Lesson 5: Collective Nouns- The naming words for a collection

Previous lesson:- Lesson 4: Common Nouns- The class names

Have you studied the previous lessons well? Today we are going to talk about another type of nouns called Collective Nouns. But first let us consider the following images:

IMAGE 1

IMAGE 2

IMAGE 3

IMAGE 4

What will you say about this images? A lot of flowers? Many keys? Many sticks? A lot of fish?

Lesson 4: Common Nouns- The class names

Previous lesson:- Lesson 3: Proper Nouns – The names of individuals

We have learned about Nouns in general and their identification. Today we will talk about Common Nouns.

Nouns that are the names given to all people or things or places of the same kind are called Common Nouns.

So what is the difference between Proper Nouns and Common Nouns? Both are names alright. Well it is as simple as this:

A Common Noun is the class name, but a Proper Noun is the individual name of the individual member of that class.

Exercise 4 (Level: Easy): Identification of Common Nouns

Based on Lesson 4: Common Nouns – The class names

This exercise is based on whatever you have learned in our previous chapter on Common Nouns. Have fun solving the questions.

Q1. Give ten examples of common nouns belonging to the class "animals". Example: cow.

Q2. Give ten examples of common nouns belonging to the class "birds". Example: crow.

Lesson 3: Proper Nouns- The names of individuals

Previous lesson:- Lesson 2:Nouns – The naming words

In the previous lesson we talked about the various types of Nouns that we use in a sentence. We had the words boy, girl, dog, etc and we said these were nouns because they were names of people, animals or things. That is quite true; but most people, (and some animals or things) have more than one name.

Let’s consider the image below.

There are two men in the image. We can call each of them man. That is the name given to them In common. But wait, look what they are saying. They say each of them has another name which is particularly given to that man. The first one is named John Brown and the second man is named William Green. Oh look William Green has a dog too. Its name is Timmy. 

Now see when we say dog it refers to any dog belonging to that species. But a particular dog can be given another specific name to identify specifically when needed. For example in the above case William Green has named his dog Timmy.

These specific names given to any individuals or things are called Proper nouns.

A proper noun is the name of 

• A particular person e.g. John Brown, William Green, 
• Animals (especially pet animals) e.g. Timmy
• Thing e.g Gita (book), Eifel Tower (building)
• Geographical location e.g. London
• Event e.g. Christmas, Durga Puja, etc.
• Days in a week e.g. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.
  Months in a year e.g. January, February, March, etc.

Things which are unique are usually given a particular name. They are Proper noun too.

Let’s identify a few proper nouns from these sentences.

1. Ajay wrote a letter to his father.
2. Shila said to Lila, “You can depend on me.”
3. We have a cat named Mishi.
4. Last year my brother went to London.
5. The Ganges is the largest river of India.

The underlined words are the proper nouns used in the above sentences.Notice the first letter of the Proper nouns are highlighted.

Remember: Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter. 

Example: John, Timmy, Ganges, Shila.

Exercise 3 (Level: Easy): Identification of Proper Nouns

Next lesson: Lesson 4: Common Nouns - The class names

Exercise 3 (Level: Easy): Identification of Proper nouns

Based on:- Lesson 3: Proper Nouns – The names of individuals

First read the lessons based on which the Exercises are compiled and then answer the questions.

Q1. Write down ten proper nouns that are names of persons.

Q2. Write down ten proper nouns that are names of places.

Answer to Exercise 2 (Level: Easy):- Identification of Nouns

Based on:- Lesson 2: Nouns - The naming words 

First read the lessons based on which the Exercises are compiled and then answer the questions.

Answer to Exercise 2 (Level: Easy):- Identification of Nouns

Q1. Identification of nouns from the sentences

1. The boy saw his brother.
2. There is a man and a woman in the picture.
3. The gentleman opened the door for his wife.
4. A bird can fly.
5. Gold is a metal.
6. The French revolution took place towards the end of eighteenth century.
7. The Christmas is the yearly celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Bible is holy book of the Christians as the Gita is of the Hindus.

You can mail me your queries using the Feedback form or post them in the comment box.

Lesson 2: Nouns – The naming words

Previous lesson:- Lesson 1:Parts of Speech – The building blocks of a sentence

Do you remember in our previous lesson we have talked about the eight boxes of Parts of Speech, the basic building blocks of a sentence. We have learned their names as 1) Nouns, 2) Pronouns, 3) Adjectives, 4) Verbs, 5) Adverbs, 6) Prepositions, 7) Conjunctions and 8) Interjections. 

