1.

nouns
Noun: Definition, Rules, Examples and List of Nouns in English Grammar

English nouns! What is a noun? Learn noun definition and useful list of nouns in English with
different types and examples. One of the most important types of word within any language, is the
noun and this is no different in English. But what are nouns and how are they used? In this article,
we are going to be taking a closer look at what a noun is, how it is used and the rules surrounding its
use. We are also going to be looking at a variety of examples to demonstrate their use and allow us
to gain a greater understanding of their function.

What Is A Noun?

Noun Definition

In order to understand what a noun is, the most simple explanation is that a noun is a word which is
used to refer to a person, item, thing or place. In every sentence in English, there must be a subject
and that subject will always be a noun. However, the noun can also play other parts within a
sentence such as the indirect or direct object, object or subject complement, adjective or appositive.
This means that every sentence you create will feature a noun, making this one of the most
important aspects within English grammar.

What is a noun? Noun is described as words that refer to

a person, place, thing, event, substance, quality, quantity, etc.

Noun is a part of speech typically denoting a person, place, thing, animal or idea.

There are many different types of nouns in English, each designed to serve a different purpose in an
English sentence.

Nouns Can Name All Sorts!

As we mentioned earlier, the noun can be used to name a variety of different things. Let’s take a
look a this.

Nouns To Name A Person

 The prime minister

 My sister

 A boy

 Barack Obama

Nouns To Name A Place

  The beach

 Mount Everest

 My kitchen

 Australia

Nouns To Name A Thing

 An idea

 The dog

 My plate

 The movie

List of Nouns in English with Different Types

Learn a useful list of nouns in English with different types and relevant noun examples. There is more
than one type of noun, and this might seem like somewhat of a complicated concept, so we are now
going to break it down so that we can get a better grasp on the various types of nouns and how they
are used.

Concrete Nouns

What is a Concrete Noun?

A concrete noun is a noun which is real or physical, you might think of it as something which can be
perceived by your senses. Look at the following examples and notice how they use a sense to
describe the noun, In both examples, the nouns-music and hands are real items which can be
sensed.

 I hear the music.

 Her hands were wet.

List of Nouns – Concrete Noun Examples

 Armchair

 Aunt

 Ball

 Bermudas

 Beans

 Balloon

 Bear

 Blouse

 Bed

 Baby

 Book

 Blender

 Bucket

 Bakery

 Bow

 Bridge

 Boat

 Car

 Cow

 Cap
 Cooker

 Cheeks

 Crest

 Chest

 Chair

 Candy

 Cabinet

 Cat

 Coffee

 Charlie

 Dog

 Deer

 Donkey

 Desk

 Desktop

 Dentist

 Drum

 Dresser

 Designer

 Detective

 Frog

 Fan

 Freezer

 Fish

 Film

 Foot

 Flag

 Guest

 Hamburger

 Jewelry
Common Nouns And Proper Nouns

A common noun is a noun which can refer to a general name of an object. This type of noun does
not use a capital letter unless it is appearing at the start of a sentence. The common noun is not used
to identify a specific person, thing, or place.

A good example of a common noun is the word ‘man.’ Using this noun does not allow us to
determine a specific man. You can see this in the following sentence.

 The man walked down the street.

When we read this sentence, all we know is that a man is walking down a street (which is also a
common noun) but the identity of the street or the man is not revealed.

The other type of noun is a proper noun and this is used to talk about a specific person, item or
place. The proper noun always uses a capital letter, whether it appears at the beginning, middle or
end of the sentence. A good example of a proper noun would be the name of a person, for example
Graham. Look at the following sentence.
  Graham is walking down the road.

We can see from the use of the proper noun that we are being told about a specific person. Other
proper nouns might be the names of towns and countries, for example:

 Paris is a large city in France.

Both Paris and France are the proper nouns within this sentence.

Abstract Nouns

What Are Abstract Nouns?

