NOUNS & PRONOUNS

NOUN

A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea.

For example:

People: teacher, student, friend

Places: school, park, city

Things: book, computer, car

Ideas: happiness, love, freedom

Any word that notifies a person (all living beings such as humans, animals and birds), place or a thing whether material or abstract is known as a Noun.

Kinds of nouns 

 ON THE BASIS OF THEIR CLASS OR NATURE

(a)        Common Nouns: Denote the name of a class of persons, places, things etc.

E.g.      Boy, Tree, Mountain, City, Dog etc.

 

(b)        Proper Nouns: Name of a Particular noun to identify it individually.

E.g.The Konark Temple, The Rajdhani Express, The river Ganga ,Mr. Ajay Sharma etc.

 Ø  Proper Nouns begin with a capital letter & do not occur in plural form. E.g. July, Rome etc.

 

(c)        Material Nouns: Denote a substance of which other things are made

E.g.      Gold, Wool, Steel, Rubber etc.

 

(d)        Abstract Nouns: Denote a quality state, feeling etc.

E.g.      Youth, Joy, Sorrow, Hatred, Love etc.

 

(e)        Collective Nouns: Denote a collection or a group of persons or things etc.

E.g.      Section, Team, Wing, Herd, Class etc.

 

 ON THE BASIS OF THEIR COUNTABILITY

 

Countable Nouns:          All the nouns that have their individual value comes under countable nouns. Such nouns  may be singular or plural: Sun, moon, tree, man , table etc.

 

Uncountable Nouns:           All the nouns that cannot be counted and are always regarded as singular  such as Material & abstract Nouns,:Water, rice, powder, air, truth, dust, boldness etc.

 

NUMBER OF NOUN

 A Noun can be described as singular and plural as per its number. A noun is called singular when it is one in number and plural when it is more than one in number.

 

Plural of the nouns are formed in the following ways from Singular-

+ ‘S’ Boy      Boys Book   Books	+ ‘es’ Bench   Benches Branch   Branches	+ ‘ies’ Baby                Babies Story                Stories
+ ‘ves’ Thief    Thieves Leaf     Leaves	By Changing Vowel Tooth               Teeth Mouse             Mice Woman           Women	By adding a new word Child    Child+ren = Children Ox        Ox+en      = Oxen

 

 Some interesting rules of Number of Noun

•  Nouns that possess value only when they are in a group or a herd or a heap etc. are always considered as singular even when they are plural.

E.g. Pair, Scenery, Grass, Poetry, Poor, Sheep, Deer, Rice, News, Mathematics, Physics, Hair Population,Cattle Etc.

•  Nouns that are used either in a pair or have two or more parts are considered   Plural only even when they are singular:

E.g. Shoes, Socks, Notes, Wages, Shorts, Trousers, scissors Etc.

• Some nouns Have different Meaning in Different Numbers:

Water (A Liquid)                                                       Waters (Ocean)

Iron (A Metal)                                                           Irons (Shackles)

Wood (Any Wood)                                                   Woods (Forest)

Powder- something finely grounded                       Powders (medicines)

 

 

Cases of Noun

 

 Cases of Noun describe the position of Noun in a sentence. There are three cases of Noun that we use-:

Subjective or Nominative Case- Here the Noun works as a doer.

E.g. Vinay plays cricket, The Elephant is a magnificent animal, Diamond is a precious stone etc.

 Objective or Accusative  Case- in objective case, Noun becomes the target of verb.

E.g. Braves mock the death, Sun generates energy etc.

 Possessive or Genitive Case- when something is under the possession of a Noun.

We use apostrophe followed by s( ‘s  )to show possession

E.g. Varun’s Uncle, Aruna’s Piano, Kapoor’s House, India’s Pride                                                            

 

 We use only the sign of apostrophe without s when 

▪            Possessive Noun is plural with suffix ‘s’ e.g. mothers’ choice, soldiers’ honour.

▪           When there is too much hissing sound while placing s’ e.g. Venice’ merchant, Denisis’ bag.

We use ‘of’ in place of apostrophe s When:

§  The noun of possession is non living : The four legs of table, The blades of fan

§  The noun in possession is something that no one wishes to possess such as shame, defeat, insult, tragedy etc.- The defeat of Enemy, The shame of a family

 

Gender of Noun

 

Nouns are placed under four main genders-Masculine, Feminine, Neuter and Common.

 

     Masculine- boy, man, tiger, lion etc.

 

Feminine- girl, woman, tigress, lioness etc.

 

Neuter- We use neuter gender to denote things that are lifeless such as ; chair, iron, pen etc. sometimes we also use this gender for living things such as; plant, child or an animal.

 

Common –  We use common gender for nouns that can be either masculine or feminine such as; friend, doctor, teacher or student.

  

Formation of the Feminine of Nouns

 

By using an entirely different word-

 

Masculine Boy Brother Buck Bull (or ox) Bullock Hart Horse Husband King Lord Man Monk (or friar) Cock Colt Daddy

Feminine Girl Sister Doe Cow Heifer Roe Mare Wife Queen Lady Woman Nun Hen Filly Mummy

Masculine Drake Earl Father Fox Ram Gander Gentleman Nephew Papa (old use) Sir Son Stag Uncle Wizard Lad Bachelor

Feminine Duck Countess Mother Vixen Ewe Goose Lady Niece Mamma Madam Daughter Hind Aunt Witch Lass Spinster

 

By adding -ess 

 

Masculine Author Heir Manager Poet Steward Count Jew Patron Prophet

Feminine Authoress Heiress Manageress Poetess Stewardess Countess Jewess Patroness Prophetess

Masculine Baron Host Mayor Priest Viscount Giant Lion Peer Shepherd

Feminine Baroness Hostess Mayoress Priestess Viscountess Giantess Lioness Peeress Shepherdess

    

 

By dropping the vowel and adding the –ess to the masculine gender or by adding a syllable (ine, a, trix etc.)

 

Masculine Actor Benefactor Conductor Enchanter Founder Hunter Instructor Negro Abbot Duke Emperor Poet Preceptor Prince

Feminine Actress Benefactress Conductress Enchantress Foundress Huntress Instructress Negress Abbess Duchess Empress Poetess Preceptress Princess

Masculine Songster Tempter Semester Tiger Traitor Waiter Master Murderer Sorcerer Hero Testator Czar Sultan Signor

Feminine Songstress Temptress Seamstress Tigress Traitress Waitress Mistress Murderess Sorceress Heroine Testatrix Czarina Sultana Signora

  

By placing a word before or after; as-

 

Masculine Grandfather Great-uncle Manservant Landlord Milkman Peacock Salesman Washerman

Feminine Grandmother Great-Aunt Maidservant Landlady Milkmaid Peahen Saleswoman Washerwoman

 

 We also form masculine and feminine genders by prefixing ‘he’to denote a male gender and ‘she’ to denote a female gender-

Masculine                  Feminine

He -Goat                     She-Goat

He -Elephant               She –Elephant 

(A male elephant is also called a bull elephant and female a cow elephant)

 

List of some Collective Nouns

 

A bundle of sticks or hay	A company of merchants	A volley of shots/bullets
A range of mountains	A sheaf of grains	A suite of clothes
A group of islands	A crew of sailors	A team of players/horses/oxen
A swarm of bees/flies/ants	A shoal of fish	A tribe of negroes
A gang of thieves	A fleet of ships	A class of students
A pack of hounds/wolves	A flight of birds/steps	A stock of cloths/wood/corn
A crowd of chickens	A mob of rioters	A cloud of lotuses
A heap of stones/ruins	A pile of books	A bouquet of flowers
A herd of stones/ruins	A band of musicians	A course of lectures
A herd of cattle or elephants	A peal of bells	A yoke of oxen
A bundle of clothes	A code of laws	A garland of flowers
A flock of sheep or goat	A regiment of soldiers	A suit of rooms
An army of soldiers	A train of followers	A troop of scouts
A chain of events/ years	A pair of shoes

 

Exercise-1

 

A. Name the Underlined Nouns:

 

1. I saw a herd of cows  
2.  
3. She always comes in a  blue car
4.  
5. The Tajmahal is situated in Agra
6.  
7. India’s Victory in today’s match was unbelievable
8.  
9. The gold coin he gave you is fake

 

Exercise-2

 

B.  Combine The Following Nouns to Make Possessive Case:

1. My uncle                      bike                 My uncle’s bike
2. Arun                             house              ____________
3. Women                        hostel               ____________
4. Children                       park                 ____________
5. Germany                     defeat              ____________
6. Building                       Main gate        _____________
7. Shubhankar                 tragedy            ______________  

 Exercise-3

 

C.Match the Following Genders:

1. Horse                          Filly
2. Lion                             Peahen
3. Tiger                            Duchess
4. Cock                            doe
5. Peacock                      Nun
6. Colt                              Mare
7. Duke                            Lioness
8. Bachelor                      Tigress
9. Monk                            Hen
10. Lad                               Lass
11. Fawn                            Vixen
12. fox                                Maiden

 

D.Edit the Following:(One is done for you) 

1. I saw a horse whose hairs were hair
2. Silky and whose eye were golden _________
3. It was grazing with sheeps _________
4. And was occasionally neighing with happily _________
5. It was wearing a batch of girls’s hostel ____________

 

 

 PRONOUN

Pronoun is a word that can be used as a substitute of a Noun

 

• Personal pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them
• Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those
• Interrogative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, what
• Relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that  
• Indefinite pronouns:
  all, any, another, anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none, no one, nothing, one, other, several, some  
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We classify Pronouns in following ways-:

 

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

These pronouns are used in place of nouns with all their cases.

First person			Second person
Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	I	We	You
Possessive	My	Our	Your
Objective	Me	Us	You

 

Third person
Masculine	Feminine      Neuter		Plural
He	She	It	They
His	Her	Its	Their
Him	Her	It	Them

 

REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS- Used as an object of the verb & refers to the same Person Denoted by The Subject

 

SINGULAR REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS-:

 

Myself- I have completed all the project myself single handedly. 

 

Yourself- you should try this yourself.

 

Herself- She told this incident herself to me.

 

Himself- He had not seen the thief himself.

 

Itself- The switch turns off itself when cooking is complete.

 

PLURAL REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS-:

Ourselves- we must talk to them ourselves.

 

Yourselves – All you boys must fill the forms yourselves.

 

Themselves – they will have to give a written complaint themselves.

EMPHATIC PRONOUNS  - These are basically reflexive pronouns which are used just after the subject to emphasis  the speaker’s statement.

 

E.g.    I myself saw him stealing.        She herself has made this scarf.

  

POSSESSSIVE PRONOUNS- Used to show someone’s possession on something.

 

Singular:

 

Mine- This pen is mine.

 

Yours- is that car yours?

 

His-  The bungalow is his not of Walia’s.

 

Hers- The fault is hers as she concealed the truth.

 

       Plural:

 

Ours    -     Those horses are ours.

 

Yours    -    All the bulls were yours who won.

 

     Theirs     - The data was theirs that you transferred to us.

 

 

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS- Used to point out the things to which they refer

 

 

SINGULAR       This – This is a big mansion.

PLURAL         These – These are big mansions.

 

SINGULAR    That – That is an abandoned farmhouse.

PLURAL         Those – Those were abandoned farmhouses.

 

RELATIVE PRONOUNS- Refer back to some Noun placed before and is used to join Two Sentences:

 

Who    -           The boy who is standing there is my cousin.

 

Whom -           The old lady whom you helped is a billionaire.

 

That    -           The pen that you gave me is missing.

 

     Which -           The old mention which you purchased has a hidden treasure.

 

*In Relative Pronouns who, whose and whom are used for persons, ‘which’ is used for animals & non-living objects while ‘that’ is used for both.

     -

 

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS- Used for asking questions ‘w/h’ question words:

 

Who    -           Who are you ?

Whom -           whom do you want to see?

     Which -           Which is your favourite book?

     Whose            -  Whose car is this?

*In Interrogative Pronouns who, whom and whose are used for persons. which is also used for persons along with animals & nonliving objects.

 

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS- Don’t refer to any particular person/thing:

 

Personal Reference:

Everybody     -           Everybody wants success.

,

Everyone -     Everyone was there in the hall.

 

Somebody-  Somebody  is at the main gate.

 

Someone- Someone wants to see you.

 

Anybody- Anybody can join our classes.

 

Anyone- Anyone can try this puzzle.

 

Nobody- Nobody is interested in your proposal.

 

No one- No one of us will complaint against you.

 

Non-Personal Reference:

 

Everything – Everything is here that we need.

 

Something – Something is missing.

 

Anything – Anything can happen in the forest.

 

Nothing -  Nothing can deter her from her goal. 

 

Exercise-1

 

Fill the gaps with appropriate personal Pronouns:

(I, my, me, you, your, you, we, our, us, he, yourself, she, it, his, myself, her, its, they, their, them)

I like simple food made with hygienic ways._________ do not like hot and spicy food. Deep fried items _____ can eat but _______ are not my all time favourites.__________ all time favourite is home made boiled daal –chawal which my sister-in-law prepares for _______ and my little nephew. ________ also likes non spicy foods. ________ favourite dish is steamed momos. _________like to make food ________.What do _______like? What is ________favourite dish? Is ________ spicy? Do you like to prepare food __________?

 Exercise-2

 Fill in the gaps with suitable demonstrative Pronouns:

a.             _____cat I have bought from a gypsy woman.(this/these)

b.            ______ horses we have bought from an Arabian merchant ( that/those)

c.             _______ cows my society has brought from Mathura.( this/these)

d.            ________ cattle are found everywhere in India.( such/this)

 Exercise-3 

Fill the following gaps with suitable relative Pronouns given in the brackets:

(Who, whose, whom, which, that)

a.             The garden _________ you want to visit is close today.

b.            The mindset ________ makes you coward should be changed

c.             The girl ______ came here today is charismatic.

d.            The building ________ history is five hundred years old belongs to my forefathers.

e.             The dealer _________ you gave the commission is absconding.

f.               The pen _______ you lent me is very lucky for me.

 Exercise-4

Fill the gaps with suitable indefinite Pronouns:

(Someone, anyone, no one, everyone). 

_______ was telling me that ________ dreams for success and ________ likes to be called as a failure. I asked my friends if _______ was there who wishes to be a failure, ________ replied in affirmative.

 Exercise-5

Fill the gaps with interrogative Pronouns:

(Who, whose, whom, which, how many) 

a.             ________ car are you driving?

b.            ________ school did you pass out from?

c.             ________ is your ideal?

d.            ________ of us are honest to themselves?

e.             ________ do you consider as a successful person?

 Exercise-6 

There is one Pronoun missing in each line, find it and write in the given space: 

a.             Nazima is /Urdu teacher _My_____

b.            She comes at 4 o’clock to teach Urdu _______

c.             I love this language, as is the beautiful _______

d.            CombinationofArabic script and Hindi grammar_________

e.             Amir khusro made this wonderful language__________

f.               Was a renowned scholar of times. He is also ________

g.            Known for devotion for a great saint Nizamudhin Aulia,_________ 

h.             Grave is still worshipped by both Hindus and Muslims.__________

 

Exercise-7 

There is one incorrect Pronoun in each line, find it and write in the given space:

Uday is a wrestler. Till now they has won ____he____

All the competitions. Now she is eyeing for ________

The national championship who will take place ________

In the month of January. Its Gurudev is proud _________

of his devotion. He is one of this vegetarian champions _______

Which slams the myth that flesh eaters are more powerful than vegetarians.__________