Tag: Boy

Comparisons

  • Study the following sentences:
  1. John is a tall boy.
  2. John is taller than Jack.
  3. John is the tallest boy in the class.

 

  • The first sentence is a statement. We are not comparing John with any other boy. We simply say that John is a tall boy.
  • In the second sentence, we use the word taller. It shows comparison between two boys John and Jack. We show that one is taller than the other.
  • In the third sentence, we use the words the tallest. It shows that no one in the class is as tall as John. He is the tallest boy in the class.

 

  • Let us look at some more examples:
  1. Grandfather is older than grandfather.
  2. Fanny is prettier than Lizzy.
  3. The poor are happier than the rich.
  4. Tina’s dress is more beautiful than Kuku’s dress.
  5. An elephant is bigger than a lion.

These sentences show comparisons between two things. We use the -er form of the word or we use more. We also use the word than.

 

  • Now look at these sentences:
  1. The whale is the largest animal.
  2. This is the finest silk.
  3. Sam is the fastest child I have ever seen.
  4. The giraffe has the tallest neck.
  5. He is the most intelligent boy in the class.

 

We show comparison among more than two objects by using the –est form of an adjective – smallest, shortest, bravest. Sometimes, we use most with the adjective – most beautiful, most interesting. We also use the with the –est form.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions: Joining Words

  • Read the following sentences:

1.  Jack and Jill went up the hill.

2.  Bill is a clever but lazy boy.

3.  Work hard or you will fail.

4.  They are poor yet happy.

5.  I like John because he is intelligent.

6.  I will not go to see the film if you do not come.

In the above sentences the words and, but, or, yet, because and if join words or sentences together. Such words that join words or sentences together are called Conjunctions.

  • Some common Conjunctions:

And, but, or, nor, therefore, because, if, both, only, that, after, before, unless, as, else, till, until, whether, though, although, than, yet, etc.

Use of is, am are, was, were

Look at the following sentences:

  1. I am a girl.
  2. He is a lazy boy.
  3. She is a teacher.
  4. It is a ball.
  5. This is her purse.
  6. That is his bat.
  7. Molly is in the kitchen
  8. We are sisters.
  9. You are late.
  10. These boys are hungry.
  11. Those girls are tall.
  12. There are many birds on the tree.
  13. There were ten students in the class.
  14. They are very rich.
  15. Mary and Anne are friends.

 

The words is, am, are, was, were, help us to say something about the noun or pronoun. These words are also called Verbs. They say or tell what a person, animal or thing is. Was/were show past activity i.e. what happened in the past. We use was as the past form of am and is. We use were as the past form of are.

 

Study this:

I am  

ten years old.
We

You

They

The girls

The boys

  

are
She

He

Mary

Jack

  

is

 

  • We use is with he, she, it, this, that and singular nouns like Mary, Jack, boy, girl, etc. We write is for one.
  • Am is always used with I.
  • We use are with we, you, they, these, those and plural nouns like boys, students, children, animals etc. We write are for many.
  • Are/were is also used with you when it is singular. Example:

Teacher: Mary, you are a good girl.

Teacher: Mary, why were you absent yesterday?

Kinds of Nouns

Kinds of Nouns

There are four kinds of nouns:

  1. Proper Nouns
  2. Common Nouns
  3. Abstract Nouns
  4. Collective Nouns

 

Notice the difference between these two lists of nouns:

  1. Jack   Mary   London   India   The White House   Alice in Wonderland
  2. Boy     girl         city          country          building                            book

 

The nouns in list 1. are special names of persons, places and things. They begin with a capital letter. They are called Proper Nouns.

 

The nouns in list 2. are Common Nouns, as they are not special names. They can be used for any person, place or thing. ‘Boy’ can be any boy –Alec, Bob, George, John, William etc.  

A noun which names a particular person, place or thing is called a Proper Noun.

 Proper Nouns include the names of persons, cities, towns, villages, countries, parks, libraries, historical buildings, streets, schools, colleges, universities, hills, mountains, days of the week, months of the year, books, festivals, newspapers, etc.

A proper noun always begins with a capital letter.

 

A noun that gives a common name to persons, places, or things of the same kind is called a Common Noun.

The words city, country, school, river, mountain, book, boy, girl, woman, man, bird, animal, are all common nouns. England, France, India, China, Japan are the names of countries. The word country is a common noun. It is common to all the five named here. But the words England, France, India, China, and Japan are particular names. They are Proper Nouns.  

 

Now look at the following sentences:

  1. Honesty is the best policy.
  2. Laughter is the best medicine.
  3. Poverty is a great curse.   
  4. The soldiers were awarded for their bravery.

The words in bold italics name Quality (honesty, bravery), Action (laughter), and State (poverty). Such a name given to some state, quality, feeling, or action that we can only think of is called an Abstract Noun.

