english grammar

THE NOUN: NUMBER Notice the change of form in the second word of each pair: Tree (Box, Fox, Man) Trees (Boxes, Oxen, Men) The first word of each pair denotes one thing, the second word of each pair denotes more than one. A Noun that denotes one person or thing, is said to be in the Singular Number; as, Boy, girl, cow, bird, tree, book, pen. A Noun that denotes more than one person or thing, is said to be in the Plural Number; as, Boys, girls, cows, birds, trees, books, pens. Thus there are two Numbers in English-the Singular and the Plural. How Plurals are Formed  (i) The Plural of nouns is generally formed by adding -s to the singular;  as, boy, boys; pen, pens; girl, girls; desk, desks; book, books; cow, cows; chair, chairs; cat, cats; hand, hands; house, houses; (ii) But Nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch (soft), or -x form the plural by adding -es to the Singular; as, class, classes; kiss, kisses; dish, dishes; brush, brushes;

Concrete nouns are “sense” nouns. You can see, hear, smell, taste, and/or touch them. Concrete nouns are either common or proper. you were writing an essay about humour, for instance, you would do well to include some concrete examples. Abstract definitions of visual comedy or satire may inform the reader, but lively examples – such as the slip on the old banana peel, or Ambrose Bierce’s The Devil’s Dictionary – will make your essay lively and interesting. Readers will have concrete touchstones that relate to their own experiences. A concrete noun may form the base for an abstract noun. For example, child becomes childhood. The emphasis changes from the specific physical traits of a child (the concrete noun) to the general qualities associated with the time of childhood (the abstract noun). Example: The lonely dog pushed at the fence, longing for freedom.                 Dog and fence are concrete nouns . Freedom is an abstract noun .                   I

A Material noun denote the matter or substance of which the things are made. Material nouns are generally uncountable and have no plural forms. When used to mean the material itself, they are uncountable, but when used in other senses, for example, two coffees in the sense of “ two cups of coffee ”, they are countable, behaving just like individual nouns. The house is built of stone . They throw stones at him. There are also material nouns that can take plural endings, for example, sands/waters in the sense of “ large expanse of sand or water ” and foods/fruits in the sense of “ a variety of food or fruit ”; those nouns, though ending in –s, remain uncountable. The fish is rarely found in fresh waters . This ring is made of gold . This chair is made of wood . Please give me a glass of water . In the above sentence ‘gold’, ’wood’, ‘water‘ are Material Noun. Classify the underlined nouns in the sentences given below to material and common nouns. 1. Is

Collective nouns name groups (things) made up of members  (usually people or animals). The crowed has no discipline.(a collection of people) The army is formed with discipline.(a collection of soldiers) Niren is the first boy in the class .(a collection of students) You must watch the fleet. (a collection of armed ships) List of Collective Nouns A A faculty of academics A troupe of acrobats A cast/company of actors/players A bench of aldermen A conflagration of arsonists A troupe of artistes A team of athletes B A tabernacle of bakers A babble of barbers A promise of barmen A thought of barons A squad of beaters A bevy/galaxy of beauties A bench/psalter of bishops A blush of boys A troop of boy scouts A feast of brewers A pack of brownies A shuffle of bureaucrats A goring of butchers A sneer of butlers C A slate of candidates A chapter/dignity of canons A company/syndicate of capitalists