Nouns & Pronouns — REET English Notes
A noun is the name of a person, thing, place or feeling, and a pronoun is the word used in its place. REET 2024 asked students to identify nouns from a passage (like 'chisel' and 'presence') and to spot personal pronouns ('he/she') — this page lays out both their types clearly.
- 3 questions in REET 2024
- Class 6–8 / teaching-practice level
- 9 min read
How REET asks this topic
REET 2024 gave an underlined word from a passage and asked whether it was a noun (such as the tool 'chisel'), asked students to identify an abstract noun (such as 'presence' — a state that can't be touched), and asked students to identify underlined words like 'he/she' as personal pronouns. In short, the exam tests both spotting a part of speech and understanding the sub-types of nouns/pronouns.
Types of nouns
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 (naming a group, like 'team', 'class'), Material noun (naming a substance, like 'gold', 'water'), and Abstract noun (naming a feeling or quality, like 'honesty', 'presence' — which cannot be touched or seen, only experienced).
A concrete noun is one that can be experienced with the senses (seen, touched) — for instance, 'chisel' names a physical tool, so it is a concrete common noun.
Types of pronouns
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| 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 alone in place of a noun (this is his).
How to spot an abstract noun
If a word names a quality, feeling, state or idea that cannot be touched or seen (such as 'presence', 'honesty', 'happiness'), it's an abstract noun.
On the other hand, if a word names a solid object, person or place that can be experienced with the senses (such as 'doctor', 'hair', 'chisel'), it's a concrete noun.
Number and gender of nouns
Most nouns form their plural by adding 's' or 'es' at the end (book→books, box→boxes), but a number of words have irregular plurals that need to be memorised separately — for example, the plural of 'child' is 'children', not formed by any regular rule.
Based on gender, nouns are considered to fall into four types — Masculine (like 'boy', 'king'), Feminine (like 'girl', 'queen'), Common gender (used for both men and women, like 'teacher', 'student'), and Neuter gender (for inanimate objects, 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 regular '-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 in for) in number, gender and person. For example, in 'Each student must submit his/her assignment', 'his/her' agrees with the singular 'Each student' — using 'their' here is traditionally considered grammatically incorrect.
The choice of pronoun with a collective noun (like 'team', 'class') depends on whether the group is treated as one unit (singular, 'it') or as a set of individual members (plural, 'they') — for example, 'The team played its best' (one 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 those that can be counted and have a plural form — like 'book/books', 'chair/chairs'. Uncountable nouns are those that cannot be directly counted and generally don't have a 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 instance, 'an information' or 'many furnitures' are both incorrect because these are uncountable nouns.
How to teach children
Activity
In Classes 6–8, give a story and have students underline every noun and pronoun, then sort them by type.
Teaching material
Build a sorting chart where children place word cards into Common/Proper/Abstract/Collective boxes.
Common misconception
Children mix up a possessive determiner (my, his) with a possessive pronoun (mine, his) — 'his' looks identical in both forms, so clarify by looking at sentence position (before a noun = determiner, standing alone = pronoun).
Assessment
A quick quiz identifying the part of speech and sub-type of underlined words in sentences is an effective assessment.
Differentiated teaching
Start weaker children with regular plurals (book-books), then teach a short separate list of irregular plurals (child-children).
Peer learning
In pairs, one child says a singular word, the other immediately gives its plural — give special practice on irregular words.
Memory trick / exam tip
The simple test for an abstract noun: 'Can it be touched?' — if not (like presence, kindness), it's an abstract noun. And to identify a personal pronoun, ask: 'Does this word stand in for a person's name?' — if yes, it's a personal pronoun.
REET 2024 questions (solved)
Question 34
___________ is a noun.
- APicked
- BDesired
- CChisel
- DTremble
Explanation
‘Chisel’ (छेनी) एक औज़ार का नाम है, अतः यह noun है। अनुच्छेद में ‘picked up the chisel’ में यह ‘the’ के बाद वस्तु के रूप में आया है। ‘Picked’, ‘Desired’ और ‘Tremble’ क्रिया (verb) रूप हैं।
Question 36
The following is an abstract noun :
- Adoctor
- Bhair
- Cpresence
- Dparting
Explanation
Abstract noun वह संज्ञा है जो किसी गुण, भाव या अवस्था को बताती है जिसे छुआ या देखा नहीं जा सकता। 'presence' (उपस्थिति) एक अवस्था है, इसलिए abstract noun है। 'doctor', 'hair' और 'parting' ठोस (concrete) वस्तु/व्यक्ति से जुड़े हैं।
Question 58
He and she has become used to all the surrounding noises. The underlined words are :
- ACommon nouns
- BPossessive pronouns
- CRelative pronouns
- DPersonal pronouns
Explanation
रेखांकित शब्द 'He' और 'she' व्यक्तिवाचक सर्वनाम (Personal pronouns) हैं, जो किसी व्यक्ति के नाम के स्थान पर आते हैं। Possessive pronouns (his, hers) स्वामित्व और Relative pronouns (who, which) संबंध दर्शाते हैं।
Practice questions
Question 1
Which of the following is an abstract noun?
