Nouns & Pronouns — Patwari English Grammar
A noun is the name of a person, thing, place or feeling, and a pronoun is a word used in its place. This page explains the types and distinctions of both, with examples.
- Class 6-8 grammar level
- 9 min read
Types of Noun
A noun is the name of a person, thing, place, feeling or quality. Its main types are: Common noun (a general name, like 'boy', 'city'), Proper noun (a specific name, like 'Jaipur'), Collective noun (names a group, like 'team', 'class'), Material noun (names a substance, like 'gold', 'water'), and Abstract noun (names a quality or feeling, like 'honesty', 'presence' — which cannot be touched or seen, only experienced).
A concrete noun is one that can be experienced through the senses (seen, touched) — for example, 'chisel' is the name of a tangible object, so it is a concrete common noun.
Types of Pronoun
| Type | Example |
|---|---|
| Personal pronoun | I, you, he, she, it, we, they |
| Possessive pronoun | mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs |
| Reflexive pronoun | myself, himself, herself, themselves |
| Demonstrative pronoun | this, that, these, those |
| Interrogative pronoun | who, whom, which, what |
| Relative pronoun | who, which, that, whom |
| Indefinite pronoun | someone, anybody, everything, none |
| Reciprocal pronoun | each other, one another |
A personal pronoun stands in place of a person's name (He, She), while a possessive pronoun shows ownership and stands independently in place of a noun (this is his).
The Test for Recognising an Abstract Noun
If a word denotes a quality, feeling, state or idea that cannot be touched or seen (such as 'presence', 'honesty', 'happiness'), it is an abstract noun.
Conversely, if a word is the name of a tangible object, person or place that can be experienced through the senses (such as 'doctor', 'hair', 'chisel'), it is a concrete noun.
Number and Gender of a Noun
Most nouns form their plural by adding 's' or 'es' at the end (book→books, box→boxes), but many words have irregular plurals that have to be memorised separately — for example, the plural of 'child' is 'children'.
By gender, nouns are considered to be of four kinds — Masculine (like 'boy', 'king'), Feminine (like 'girl', 'queen'), Common gender (like 'teacher', 'student' — used for both men and women), and Neuter gender (for non-living things, like 'book', 'table').
Irregular Plurals
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| Child | Children |
| Man | Men |
| Woman | Women |
| Foot | Feet |
| Tooth | Teeth |
| Mouse | Mice |
| Sheep | Sheep (no change) |
| Ox | Oxen |
These words don't follow the usual '-s/-es' rule, so they need to be memorised separately.
Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement
A pronoun used in a sentence must agree with its antecedent (the noun it stands for) in all three of number, gender and person. For example, in 'Each student must submit his/her assignment', 'his/her' agrees with 'Each student' (singular); using 'their' here is considered incorrect from a traditional grammar point of view.
With a collective noun (like 'team', 'class'), the choice of pronoun depends on whether the group is being treated as a single unit (singular, 'it') or as a collection of members (plural, 'they') — as in 'The team played its best' (a single unit) versus 'The team gave their views' (individual members).
Pronoun Case: Subjective, Objective, Possessive
| Subjective | Objective | Possessive |
|---|---|---|
| I | me | my / mine |
| You | you | your / yours |
| He | him | his / his |
| She | her | her / hers |
| It | it | its / its |
| We | us | our / ours |
| They | them | their / theirs |
A subjective pronoun is the subject of the sentence (He runs), an objective pronoun is the object (I saw him), and a possessive pronoun shows ownership (This is his / This is mine).
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Countable nouns are ones that can be counted and have a plural form — like 'book/books', 'chair/chairs'. Uncountable nouns are ones that cannot be counted directly and usually have no plural form — like 'water', 'sugar', 'information', 'furniture'.
This distinction decides which words take 'a/an', 'many' or 'a few' (with countable nouns) and which take 'much', 'a little' or no article at all (with uncountable nouns) — for example, 'an information' or 'many furnitures' are wrong because these are uncountable nouns.
Memory Trick / Exam Tip
A simple test for recognising an abstract noun: 'can it be touched?' — if not (like presence, kindness), it's an abstract noun. And to recognise a personal pronoun, ask: 'has this word come in place of a person's name?' — if yes, it's a personal pronoun.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many main types of noun are there?+
There are five main types — Common, Proper, Collective, Material and Abstract noun.
What is an Abstract Noun?+
An abstract noun is the name of a quality, feeling or state that cannot be touched or seen, such as 'honesty', 'presence', 'happiness'.
What is the difference between a Personal Pronoun and a Possessive Determiner?+
A personal pronoun (he, she, they) stands in place of a person's name, while a possessive determiner (his, her, their) comes before a noun to show ownership.
How many types of pronoun are there?+
There are mainly eight types — Personal, Possessive, Reflexive, Demonstrative, Interrogative, Relative, Indefinite and Reciprocal pronoun.
What is an Irregular Plural?+
Nouns whose plural is not formed by the usual '-s/-es' rule but takes an entirely different form, such as child-children, man-men, foot-feet.
What is Pronoun-Antecedent Agreement?+
This rule says a pronoun must agree with its antecedent (the original noun) in number, gender and person, as in 'Each student must do his/her work'.
What is the difference between the Subjective and Objective case of a pronoun?+
The subjective case (I, he, she) is the subject of the sentence, while the objective case (me, him, her) is the object of a verb or preposition — in 'He gave it to me', 'He' is subjective and 'me' is objective.
What is the main difference between Countable and Uncountable nouns?+
A countable noun can be counted and has a plural (books), while an uncountable noun cannot be counted directly and usually has no plural (water, furniture).