worked examples

Example 1. Pick out the nouns and name their kind: "Rohan saw a flock of birds over the river." Solution: Rohan is a proper noun. Flock is a collective noun. Birds is a common noun. River is a common noun.

Example 2. Find the abstract noun: "The soldier showed great courage." Solution: Courage is the abstract noun because it names a quality that we cannot touch or see.

Example 3. Say whether each noun is countable (C) or uncountable (U): pencils, sugar, rice, chair. Solution: pencils is C, sugar is U, rice is U, chair is C. Rice and sugar can be measured but not counted as single items.

Quick Check Questions