Abstract Nouns are formed:

  1. From Adjectives, as Kindness from kind, Bravery from brave.(Most abstract nouns are formed thus.)
  2. From Verbs, as Obedience from obey, Laughter from laugh, Growth from grow.
  3. From Common Nouns, as Childhood from child, Slavery from slave.

 

Now read the following sentences:

  1. Our team won the match.
  2. The army fought bravely.
  3. Our class consists of fifty students.
  4. A flock of sheep was grazing in the field.
  5. She gave me the bunch of keys.

The words team, army, class, flock and bunch are used for a collection of persons or things. Such a name given to a collection of things taken as a whole/ group is called a Collective Noun.

Crowd, mob, team, army, family, committee, flock, herd, swarm, fleet, jury etc are some Collective Nouns.

Nouns – Gender

Gender (He and She)

  • Look at the following sentences:
  1. Joe is a boy. He is Helen’s brother.
  2. Helen is a girl. She is Joe’s sister.
  3. David is a man. He is their father.
  4. Alice is a woman. She is their mother.
  5. John is their uncle. Mary is their aunt.
  • The words boy, brother, man, father, uncle, belong to the he-group.
  • The words girl, sister, woman, mother, aunt, belong to the she-group.
  • Nouns in the he-group are the names of male persons or animals. They are said to be of the Masculine Gender.
  • Nouns in the she-group are the names of female persons or animals. They are said to be of the Feminine Gender.

 

  • Now look at the following sentences:

       1.  The table is made of wood.  

       2.    The purse is made of leather.

  • Table, wood, purse, leather are things without life. They are neither males nor females. They are, therefore, said to be of the Neuter Gender, that is, of neither gender.

 

  • Now read the following sentences:
  1. This child is very active.
  2. Students should work hard.
  • The nouns child and students can be used for both males and females. They are, therefore, said to be of the Common Gender.
  • So nouns in English may be Masculine, Feminine, Common or Neuter. People and animals are male or female. Their names or the nouns have Masculine and Feminine Gender.

 

Nouns – Common and Proper

  • Look at the following sentences:

 

  1. Jack is boy.
  2. Tom is a boy.
  3. John is a boy.
  4. Dick is a boy.

 

  • The word boy occurs in all the four sentences. It is a common name used for all the boys. But all boys have special names too. Jack, Tom, John and Dick are special names of these four boys.
  • Pets and places also have special names. Cat and dog are common names used for all cats and dogs. But we often give special names to our pets:

       1.   My cat’s name is Silky. 

      2.   I call my dog, Naughty.

  • Jackie, Jimmy, Buddy, Molly, Rover, Rustam, Rosebud, Tiger, Pussy, Snowy, Snowball, Rocky, Jumbo, Appu, are some special names of our pets.
  • Places also have both common and special names. The words village, city, town, country, school, college, hospital, park, street are common names. But India, Australia, Delhi, Aton School, Sony Hospital, White Park are special names of places.
  • Similarly books, newspapers, magazines, days, months, festivals, institutions, companies, products etc. also have special names .The Bible, The Gita, Great Expectations, Harry Potter, The Times, Femina, Sunday, January, Christmas, Diwali, are all special names.
  • These special names are called Proper Nouns and common names are called Common Nouns.
  • Special names or Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter.
  • Some examples:
  1. Susan is a good girl.      
  2.  Peter is a smart boy.
  3. Bombay is a big city.
  4. Jackie is my dog.     
  5. Ganga is a holy river
  6. Femina is a woman’s magazine.

 

Susan, Peter, Bombay, Jackie, Ganga and Femina are Proper Nouns and girl, boy, city, dog, river, woman, magazine are Common Nouns.

 

  • A Proper Noun is the special name of a particular person, place or thing.
  • A Common Noun is a name given in common to all persons or things of the same class or kind.

 

 

 

Nouns

Nouns – Naming Words

  • Look  at the following words:

Apple, airplane, bat, ball, butter, bread, balloon, bus, banana, bag, car, cat, crow, cow, cap, chair, chocolate, doll, dog, donkey, egg, elephant, fan, fish, flower, goat, grass, gun, hen, helicopter, ice-cream, ink, jam, jug, kite, kangaroo, lion, lamp, monkey, mango, orange, owl, parrot, peacock, park, queen, rat, shoes, school, ship, tap, tiger, umbrella, van, watch, zoo, mummy, papa, uncle, aunt, Mary, John, etc.

 

  • All these words are names of something, somebody or someplace.
  • Names are usually the first words which small children learn.
  • These naming-words are called Nouns.

 

  • Read the following  sentences carefully:

 

  1. James is a good boy.
  2. The cat ran after the rat.
  3. India is in Asia.
  4. The book is on the table.
  • The words James and boy are the names of persons.
  • The words cat and rat are the names of animals.
  • The word India and Asia are the names of places.
  • The words book and table are the names of things.
  • Words which are used as the names of persons, animals or birds, places or things are called Nouns.