The abstract noun is used to refer to something which is not tangible. We are now going to look at
some examples of this, as you can see the nouns in the following phrases are not things which can
be physically sensed.

 He showed a lot of bravery when fighting the lion.

 Sarah has a lot of intelligence.

List of Nouns – Abstract Noun Examples

 Awareness

 Awe

 Beauty

 Belief

 Childhood

 Clarity

 Cleverness

 Confusion

 Contentment

 Courage

 Crime

 Growth

 Happiness

 Hate

 Hatred

 Inflation

 Insanity

 Intelligence

 Joy
 Justice

 Kindness

 Laughter

 Law

 Liberty

 Love

 Luck

 Luxury

 Maturity

 Need

 Opinion

 Opportunity

 Pain

 Principle

 Reality

 Relaxation

 Sanity

 Satisfaction

 Self-control

 Speed

 Strenght

 Strictness

 Tiredness

 Tolerance

 Trend

 Union

 Unreality

 Victory

 Wariness

 Warmth

 Wealth
Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Countable and Uncountable nouns vary from language to language. In some languages, there are no
countable nouns. In addition, some nouns that are uncountable in English may be countable in other
languages.
Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are individual objects, people, places, etc. which can be counted.

Countable Noun Examples

 Apple

 School

 Student

 Picture

 House

 Tree

 Box
  Book

 Customer

 Friend

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable Nouns Definition

Uncountable Nouns are substances, concepts, materials, information… that we cannot divide into
separate elements. They can’t be counted.

List of Nouns – Uncountable Nouns List

 Access

 Adulthood

 Alcohol

 Business

 Blood

 Botany

 Bacon

 Chaos

 Clothing

 Confidence

 Compassion

 Calm

 Cotton

 Childhood

 Coffee

 Danger

 Data

 Dancing

 Distribution

 Dirt

 Duty

 Education

 Economics
  Equipment

 Fame

 Freedom

 Glass

 Grass

 Golf

 Hair

 Hardware

 Hydrogen

 Hatred

 Hunger

 Honey

 Importance

 Intelligence

 Industry

 Jealousy

 Jam

 Jewelery

 Innocence

 Iron

 Linguistics

 Light

 Loneliness

 Music

 Meat

 Nurture

 Psychology

NOTE: Some nouns are both countable and uncountable. They have been put in bold.
Collective Nouns

What are Collective Nouns?

The collective noun is used to refer to a collection of things or people. They are used to refer to a
singular verb and make it as though it were one entity. Let’s take a look at some examples of
collective nouns.

 The pack of dogs ran wild through the town.

 The choir sang loudly in the church.

Collective Noun Examples

 Herd

 Pack

 Flock
 Swarm

 Shoal

 Group

 Crowd

 Gang

 Mob

 Staff

 Crew

 Choir

 Orchestra

 Panel

 Board

 Troupe

 Bunch

 Pile

 Heap

 Set

 Stack

 Series

 Shower

 Fall
Compound Nouns

Compound Nouns Definition

Compound nouns are words for people, animals, places, things, or ideas, made up of two or more
words. Most compound nouns are made with nouns that have been modified by adjectives or
other nouns.

List of Nouns – Compound Noun Examples

 Airline

 Airport

 Aircraft

 Armchair

 Boyfriend
 Battlefield

 Briefcase

 Butterfly

 Countdown

 Comeback

 Background

 Cupboard

 Chopstick

 Classmate

 Daredevil

 Daydream

 Dragonfly

 Everybody

 Everything

 Fireworks

 Football

 Footprint

 Greenhouse

 Hallway

 Handcuff

 Haircut

 Homework

 Horsefly

 Houseboat

 Inside

 Moonlight

 Myself

 Notebook

 Overdue

 Pancake

 Partnership
 Photocopy

 Raincoat

 Rattlesnake

 Ringworm

 Skyscraper

 Sandcastle

 Snowboard

 Sunshine

 Teardrop

 Teacup

 Teapot

 Thunderstorm

 Timetable

 Yourself
Possessive Nouns

Possessive Nouns Definition

Possessive nouns are nouns that show ownership or possession. Normally these words would be a

singular or plural noun, but in the possessive form they are used as adjectives to modify another
a noun or pronoun.