- AChair
- BKindness
- CRiver
- DTeacher
Explanation
'Kindness' is a quality that cannot be touched, so it's an abstract noun. The other three are all concrete things/people.
Question 2
Which word in the sentence 'The class is preparing for the annual function' is a collective noun?
- AClass
- BFunction
- CPreparing
- DAnnual
Explanation
'Class' refers to a group (a group of students), so it is a collective noun.
Question 3
In the sentence 'Ravi gave his book to Meena', the word 'his' is a:
- APossessive pronoun
- BPossessive determiner
- CPersonal pronoun
- DReflexive pronoun
Explanation
Here 'his' comes before the noun 'book' to show ownership, which makes it a possessive determiner — not a possessive pronoun (that would be the case if it stood alone, as in 'the book is his').
Question 4
Which of the following is a proper noun?
- ACity
- BJaipur
- CCountry
- DRiver
Explanation
'Jaipur' names a specific place, so it's a proper noun and is always written with a capital letter.
Question 5
Choose the sentence in which the underlined word is a reflexive pronoun: 'She hurt herself while playing.'
- A'She' is the reflexive pronoun
- B'herself' is the reflexive pronoun
- C'playing' is the reflexive pronoun
- D'hurt' is the reflexive pronoun
Explanation
'herself' turns the action back onto the subject 'She', which makes it a reflexive pronoun.
Question 6
Which of the following is a material noun?
- AGold
- BHonesty
- CArmy
- DDelhi
Explanation
'Gold' is a substance/material, so it's a material noun. 'Honesty' is abstract, 'Army' is collective, and 'Delhi' is a proper noun.
Question 7
In the sentence 'Whom did you meet yesterday?', the word 'Whom' is a/an:
- ARelative pronoun
- BInterrogative pronoun
- CDemonstrative pronoun
- DIndefinite pronoun
Explanation
'Whom' is used here to ask a question, so it's an interrogative pronoun.
Question 8
A student confuses 'his' as always being a pronoun. Which example best shows 'his' being used as a determiner, not a pronoun?
- AThe pen is his.
- BHis pen is on the table.
- CIs this his?
- DThat book was his.
Explanation
In 'His pen', 'his' comes before the noun 'pen' to show ownership, making it a determiner. In the rest of the sentences, 'his' stands alone in place of a noun, so there it is a pronoun.
Question 9
Which word in 'Everyone enjoyed the picnic' is an indefinite pronoun?
- AEveryone
- BEnjoyed
- CPicnic
- DThe
Explanation
'Everyone' doesn't point to a specific person but refers to people in general, which makes it an indefinite pronoun.
Question 10
A teacher shows a picture and asks students to classify 'chair', 'happiness', and 'team' correctly. Which classification is correct?
- AChair = abstract, Happiness = concrete, Team = proper
- BChair = concrete, Happiness = abstract, Team = collective
- CChair = collective, Happiness = concrete, Team = abstract
- DChair = proper, Happiness = collective, Team = concrete
Explanation
'Chair' is a physical object (concrete), 'Happiness' is a feeling that can't be touched (abstract), and 'Team' names a group (collective) — that's the correct classification.
Frequently asked questions
How many main types of nouns are there?+
There are five main types — Common, Proper, Collective, Material and Abstract nouns.
What is an abstract noun?+
An abstract noun names a quality, feeling or state that cannot be touched or seen, such as 'honesty', 'presence' or 'happiness'.
What's the difference between a Personal Pronoun and a Possessive Determiner?+
A personal pronoun (he, she, they) stands in for a person's name, while a possessive determiner (his, her, their) comes before a noun to show ownership.
How many types of pronouns are there?+
There are mainly eight types — Personal, Possessive, Reflexive, Demonstrative, Interrogative, Relative, Indefinite and Reciprocal pronouns.
What is an irregular plural?+
A noun whose plural is not formed by the regular '-s/-es' rule but takes a completely different form, like 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's the difference between Subjective and Objective pronoun case?+
The Subjective case (I, he, she) is the subject of a sentence, while the Objective case (me, him, her) is the object of a verb or preposition, as in 'He gave it to me', where 'He' is subjective and 'me' is objective.
What's the main difference between Countable and Uncountable nouns?+
Countable nouns can be counted and have a plural (books), while uncountable nouns cannot be directly counted and usually don't have a plural (water, furniture).
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Change Log
- 17 September 2026 — English page published — mirrors the fact-checked Hindi page, independently bilingual-accuracy checked