In today’s lesson we will open the first box: Nouns.

There are various types of objects, both living and non-living, all around us. We need to give each of them a name to make it easier for us to identify the objects. These naming words are called Nouns.

Exercise 2 (Level: Easy):- Identification of Nouns

Based on:- Lesson 2: Nouns – The naming words

First read the lessons based on which the Exercises are compiled and then answer the questions.

Answer to Exercise 1 (Level: Easy): Parts of Speech

Based on:- Lesson 1: Parts ofSpeech – The building blocks of a sentence

First read the lessons based on which the Exercises are compiled and then answer the questions.

Answer to Exercise 1 (Level: Easy): Parts of Speech

Q1.      Reconstruction of wrong sentences. 

1. The doctor waited.
2. The accident occurred yesterday.
3. We  saw no one there.
4. she is coming.
5. They reached the station in time.
6. The girls gathered around the dinning-table.
7. The cat woke up.
8. the door slammed suddenly.
9. I asked the boys to be quiet.
10. I thought she looked thinner.

You can mail me your queries using the Feedback form or post them in the comment box. 

Exercise 1 (Level: Easy): Parts of Speech

Based on:- Lesson 1: Parts of Speech – The building blocks of a sentence

First read the lessons based on which the Exercises are compiled and then answer the questions. 

Q. The following sentences are constructed wrongly. Can you reconstruct them and put the words in correct order?

1. Waited doctor the.
2. The accident yesterday occurred.
3. Saw no one we there.
4. Coming she is.
5. Reached in time the station they.
6. The girls gathered dinning-table around the.
7. Woke up the cat.
8. Suddenly slammed door the.
9. Asked I the boys to be quiet.
10. Thinner she looked I thought.

You can mail me your answers using the Feedback form or post them in the comment box.

Having difficulty in solving the questions? Find answers to Exercise 1 in the Answer section. 

Lesson 1: Parts of Speech – The building blocks of a sentence

Have you ever seen the construction of a house? Have you noticed what materials are used for it and how? 

Yes, I know what you would say, “Bricks, sand, cement, stone chips, wood and iron beams for structure, plasters and putties, nuts and bolts, frames etc. etc.” You put together these materials: concrete for the foundations or base, bricks for the walls, window frames to make the windows, and door frames to make the doorways, use cement, nails, nuts and bolts, plasters and putties to join them all together properly at the right places in the right way and you get a beautiful house constructed and standing in front of you.

Image courtesy: Classroom Clipart

Now you must be wondering why I asked you such a question. Well, my friend, writing a nice composition is just like constructing a beautiful house. Each of the materials used to build a house has specific functions. You do not put a window frame in place of a door frame and use the window frame to go in and out of the house.

Similarly, you put the right words in the right places and you “construct” a beautiful grammatically correct sentence. Put together these sentences in the right order and you get a nice composition. 

Consider the following sentence:

"water a glass of want I."

Can you make out the meaning of this sentence? No. Why? Because you have not put the right words in the right places and "constructed" it correctly. 


What if I say : "I want a glass of water." The sentence is now meaningful.

Q. So what are the right places and right words that go with a sentence building? 

Let us see.

A sentence is made up of different kinds of words, phrases and clauses. All these words in English language can be put, according to the work they do, into eight boxes. These boxes are known as the Parts of Speech. When you put words from these boxes in the right order, you get different types of sentences. But before we talk about sentences and their types, let us open these boxes one by one, and see what they contain.

The Eight Boxes of Parts of Speech

1. Nouns – The naming words

2. Pronouns – The words that stand for nouns
3. Adjectives – The words which describe nouns
4. Verbs – About actions and state
5. Adverbs – The words which describe verbs and adjectives
6. Prepositions – Words showing relation with other words in a sentence
7. Conjunctions - The joining words
8. Interjections - The words that express feelings

We will now pick up one box after another and try to explore what is inside each of them.

Please note

• The Parts of Speech in a sentence act like the building blocks of a sentence, just like the bricks and cement in the construction of a house.

• Some English Grammar Books consider The Determiners as a Parts of Speech unit but in TUTORTRIX we will consider it as a separate unit. 

Exercise 1 (Level: Easy): Parts of Speech

Next lesson: Lesson 2: Nouns - The naming words.