Possessive Noun Examples

 Cat’s toy

 Charles’s car

 Chris’s exam

 Children’s clothes

 Men’s shoes
  Babies’ shoes

 Lemons’ acidity

 Owls’ eyes

 Sister’s room

 Jim’s pen

 My mom’s bag

Regular Plural Nouns

Forming Regular Plural Nouns

How to form regular plural nouns in English.

 Most singular nouns are made plural by adding -s to the end of the singular form.
  When a noun ends in a sibilant sound – /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ or /dʒ/ – the plural is formed by
adding -es, or -s if the singular already ends in -e.

 The plural form of some nouns that end in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ is made by changing the ending to
-V(es).

 When a noun ends in “o” preceded by a consonant, the plural in many cases is spelled by
adding -es.

 Nouns that end in ‘o’ preceded by a vowel are made plural by adding -s.

 When the ‘y’ follows a consonant, changing ‘y’ to ‘i’ and adding -es.

 When the ‘y’ follows a vowel, the plural is formed by retaining the ‘y’ and adding -s.

Regular Plural Noun Examples

 car – cars

 bag – bags

 table – tables

 house – houses

 dog – dogs

 kiss – kisses

 dish – dishes

 witch – witches

 judge – judges

 half – halves

 hoof – hooves

 calf – calves

 elf – elves

 shelf – shelves

 leaf – leaves

 loaf – loaves

 thief – thieves

 wolf – wolves

 life – lives

 knife – knives

 scarf – scarves

 wife – wives
  cuff – cuffs

 knockoff – knockoffs

 chef – chefs

 belief – beliefs

 roof – roofs

 chief – chiefs

 potato – potatoes

 tomato – tomatoes

 hero – heroes

 echo – echoes

 veto – vetoes

 domino – dominoes

 mosquito – mosquitoes

 volcano – volcanoes

 piano – pianos

 photo – photos

 halo – halos

 soprano – sopranos

 radio – radios

 stereo – stereos

 video – videos

 country – countries

 family – families

 cherry – cherries

 lady – ladies

 puppy – puppies

 party – parties

 holiday – holidays

Irregular Plural Nouns

Irregular Plural Nouns Definition

Irregular plural nouns are nouns that do not become plural by adding -s or -es, as most nouns in the
English language do. For example, the plural form of man is men, not mans. The plural form
of woman is women, not womans.

Irregular Plural Noun Examples

 Aircraft – aircraft

 Barracks – barracks

 Deer – deer

 Gallows – gallows

 Moose – moose

 Salmon – salmon

 Hovercraft – hovercraft

 Spacecraft – spacecraft

 Series – series

 Species – species

 Means – means

 Offspring – offspring

 Deer – deer

 Fish – fish

 Sheep – sheep

 Offspring – offspring

 Trout – trout

 Swine – swine

 Person – people

 Ox – oxen

 Man – men

 Woman – women

 Caveman – cavemen

 Policeman – policemen

 Child – children

 Tooth – teeth

 Foot – feet

 Goose – geese
 Mouse – mice

 Louse – lice

 Penny – pence

 Index – indices /indexes

 Matrix – matrices

 Vertex – vertices

 Appendix – appendices

 Alumnus – alumni

 Corpus – corpora

 Census – censuses

 Focus – foci

 Genus – genera

 Prospectus – prospectuses

 Radius – radii

 Campus – campuses

 Succubus – succubi
Using A Noun in English Grammar

Using A Noun As A Subject Or An Object

Each sentence that we speak or write must feature a subject and this will always be a noun. When
we talk about the subject, we are referring to the place, person or thing which is completing the
action (verb) within the sentence. Look at the following examples:

 John is tall.

