English Nouns: Definition, Examples, Meaning, Rules, Types & Exercise with Answers

A noun is a naming word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea. It is one of the fundamental parts of speech in English grammar and is used in almost every sentence to convey or express anything.

• Person: Rahul, teacher, doctor, Prime Minister, men, women
• Place: Delhi, school, beach, badminton court, classroom, college
• Thing: book, car, computer, mouse, bottle, earphones
• Idea: freedom, happiness, justice, argument, evolution

Examples:

1. The cat sat on the mat (cat and mat are nouns because they name things and places, respectively).
2. Riya is going to school (School is a noun depicting a place)
3. Shyam bought a new car (Here, car is a noun representing things)
4. Honesty is the best policy. (honesty is a noun representing an abstract idea)

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a noun is “a word that refers to a person (such as ‘Ram’ or ‘teacher’), a place (such as ‘India’ or ‘school’), a thing (such as ‘table’ or ‘book’), or an idea (such as ‘happiness’ or ‘freedom’). Nouns can be used as the subject or object of a verb.”

According to the Collins Dictionary, a noun is “a word or group of words that refers to a person, place, or thing or any syntactically similar word.”

Pronounced as  /naʊn/

Example, air, India, man, airplane etc. are nouns.

In English grammar, there are nine types of nouns. Read below to know the types of nouns:

1. Proper Nouns

A Proper Noun refers to a name given to specific people, places, or organisations. Proper nouns are always written with a capital letter at the beginning.

Example:

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world

2. Common Nouns

A Common Noun is a name shared by every person or thing of the same class and kind. In a sentence, proper nouns are sometimes used as common nouns. Check the examples below:

Example:

Mayank is the Shakespeare of our class. (‘Shakespeare’ is a proper used as a common noun)

3. Concrete Nouns

Concrete nouns are the nouns which describe the physical sense of something. An object which can be touched, seen, heard, smelled or tasted as tagged as concrete nouns.

Example:

The baby is playing with a toy. (Toy is a concrete noun)

4. Abstract Nouns

Abstract nouns are the opposite of concrete nouns. They are used to describe things that cannot be seen or sensed, such as ideas, emotions, or intangible things.

Example:

Honesty is the best policy. (Honesty is an Abstract noun)

5. Collective Nouns

Collective nouns refer to a naming word used for a group of animals, things or people.

Example:

The boy spotted a herd of sheep in the farm.

Tourists were excited to spot the pride of lions during the safari.

6. Countable Nouns

Countable nouns refer to nouns which can be measured or counted.

Example:

I have a pen

Shyam bought four cupcakes for his friends

7. Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns refer to nouns which cannot be measured or counted

Example:

Is there any water in bottle?

I have some information on new education policy

8. Singular Nouns

Singular nouns are used to name a single person, place or thing.

Example:

There is a cat in front of the house

I have a mango in my bag

9. Plural Nouns

Plural nouns are used to refer number of people, places or things. Plural nouns are formed by adding ‘s’, ‘es’, ‘ies’ or ‘ves’.

Example:

Singular Noun	Plural Noun	Examples
Most nouns	Add -s	cat → cats, book → books
Nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z	Add -es	bus → buses, box → boxes
Nouns ending in consonant + y	Drop -y, add -ies	baby → babies, city → cities
Nouns ending in vowel + y	Just add -s	boy → boys, key → keys
Some nouns ending in -f or -fe	Replace with -ves	knife → knives, leaf → leaves
Some -f/-fe nouns	Just add -s	roof → roofs, belief → beliefs
No fixed rule	Change word form	man → men, child → children
Some animals, fish, etc.	No change	deer → deer, sheep → sheep
Some nouns ending in -o	Add -es	tomato → tomatoes, hero → heroes
Some nouns ending in -o	Add -s	photo → photos, piano → pianos
Latin/Greek origin	Use original plural form	cactus → cacti, criterion → criteria

There are some exceptions and rules of nouns in English grammar. Some of the common rules or exceptions for Nouns with examples are mentioned below:

Rule 1: Some nouns, though singular in meaning, are always treated as plural and take plural verbs.

Examples: people, police, cattle, government, audience.

• The police have arrived at the scene.
• People are becoming more health-conscious nowadays.

Rule 2: Certain nouns are always used in the plural form and require plural verbs.

