We’re setting a wave of refreshing our memory on elementary grammar. And we’re starting right from the beginning, which is, The Parts of Speech. If you haven’t checked out that article yet, then click here. In the previous article, we discussed more about nouns and four of its types. We also took a look at a noun’s definition.
Let’s revise a little before we go ahead:
A noun is a naming word. There are 8 types of nouns. They are:- Abstract, Concrete, Countable & Uncountable, Collective, Compound, Possessive, Regular, and Irregular. We covered the first four types in Part 1, and you can catch up on it here before moving on with this lesson.
We will now go ahead and take a detailed yet very simple look at the remaining four types of nouns.
5. Compound Noun
This category is one of the most interesting ones that you will find in English grammar. When you join two words to make one word that makes an entirely different meaning, it is a compound noun. For example, “sun” is a different word, while “flower” is an absolutely different word. But when we fuse the words to make “sunflower,” it defines a type of flower. There are several such words like classroom (class+room), playgroup (play+ group), Full moon, Christmas tree, swimming pool, etc.
6. Possessive Noun
When a noun wants to specify that something belongs to them/it, it takes the possessive form. Usually, all this requires is to add an apostrophe and “s” at the end of the word. In case the word is in its plural form, then add an apostrophe after the existing “s.” Words that fall in this type show the ownership of the naming word in context.
For example, we might say, “This ball belongs to Hari.” Another way of saying this is, “This is Hari’s ball.” So you see, now we know that Hair owns the ball. So when a naming word shows possession of something, it belongs to this category of the parts of speech.
In case you want to use the plural form of the word, then you can use it in this manner, “Both our cars’ backseat require cleaning.” In this example, the word car is in its plural form. And we want to show that the backseat that belongs to both of these cars requires cleaning. Hence, we add an apostrophe after the “s.”
7. Regular Noun
The name of this type is very suggestive in itself. But, what is regular about it? Some naming words do not require any change in spelling when we change it to its plural form. One can do it very easily by suffixing an “s” or “es.” For example, Pencil becomes pencils. All it required was an “s” to make the noun plural. There are several such regular words like computer, jacket, cup, straw, doll, table, airplane, ship, house, school, etc.
Take the word we listed above, and try and turn them into plurals. You will notice how changing them will not have an effect on its spellings.
Although, there are some words that do not accept the plural forms without a major change. We will take a look at them in our eight and final type.
8. Irregular Noun
Some words change their spelling when you change their number or quantity. Whether you change it from its singular form to the plural form or vice versa, they will demonstrate an overall change. Let us share some examples with you. One of the most common irregular nouns is the word “woman;” change it to its plural form and the spelling also changes to “women.”
Other such words include person, child, goose, ox, mouse, man, people, loaf, etc. We’re not going to tell you how the spelling changes with these words. That is an activity for you. So from now on, whenever you come across something, try changing the word and tell yourself if it is regular or irregular. There is no better practice than self-practice.
With this, we come to an end on our lesson on Nouns. We have a lot more interesting topics coming up, so stick with us, and subscribe to us. When you do that, you can a personal update of the new posts.
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