 The ball bounced.

John and the ball are the subjects of these sentences and are both nouns.

However, the noun can also be used as the object of a sentence. This can be either as a direct object,
which is the noun that is on the receiving end of the action that was performed by the subject, or as
an indirect object which is a noun that is a recipient of the direct object. Let’s take a look at some
examples of this.
  Hand the bags to him.

 Move the plate towards the baby.

In this case, the words him and baby are both nouns being used as the object of the sentence.

Nouns Used As Object And Subject Complements

A noun can be used as a subject complement and this usually occurs when using a linking verb such
as seem, to be or become. An example of this is the sentence “John is a builder.” The noun builder is
the subject complement as it is detailed what John is.

Further Uses Of Nouns

There are many more ways in which a noun can function, let’s take a look at some of these now.

 When serving as an appositive noun, the noun will come directly after another noun as a
way of defining it further. An example of this can be seen in this sentence, “My mother,
Angela, is a nurse.” The noun Angela is the appositive noun as it gives us further information
on the first noun, mother.

 A noun may also be used as an adjective in some cases as well. Consider the word ‘light.’
This is a noun when talking about the light or a light, however it can become an adjective, as
seen in this sentence, “The house has a light kitchen.”

 When using a possessive noun, in other words, a noun which is used to denote possession of
something, an apostrophe should be used. For example, “These are the baby’s things.”

Gender of Nouns in English

Learn the Gender of Nouns and List of Masculine and Feminine Words in English:

 Masculine – Feminine

 Sir – Madam

 Uncle – Aunt

 Nephew – Niece

 Wizard – Witch

 Hart – Roe

 Drake – Duck

 Lion – Lioness

 Priest – Priestess

 Prophet – Prophetess

 Patron – Patroness

 Host – Hostess

 Viscount – Viscountess

 Shepherd – Shepherdess
 Steward – Stewardess

 Heir – Heiress

 Baron – Baroness

 Peer – Peeress

 Abbot – Abbess

 Emperor – Empress

 Traitor – Traitress

 Actor – Actress

 Benefactor – Benefactress

 Hunter – Huntress

 Tempter – Temptress

 Master – Mistress

 Tiger – Tigress

 Duke – Duchess

 Enchanter –  Enchantress

 Songster – Songstress

 Hero – Heroine

 Sultan – Sultana

 Czar – Czarina

 Signor – Signora

 Manservant – Maidservant

 He-goat – She-goat

 Cock-sparrow – Hen-sparrow

 Bull-calf – Cow-calf

 Grandfather – Grandmother

 Landlord – Landlady

 Milkman –  Milkmaid

 Peacock – Peahen

 Giant – Giantess

 Count – Countess
Conclusion

The noun is an integral part of the English language, in fact, you cannot make a sentence without
one. By understanding their use and the rules surrounding them, you will be able to form
grammatically correct sentences.

Adapted from https://7esl.com/nouns/

 
2.Pronouns
Pronoun: Definition, Rules, List of Pronouns with Examples

English Pronouns List! What is a pronoun? Learn a useful list of pronouns in English with different
types of pronouns, example sentences and ESL printable worksheets. One of the most important
forms of grammar in the English language is the pronoun. This is something that you will come
across very frequently when studying the language and it is important that you are aware of what a
pronoun is, how it is used and where it fits into a sentence. In this article, we are going to be taking a
look at how pronouns work and what they are used for, this will be intertwined with some examples
so that we can gain a better understanding of their function.

What Is A Pronoun?

What is a pronoun in English grammar? One of the nine parts of speech in the English language is the
pronoun. In English grammar, pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun or noun phrase.

In the most simple terms, a pronoun is a word which takes the position of a noun. One of the most
commonly recognised forms of the pronoun are names of people, for example John, Jill, Mary or
Peter. However, a pronoun could also be one of the following words:

 He/she

 It

 They

 Me

 Himself

 Somebody/everybody/anybody

 Many

 Each

 Few

 Whoever/who

A pronoun is used instead of a noun or noun phrase in a sentence. A pronoun may take place of the
name of a person, place or thing.

