CBSE Class 8 English Advanced Noun Notes Set 01

Noun

Definition of a Noun

A noun is a word that gives a name. The name may belong to a person (Betty), an animal (cat), a place (Omaha), a thing (book), a quality (softness), an idea (justice) or an action (yodelling). Nouns tell us who or what a sentence is talking about.

In 'Riya and Arun will meet at the library on Sunday', the nouns are Riya, Arun, library and Sunday. In 'Rainy afternoons make my cat sleepy', the nouns are afternoons and cat.

Kinds of Nouns

Proper noun

A proper noun is the special name of one particular person, place or thing, and its first letter is always a capital. It takes a singular verb even if it looks plural. Names of school subjects such as History and Mathematics are written with capitals and are treated in the same way: 'Physics is an interesting subject.'

Common noun

A common noun is the general name given to all the persons or things of one class, such as girls, city, boys. Examples: 'Every student needs a good teacher.' 'Rivers are a source of fresh water.'

Collective noun

1. A collective noun is the name of a number of persons or things considered together as one group. In most sentences it is singular.
2. When we think of the members as separate individuals, or when the members disagree among themselves, it can be treated as a plural.

Examples: 'The audience is waiting for the show to begin.' 'Our football team has won every match this season.'

Some collective nouns for living things and objects:

Material noun

A material noun is the name of the matter out of which things are made, for example silver, gold, iron, cotton, diamond and plastic. It keeps its singular form, goes with a singular verb and is used without 'a', 'an' or 'the'. Examples: 'Copper conducts electricity.' 'Cotton is grown in black soil.'

Abstract noun

An abstract noun names an emotion, a condition or a quality, or anything that cannot be expressed as a number. Like a material noun it keeps the singular form, takes a singular verb and has no article. Examples: 'Courage is needed in times of danger.' 'Her kindness won everyone's heart.'

Countable noun

A countable noun names something we can count one by one. It can be used in the singular (a dog, a house, a friend) or in the plural (a few books, lots of oranges). Examples: 'There are thirty students in my class.' 'Meena bought a dozen mangoes at the market.'

Uncountable noun

An uncountable noun names something that cannot be counted as separate items. It is always treated as singular and must be followed by a singular verb. Examples: 'There is no milk left in the jug.' 'I need some information about the museum.'

Forms and Genders

Forms (singular and plural)

A noun is normally given in the singular. When it names more than one person, place, thing, animal, event or idea, it must be changed to the plural. The most common ways are shown below.

Note 1. After a vowel, y does not change: chimney - chimneys, trolley - trolleys.
Note 2. Some nouns ending in f simply take -s: cliff - cliffs, chef - chefs.

Genders

Nouns have four genders: masculine (male), feminine (female), common (either male or female) and neuter (neither, lifeless things).

Masculine and feminine pairs: king - queen, actor - actress, bridegroom - bride, duke - duchess, monk - nun, lord - lady, horse - mare, cock - hen, drake - duck, lad - lass, nephew - niece, wizard - witch.

Rules of Nouns

Rule 1: Uncountable nouns

Words such as machinery, work, wood, dust, traffic, electricity, scenery, poetry, furniture, advice, luggage, information, hair, money, knowledge, bread, stationery, crockery, baggage, postage, wastage, jewellery and breakage are normally used in the singular only. They take no plural and no 'a' or 'an'. (Words such as language and business are often listed here too, but they are countable in other senses, as in 'many languages'.)

Wrong: The sceneries of Shimla are lovely. Right: The scenery of Shimla is lovely.
Wrong: She gave me many informations. Right: She gave me a lot of information (or much information).

Rule 2: Nouns that look plural but are singular

News, mathematics, ethics, politics, phonetics, economics, statistics, measles, mumps, rickets, billiards, innings and summons end in -s but carry a singular meaning, so they take a singular verb. 'Economics is taught in Class 11.' (A plural verb is also seen when the word stands for a person's skills, as in 'His mathematics are very weak', but the singular is the safe choice.)

Wrong: Billiards are played in a club. Right: Billiards is played in a club.
Wrong: The news were shocking. Right: The news was shocking.

Rule 3: Same form in singular and plural

Some nouns do not change in the plural: sheep, fish, deer, aircraft, swine, vermin, species, carp, pike, trout, counsel.

Wrong: The farmer has ten sheeps. Right: The farmer has ten sheep.
Also: 'A series of talks is planned for next week' (series is singular and takes 'is').

Rule 4: Nouns always used in the plural

Cattle, assets, alms, police, amends, annals, archives, ashes, arrears, athletics, wages, auspices, scissors, gentry, trousers, pants, clippers, shambles, bellows, gallows, eyeglasses, tidings, goggles and belongings are always plural and take a plural verb.

Wrong: The police is searching the area. Right: The police are searching the area.
Wrong: My trouser is torn. Right: My trousers are torn.

Rule 5: Possessive nouns (apostrophe s)

1. The possessive 's goes with the names of living beings: Kabir's bag, the dog's tail. For lifeless things use 'of': The door of the room is open (not 'the room's door').
2. A lifeless thing can take 's when it is personified: 'The old man is at death's door.' 'Nature's beauty is endless.'
3. It is also used with nouns for space, time and weight: 'a stone's throw', 'a week's holiday', 'a pound's weight'.
4. When two or more persons own something jointly, the sign is added only to the last name: 'Ravi and Anil's shop is closed.'
5. After somebody, anybody, nobody and the like, the 's is added to 'else': 'This pen is not mine, it is someone else's.'
6. Possessive pronouns (his, hers, yours, mine, ours, its, theirs) never take an apostrophe. Two possessive nouns should not stand together: wrong 'Mona's brother's bike is new'; right 'The bike of Mona's brother is new.'

Rule 6: After 'one of', 'each of' and similar phrases

The phrases one of, some of, each of, either of, neither of, any of and none of are followed by a plural noun: 'One of my cousins lives in Pune' (not 'one of my cousin'). With 'each of' the verb stays singular: 'Each of the players was given a medal.'

Rule 7: Verbs after collective nouns

A collective noun may take either a singular or a plural verb. If the group is thought of as a single unit, the verb is singular: 'The jury is ready to announce its decision.' If the members are thought of one by one, the verb is plural: 'The jury are divided in their opinions.' Crew, family and team follow this rule.

Rule 8: Family members and cousins

Do not say 'family members' or 'cousin brother' and 'cousin sister'. Say 'the members of the family' and 'he (or she) is my cousin'. Wrong: Tina and Tarun are my family members. Right: Tina and Tarun are the members of my family.

Add to Your Knowledge: Spend Time and Waste Time

The phrases 'spend time' and 'waste time' are followed by a gerund (the -ing form of the verb), never by an infinitive. The noun 'time' may be replaced by a length of time such as hours, days or months, and the gerund is still needed. Examples: 'I spent two hours revising my notes.' 'He wastes a lot of time playing games.'

If 'time' is not part of such a phrase, the usual pattern of noun plus infinitive applies: 'I have time to help you today.' 'The students need more time to finish the paper.' 'She uses her free time to improve her skills.'

Concept Map

The noun can be viewed in this way: