Nouns Part III

ABSTRACT NOUNS

These nouns are the names of things that we cannot perceive through our five senses of touching, smelling, seeing, hearing and tasting. These nouns can also refer to medical conditions related to the mind and are also used to express  thoughts.

• She screamed with great delight. - Delight is an abstract noun as it tells about the state of a person’s mind and any actual physical thing. 
• His bravery in the war won him a medal. - The abstract noun bravery is used to name the motivation behind certain actions made by people.
• One should learn to be as independent as possible. – Here, independent describes a state or a way of being, hence it is an abstract noun.

COUNTABLE NOUNS

Nouns Part II

 PROPER NOUNS

These nouns are the names of specific people and places. These nouns also refer to the names of the days of weeks and months, and also the various names for religions, organizations, institutions, etc. Proper nouns basically refer to the names that are specific to that particular noun.  These nouns are always capitalised as they need to be distinct from other nouns.

• William Shakespeare was a playwright. - Proper noun that is the name of a specific person.
• I will be visiting New York next month. - Proper noun that is the name of a specific place.
• Everyone dislikes Monday mornings. - The names of days are proper nouns. 
• The holy book of Islam is the Koran. - Name of a religion and religious text.

COMMON NOUNS

Nouns Part I

Nouns are simply the names we give to everything around us, whether it be a person, an event, a place or an object, etc. Every particular name used to define something is a noun. E.g. : Amsterdam, Anita, Blackberry, Honesty, Waiter, etc.  

The names given to a group of noun to identify them as a whole are calledCollective Nouns. E.g.:  pride of lions, gaggle of geese etc. 

Nouns or pronouns can also modify themselves to show possession of another noun, usually by attaching 's' to the end of the noun. These nouns that show possession are called Possessive Nouns. 

Articles Part III

Where articles are not used?

The usage of articles is one of the most confusing things to remember for many English learners. It is not always necessary to use articles everywhere. Our tip is to remember the cases where articles should not be used.

Do not use articles:

Ø  When you talk about things in general.

For example: I like birds.

Here, the speaker wants to imply that he/she likes any bird in general, and not a specific type of a bird.

Ø  When talking about plural count nouns.

Articles Part II

Difference between “A” and “The”

"The", as mentioned earlier, is used to give information about particular or known nouns. These are usually things that have been mentioned before or that the listener is familiar with. On the other hand, "A" or "an" is used to talk about things which are not particular. Usually, these are things that haven't been mentioned before or that the listener is unfamiliar with.

For example, study these sentences:

I went to see a tattoo artist.

The tattoo artist has given me an appointment next week.

It is clear that in the first sentence, the speaker did not go to see a particular tattoo artist. He/she went to see any tattoo artist and was speaking to a friend about the same. The tattoo artist in this case has either not been mentioned before or is not that important, and therefore their identity is unknown.

Whereas in the second sentence, the speaker refers to the tattoo artist that had already been mentioned before. The identity is already known, therefore, “the” has been used to refer the tattoo artist.

Usage of ‘the’