Pronoun examples: I,  me,  we, they, you,  he,  she, it, yours,  himself, ourselves, its, my, that, this,
those, us, who, whom…
There are many more examples of pronouns, and you might think of them as pointing towards
possession. As we mentioned, the pronoun is used as a way of replacing a noun, take a look at the
following sentence:

The couch is large, the cupboard is heavy.

There is no need to use the word couch in the second part of the sentence, therefore it could be
replaced with a pronoun now that we recognise what item is being talked about, take a look at the
modified sentence which uses the pronoun it.

The couch is large, it is heavy.

Types of Pronouns with Examples

English Pronouns can be divided into several categories: personal, indefinite, reflexive, reciprocal,
possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, reciprocal and relative.
Learn types of pronouns in English with examples. We briefly discussed some of the different words
that are classed as pronouns, however there are also different types of pronoun. Most often,
pronouns fall into one of nine categories. We will now take a look at each of these.

Personal Pronouns

This type of pronoun is used to refer to a person, in this category you will see words such as I, we,
you, they, he, she, …

 I have green eyes.

 They are coming to my house.

 You are my friend.

There are two types of personal pronouns: subject and object.

When the person or thing is the subject of the sentence, subject pronouns are used.

Subject pronoun list: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.

Subject pronoun examples:

 I  like to watch TV, but  he  does not.

 You  cannot judge a tree by its bark.

 She  struck him on the nose.

 He studies hard to pass the exam.

Object pronouns are used when the person or thing is the object of the sentence.

Object pronoun list: me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them.

Examples:

 Sophia likes  me  but not  him.

 John will call you soon.

 Don’t tell her  the truth.

  I helped him pull his boots off.

Reflexive Pronouns

The reflexive pronoun will end in -self or -selves and is used in reference to another pronoun. Words
within the category are himself, herself, themselves, yourself/ves, myself, itself.

 He takes care of himself.

 She can do it by herself.

 You could travel by yourself.

 

In English, reflexive pronouns are used when a person or thing acts on itself.

Reflexive pronoun list: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

Examples:

 She tried it  herself.

 Tom hurt  himself.

In English they all end in –self or –selves and must refer to a noun phrase elsewhere in the same
clause.

Possessive Pronouns

In English, possessive pronouns are used to indicate possession or ownership. They are: mine, yours,

his,  hers, ours, yours, theirs.

Possessive pronoun list: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs.

Examples:

 Do you see that woman over there?  Her  dog is very friendly.

 Is that your house? No,  ours  is the one beside it.

 his is my laptop. It’s  mine.

 These books are mine, not  yours.

 This is my brother ‘s  book.  It’s  his.

 
 

Demonstrative Pronouns

This type of pronoun is used to indicate something, the words in the category are these, those, that,
this.

 These are the shoes that I am going to wear.

 He likes the green flowers but he prefers those red ones over there.

 I would like that one.

 
The demonstrative pronouns are the same words as the demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these,
and those). They often distinguish their targets by pointing or some other indication of position.
They can be either near or far in distance or time, specifically.

Demonstrative pronoun list: this, that, these, those.

Pronoun examples:

 This  is an enormous field.

 Can you see  that?

 These  are delicious cookies.

Indefinite Pronouns

The indefinite pronoun is used to talk about something which is not specific. Words in the category
are some, all, few, none, either, one, nobody, both, each, anyone, several etc.

 Nobody is going to the party.

 There are several people in my class.

 I like both of these photos.

An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that refers to non-specific beings, objects, or places. Indefinite

Pronouns can also function as other parts of speech too, depending on context.

 Indefinite Pronoun List: another, anybody/ anyone, anything, each, either, enough, everybody/
everyone, everything,…

Pronoun examples:

 I don’t want  anyone  to see it.

