If you are visiting this blog for the first time, please
consider starting with the very first
post as it contains useful hints and links. Working through
this blog in sequence can also help you identify strengths and weaknesses in
your knowledge of the English Language.
3 reasons you should learn about nouns
1. You need to know
about nouns because they are related to pronouns. Pronouns are very useful for
learning about verbs, and writing the "complex structures" referred
to in IELTS Band Descriptors.
2. Nouns are also
related to the idea of "determiners" [or what some people call
"articles"].
3. Nouns have
"number". The verb forms and determiners you use must agree with the
"number" of a noun.
Don't worry about understanding "number" or "determiners" right now. I've only mentioned these here to convince you that you must make the effort to learn about nouns.
Pronouns, determiners, verbs and number are discussed in later posts. These are all important if you are to show IELTS examiners that you have a good enough grasp of English Grammar to get a score of 7.
Pronouns, determiners, verbs and number are discussed in later posts. These are all important if you are to show IELTS examiners that you have a good enough grasp of English Grammar to get a score of 7.
Nouns
Nouns are words we
use to name different things. Nouns might name:
- people or places; or
- types of animals; or
- things; or
- ideas, feelings or qualities
Examples of nouns
John and Mary are
two common names given to people.
kangaroo and mammal
are two common names used to describe animals.
animal or desk are
two common words we use to describe things that are tangible [things we can
physically touch].
guess, fear,
compassion are words used to describe "things" that are intangible [things we cannot physically touch]
Types of nouns.
To score 7 in an
IELTS test you do not need to
memorise the names of these "types" of nouns, but it will help if you
are aware of them:
- proper nouns;
- common nouns;
- tangible [or concrete] nouns;
- intangible [or abstract] nouns; or
- collective nouns.
Examples of types
of nouns
John, Asia , High Street or The Bible are proper nouns. Most
book titles or the titles of poems or songs are spelt with a capital letter at
the beginning of a word.
desk, pen and book
are common nouns. Each of these words will tell us what class something belongs
to. Common nouns tell us what someone is talking about, but do not give us
specific information about what is being talked about. On their own, the words desk, pen and book do not tell us about a particular desk, pen or book.
desk, pen and book
are tangible or concrete nouns because we can physically touch these things.
geometry, language
and bravery are intangible [or abstract] nouns. They are ideas that we cannot
physically touch.
army and dictionary
are collective nouns. The collective or group name tells us what a group is
made of. An army is made up of soldiers, and a dictionary provides a list or
words and definitions.
a mob of cattle, and
a flock of sheep are examples of another type of collective noun.
The word cattle on its own does not tell us how many cattle there are, nor does the word mob tell us what type of animal or person is in the group: The word mob might mean a group of people, of cattle, of kangaroos, or of gangsters.
The word cattle on its own does not tell us how many cattle there are, nor does the word mob tell us what type of animal or person is in the group: The word mob might mean a group of people, of cattle, of kangaroos, or of gangsters.
Just to make sure
you are really confused, a mob of cattle is sometimes called a herd of cattle.
Examples of very
obscure [hardly ever used except in TV quiz shows] collective nouns are "a
murder of crows" or "a coven of witches".
As I have already
said, you do not need to memorise a rule like "There are many types of nouns: proper, common,
tangible, abstract and collective".
You simply need to
be aware that these categories exist.
An expression like
"flock of sheep" is a collocation.
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Jane
