Noun: Classification and Formation Of Abstract Nouns

NOUN

A Noun is a word used as the name of a person, place or thing. or Naming words are called Noun.

Ram, Mohan, Sita, Gita, Delhi, America, Shakespeare, pen, paper, cigarette, soldier etc.

Classification of Noun

Noun is classified into five groups. They are :

1. Common Noun
2. Proper Noun
3. Collective Noun
4. Abstract Noun
5. Material noun

Look at the sentences :

Vikramaditya was a great king.

The Noun Vikramaditya refers to a particular king. but the Noun king might be used with any other king. We call Vikramaditya a Proper Noun and king a Common Noun.

Similarly,

Gauri is a girl.

Here, Gauri is a Proper Noun, while girl is a Common Noun.

Ramesh is a boy.

Here, Ramesh is a Proper Noun, while boy is a Common Noun.

Delhi is a city.

Here, Delhi is a Proper Noun, while city is a Common Noun.

Canada is a country.

Here, Canada is a Proper Noun, while country is a Common Noun.

The words – girl, boy, city, country – in the above examples are all Common Nouns, because they are the names common to all girls, boys, cities and countries; while Gauri, Ramesh, Delhi and Canada are all Proper Nouns because, they are the names of particular girl, boy, city and country.

Thus,

1. Common Noun

A Common Noun is a name given in common to every person or thing of the same class or kind.

2. Proper Noun

A Proper Noun is the name of some particular per son or place. (Proper means one’s own. Hence, a Proper Noun is a person’s own name.)

Proper Nouns are always written with a capital letter at the beginning.

Proper Nouns are sometimes used as Common Nouns:

Sachin is the Bradman of India.

Kalidas is often called the Shakespeare (the greatest dramatist) of India.

3. Collective Noun

A Collective Noun is the name of a number (or collection) of persons or things taken together and spoken of as one whole.

Crowd, mob, team, flock, herd, army, fleet, family, nation. jury, committee, parliament, troop, navy, library.

• A fleet= a collection of ships or vessels.
• An army = a collection of soldiers.
• A crowd = a collection of people.
• A herd = a collection of cattle.
• A library = a collection of books.

Thus, when a name denotes a group of similar individuals, considered as one undivided whole, it is called a Collective Noun.

4. Abstract Noun

An Abstract Noun is usually the name of a quality action or state considered apart from the object to which it belongs.

Quality	Action	State
Goodness	Laughter	Childhood
Kindness	Theft	Boyhood
Whiteness	Movement	Youth
Darkness	Judgement	Slavery
Hardness	Hatred	Sleep
Brightness	Heroism	Sickness
Honesty	–	Death
Wisdom	–	Poverty
Bravery	–	–

The names of the Arts and Science (e.g., grammar, music, chemistry, physics etc.) are also Abstract Nouns.

(We can speak of a brave soldier, a strong man, a beautiful flower. But we can also think of these qualities apart from any particular person or thing, and speak of bravery, strength, beauty by themselves. So, we can also speak of what persons do or feel apart from the persons themselves, and give it a name. The word abstract means drawn off.)

5. Material noun

1. A Material Noun is the name of a material or a substance or an ingredient of an alloy.

2. A material noun is a word that refers to a type of substance, rather than to individual particles of that substance. In grammatical terms, a material noun is non-count, concrete, and usually common.

Gold, Salt, Iron, Silver, Bronze, Brass, Copper, Steel, Aluminium, Lake, Islands, Planets, Granite, Hills, Star, Clouds, Plants, Tree etc.

• Cotton dress is cheap.
• I purchased a gold ring.
• This is a shop for diamonds.
• Calcium is good for health.

Compound Nouns: What are Compound Nouns?

Compound Nouns are made up of two or more words.

The teacher wrote the exam notes on the blackboard.

The robber was caught by the police-man.

In the above sentences blackboard and policeman are made of fwo nouns ‘black + board’ and ‘police + man’.

Look at the following compound nouns:

manservant	Man + servant
stepson	step + son
grandfather	grand + father
flowerpot	flower + pot
fruit basket	fruit + basket
toothpaste	tooth + paste
book shelf	book + shelf

Formation of Abstract Nouns

Abstract Nouns are generally formed from Common Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives by adding such suffixes as:

_hood, _cy, _ism, _ship, _ment. _ice, _ness, _ter, _ty, _th, etc.

(a) From Common Nouns :

Common Noun	Abstract Noun	Common Noun	Abstract Noun
boy	boyhood	girl	girlhood
infant	infancy	agent	agency
thief	theft	hero	heroism
slave	slavery	bond	bondage
friend	friendship	leader	leadership
Judge	judgement	coward	cowardice

(b) From Verbs :

Verb	Abstract Noun	Verb	Abstract Noun
advise	advice	practise	practice
govern	government	obey	obedience
know	knowledge	serve	service
see	sight	grow	growth
laugh	laughter	think	thought
please	pleasure	prepare	preparation
live	life	–	–

(c) From Adjectives :

Adjective	Abstract Noun	Adjective	Abstract Noun
brave	bravery	good	goodness
great	greatness	honest	honesty
poor	poverty	just	justice
young	youth	true	truth
wise	wisdom	broad	breadth
long	length	wide	width
deep	depth	sole	solitude
grand	grandeur	kind	kindness

Related Topics from Noun:

1. Noun: Classification and Formation Of Abstract Nouns
2. The Noun and Number: Singular and Plural Nouns
3. The Noun and Case: Possessive Nouns
4. Gender: Noun and Gender, Types and Examples
5. Count Nouns vs. Non-Count Nouns

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