 Is there  anything  in that box?

 You can’t blame him for  everything.

 Each  company is fighting to protect its own commercial interests.

  Much  has happened since we met.

 No one  can cope with her in English.

Relative Pronouns

This type of pronoun can be used as a way of giving additional information within a sentence,
pronouns in this category are that, who, which, whom…

 This is my brother who lives in New Zealand.

 This is the ball that my dog likes best.

 

A relative pronoun is a pronoun that relates to the word that it modifies and is not specific. In
English, relative pronouns are who, whom, which, whose, and that.  They refer back to people or
things previously mentioned, and they are used in relative clauses.

Relative pronoun list: who, whom, which, whose, that.

Pronoun examples:

 The woman  who  called yesterday wants to buy the house.

 Now they were driving by the houses  which  Andy had described.

 She is an artist  whose  work I really  admire.

 The author  whom  you criticized in your review has written a letter in reply.

Intensive Pronouns

The intensive pronoun is used as a reference to another pronoun or noun in the same sentence as a
way of emphasising it.

 The dog caught the ball itself.

 Sarah cooks dinner herself.

 I eat my candy myself.

Interrogative Pronouns

An interrogative pronoun is used in a question, the words within the category are who, which,
where, how and what.

 How many apples do you have?

 Which way is the hotel?

 Is that where the chair goes?

 
Reciprocal Pronouns

The reciprocal pronoun is used to show an action or feeling which is reciprocated, words in this
category are one another and each other.

 They are happy with each other.

 The two friends really care about one another.

List of Pronouns

Learn the list of all pronouns in English with different types.

Personal pronoun list

Subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.

Object pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them.

Demonstrative pronoun list: this, that, these, those.

Reflexive pronoun list: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

Intensive pronoun list: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

Possessive pronoun list: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs.

Relative pronoun list: who, whom, which, whose, that.

Indefinite pronoun list: another, anybody/ anyone, anything, each, either, enough, everybody/
everyone, everything, less, little, much, neither, nobody/ no-one, nothing, one, other, somebody/
someone, something, both, few, fewer, many, others, several, all, any, more, most, none, some,
such.
 

Interrogative Pronoun List: who, whom, which, what, whose, whoever, whatever, whichever,
whomever.

Pronoun Rules

As with all types of grammar, there are rules surrounding the use of the pronoun. Let’s take a look at
these now.

If the pronoun is being used as a subject it is known as a subject pronoun and often appears at the
beginning of a sentence, although this is not always the case. An example of this would be She went
to the shop.

The words he, I, she, we, whoever, they, it etc are all subject pronouns,

Secondly a subject pronoun can be used if they are renaming the sentence subject, in this case they
always come after to be verbs, these might be verbs such as were, am, are, is etc. An example of this
would be That is she  or This is him talking.

Another rule is that if the word who is being used as a pronoun to refer to a person, it will take the
form of the verb to which that person corresponds, this might sound strange as this rule is not
always followed but an example might look like this It is I who am going to town.

An object pronouns is used to refer to the object of a sentence. Object pronouns might include the
words him, me, her, us, them etc. An example of this might be Sarah watched her.  In this example.
her is the object of the verb watched.

When an possessive pronoun is used, the use of an apostrophe is never required.

When using the pronouns which, that and who you should use either a singular or plural verb
depending on what the pronoun is referring to. For example, look at the following sentence.

 John is one of those men who likes fishing.

 John and Bob are two of these men who like fishing.
 

You can see that the verb like has been modified to become plural when the pronoun who refers to
two people as opposed to one.

List of Pronouns in English | Picture

Conclusion

Pronouns are words which are used as a replacement for a noun and are commonly seen throughout
the English language. There are various types of pronoun and certain rules that must be followed in
order to create a grammatically correct sentence.

Adapted from https://7esl.com/english-pronouns/
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