Examples: trousers, scissors, spectacles, jeans.

• These jeans are too tight for me.
• My spectacles are on the table.

Rule 3: When nouns denote measurement (weight, length, time, money, etc.), they remain unchanged in form if preceded by a definite numeral.

Examples:

• He purchased 10 dozen eggs.
• My school is 3 kilometers away from home.

Rule 4: Some abstract or uncountable nouns always take singular verbs.

Examples: furniture, information, advice, knowledge, mathematics.

• The information you provided is useful.
• Mathematics is his favorite subject.

Rule 5: Collective nouns can take either singular or plural verbs based on whether the group is acting as one unit or as individuals.

Examples: team, committee, family, audience, staff.

• The jury has reached its verdict. (acting as one)
• The jury are discussing their opinions. (acting individually)

Rule 6: Material nouns typically don’t take articles like a, an, or the unless used in a specific or metaphorical sense.

• She bought a silver from the market. (incorrect)
• She bought silver from the market. (correct)

Also Read:

Subject Verb Agreement Questions and Answers

Examples of Articles

Rule 7: Some nouns have different meanings in their singular and plural forms.

Examples:

• Work (Singular): A task or job
  Works (Plural): Factories or artistic compositions
• Quarter (Singular): One-fourth
  Quarters (Plural): Living accommodations

Rule 8: Neuter nouns (non-living things) may be referred to with masculine or feminine pronouns depending on qualities:

• Use feminine for beauty/grace (e.g. ships, nature)
• Use masculine for strength/power (e.g. cars, machines)

Example:

• The ship set sail; she was a sight to behold.
• The train roared as he sped through the valley.

Rule 9: Collective nouns and names of small creatures or babies are treated as neuter gender, even if they refer to living beings.

Example:

• The baby is sleeping peacefully.
• The ant crawled across the floor.

Rule 10: Titles of books, movies, or artworks are considered singular, even if they appear plural.

Example:

• The Chronicles of Narnia is a popular fantasy series.
• The Beatles is my dad’s favorite band. (referring to the name)

There are some exceptions or special cases to nouns.

1. Plural nouns are formed by adding ‘s’, ‘es’, ‘ves’, ‘oes’, and so forth. Whereas, some irregular nouns do not follow the pluarisation rule.

For example:

• Child is changed to children
• Mouse is changed to mice

2. Some nouns do not change their form. They are the same in singular and plural forms.

Example:

• Singular: There is a sheep in a field
• Plural: There are 20 sheep in the field

3. Some uncountable nouns are written in singular form.

Example:

• Rohini gave me some advices on exam preparation. (wrong)
• Rohini gave me some advice on exam preparation. (correct)

This table outlines the key differences between nouns and pronouns in English grammar. While nouns are naming words for people, places, animals, and things, pronouns are used to avoid repetition by replacing nouns.

Features	Nouns	Pronouns
Definition	Noun is a naming word for person, place, animal and thing	Pronouns replaces noun to avoid repition
Example	Kritika, Jaipur, Tiger, Pencil box	He, she, it, them, they, etc
Function in a sentence	Acts as a subject of a verb or preposition	It replaces the noun as object or subject
Modified by	It can be modified by articles, adjectives, quantifiers like some and many Example: Many students are attending the online webinar	Not modified
Can it be a Subject/Object?	Yes	Yes
Form change	Changes with as singular, plural or possessive noun	Changes as per the subject form (she/he/them)

Also Read: English Grammar: Conjunctions

This table highlights the fundamental differences between nouns and verbs in English grammar. Nouns represent names of things, while verbs express actions or states of being.

Features	Nouns	Verb
Definition	Noun is a naming word for person, place, animal and thing	It is an action word. Describing the action or state of being
Example	Kritika, Jaipur, Tiger, Pencil box	Sleep, run, walk, eat
Function in a sentence	Acts as a subject of a verb or preposition	Tells what the subject is or does
Modified by	It can be modified by articles, adjectives, quantifiers like some and many Example: Many students are attending the online webinar	Modified by adverbs Example: Peaceful sleep Running fast Slow walk Ate slowly
Can it be a Subject/Object?	Yes	No
Form change	Changes with as singular, plural or possessive noun	Changes as per the tenses Example: Run, ran, running

Also Read: English Tenses