What is Noun?
Substantive is a class of words that name beings, objects, phenomena, places, qualities, actions, among others.
They can be flexed into gender (male and female), number (singular and plural) and degree (augmentative and diminutive).
Types of Nouns
Nouns are classified into nine types: common, proper, simple, compound, concrete, abstract, primitive, derivative, and collective.
1. common noun
Common nouns are words that designate beings of the same species in a generic way:
Examples: person, people, country.
2. Proper noun
Proper nouns, written in capital letters, are words that particularize beings, entities, countries, cities, states of the same species.
Examples: Brazil, São Paulo, Maria.
3. simple noun
Simple nouns are made up of just one word.
Examples: house, car, shirt.
4. compound noun
Compound nouns are made up of more than one word.
Examples: umbrella, wardrobe, hummingbird.
5. Concrete noun
Concrete nouns designate real, concrete words, whether they are people, objects, animals or places.
Examples: girl, man, dog.
6. Abstract noun
Abstract nouns are those related to feelings, states, qualities and actions.
Examples: beauty, joy, kindness.
7. Primitive noun
Primitive nouns, as the name implies, are those that do not derive from other words.
Examples: house, leaf, rain.
8. Derived Noun
Derived nouns are those words that derive from others.
Examples: big house (derived from the house), foliage (derived from leaves), rainstorm (derived from rain).
9. Collective Noun
Collective nouns are those that refer to a set of beings.
Examples: flora (set of flowers), album (set of photos), hive (set of bees).
Gender of Nouns
According to the gender (female and male) of the noun words, they are classified into:
- Biform Nouns: present two forms, that is, one for male and one for female, for example: teacher and teacher; friend and friend.
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uniform nouns: only one term specifies the two genders (male and female), being classified into:
- Epicenes: word that has only one genus and refers to animals, for example: seal (male or female).
- super common: word that has only one gender and refers to people, for example: child (male and female).
- Two-Gender Common: term that refers to both genders (male and female), identified through the accompanying article, for example: "O artist" and "The artist".
- As for gender, nouns of Greek origin ending in "ema" and "oma" are masculine, for example: theorem, poem.
- There are the nouns called "doubtful or uncertain gender", that is, those used for both genders without changing the meaning, for example: the character and the character.
- There are some nouns that, varying by gender, change their meaning, for example: "the head" (leader), "the head" (part of the human body).
Number of Nouns
According to the noun number, they are classified into:
- Singular: word that designates a single thing, person or a group, for example: ball, woman.
- Plural form: word that designates various things, people or groups, for example: balls, women.
Do you want to be an ace in this matter? Be sure to read other texts related to this topic.:
- Noun number inflections
- Plural rules of compound nouns
- Singular and plural
Noun Degree
According to the degree of the nouns, they are classified into augmentative and diminutive:
Augmentative
Word that indicates the increase in size of some being or something. It is divided into:
- Analytical: noun accompanied by an adjective that indicates greatness, for example: big house.
- Synthetic: noun with the addition of an increase indicator suffix, for example: houseno.
Diminutive
Word that indicates the decrease in size of some being or something. It is divided into:
- Analytical: noun accompanied by an adjective that indicates smallness, for example: small house.
- Synthetic: noun with the addition of a decrement indicator suffix, for example: casyah.
Read too noun degree and Augmentative and diminutive.
Relationship between Adjectives and Nouns
You adjectives correspond to the class of words that indicate qualities and states to nouns, for example: beautiful house. Here, the term "beautiful" attributes a quality to the noun "house".
Testyourknowledge:
- classification of nouns
- Noun Exercises
- Exercises: Simple and Compound Nouns
- Word Class Exercises