Parts of Speech

Singular and Plural Nouns – 13 Rules

29th July 2020 By Edify English 3 Comments

Nouns are one of the parts of speech in the English language. One thing that is important while mentioning nouns in any sentence is the difference between singularity and plurality of the noun. There are some important yet simple rules to follow while writing Singular and Plural Nouns, and we shall discuss all those rules in this article.

Singular and Plural Nouns

Singular nouns are the nouns that indicate one person, one thing, one place, or any noun. Plural nouns are the nouns that denote more than one person, place, thing, or any other noun. it is easy to differentiate between singular and plural nouns, and if we remember some basic rules, it is easy to convert a singular noun to plural.

Rules for Changing Singular Nouns into Plural Nouns

Rule 1

If the singular name of the noun ends with s, ss, sh, ch, x, or z, then an ‘es‘ has to be put at the end of the noun to make it plural. Let us see some nouns that fall under this rule.

Class —-> Classes
Kiss —-> Kisses
Bench —-> Benches
Mass —-> Masses
Tax —-> Taxes
Watch —-> Watches
Match —-> Matches
Bush —-> Bushes
Topaz —-> Topazes
Box —-> Boxes

An exception for this rule is Monarch and Stomach, whose plural nouns are Monarchs and Stomachs.

Rule 2

If the noun ends with ‘O’, the plural of the noun has ‘es‘ at the end of it.

Hero —-> Heroes
Zero —-> Zeroes
Potato —-> Potatoes
Mango —-> Mangoes
Echo —-> Echoes
Buffalo —-> Buffaloes
Tornado —-> Tornadoes
Mosquito —-> Mosquitoes

Some exceptions of this rule are as follows:

Photo —-> Photos
Dynamo —-> Dynamos
Stereo —-> Stereos
Solo —-> Solos
Piano —-> Pianos
Macho —-> Machos

Rule 3

If there are two vowels (a, e, i, o, u) at the end of the noun, the plural form has ‘s’ in it at the end.

Radio —-> Radios
Ratio —-> Ratios
Studio —-> Studios
Canoe —-> Canoes
bamboo —-> Bamboos
Portfolio —-> Portfolios

Rule 4

If the noun ends with ‘y’ and is preceded by a consonant, then ‘ies‘ is added to the noun in plural form. If the noun ends with ‘y’ and is preceded by a vowel, then ‘s‘ is added to the noun in plural form. Let’s see the examples for easy understanding.

Nouns ending with ‘y’ and a consonant before it.	Spy —-> Spies History —-> Histories Fly —-> Flies Army —-> Armies City —-> Cities
Nouns ending with ‘y’ and a vowel before it.	Lay —-> Lays Ray —-> Rays Tray —-> Trays Storey —-> Storeys Day —-> Days Play —-> Plays

Rule 5

If a noun ends with ‘f’ or ‘fe’, then the plural form of the noun ends with ‘ves’ instead of ‘f’ or ‘fe’. For example,

Knife —-> Knives
Wife —-> Wives
Shelf —-> Shelves
Loaf —-> Loaves
Self —-> Selves
Life —-> Lives

Some exceptions to this rule are:

Proof —-> Proofs
Belief —-> Beliefs
Strife —-> Strifes
Dwarf —-> Dwarfs
Roof —-> Roofs

Rule 6:

Some nouns convert into a plural by changing the vowels inside the singular form. Some examples are as follows:

Man —-> Men
Woman —-> Women
Tooth —-> Teeth
Foot —-> Feet
Louse —-> Lice
Mouse —-> Mice

Rule 7

We can change Some nouns into plural by adding ‘en’ to the plural form. For example,

Ox —-> Oxen
Child —-> Children

Rule 8:

Nouns with same Singular and Plural Forms

Some nouns have the same singular and plural forms. Then how do we distinguish between singular and plural? Singular nouns have ‘is/ was/ has’ as the helping verb, and the plural nouns have ‘are/ have/ were/ are’ as the helping verb. Let us see some examples.

Deer —-> Deer
Gross —-> Gross
Sheep —-> Sheep
Pair —-> Pair
Salmon —-> Salmon
Score —-> Score

Rule 9:

Nouns that are always in the Plural form

Some nouns can be written only in the plural form and should use a plural verb after the noun. Some of the examples are:

Spectacles
Scissors
Trousers
Tongs
Pincers
Thanks
Proceeds
Nuptials
Odds
Vegetables
Drawers
Troops, etc.

Rule 10:

Singular Nouns with Plural Forms

Some singular nouns have plural forms but we should write them with singular verb after them. For example,

Innings
Mathematics
News
Civics
Rickets
Measles
Mumps
Tuberculosis
Economics
Politics
Physics
Ethics
Singles
Billiards, etc.

Rule 11:

Compound Nouns and their Plural forms

For compound nouns, we can change them into plural forms by adding ‘s’ to the main noun. Here are some examples:

Father- in- law —-> Fathers- in- law
Brother- in- law —-> Brothers- in- law
Stepdaughter —-> Stepdaughters
Looker- on —-> Lookers- on
Man- of- war —-> Men- of- war
Commander- in- chief —-> Commanders- in- chief

Rule 12:

Nouns Borrowed from other Languages and their Plural Forms

Some nouns borrowed from other languages have some special rules to change into plural forms. Here are some examples.

Datum —-> Data
Referendum —-> Referenda
Agendum —-> Agenda
Memorandum —-> Memoranda
Oasis —-> Oases
Thesis —-> Theses
Analysis —-> Analyses
Index —-> Indices
Criterion —-> Criteria
Medium —-> Media
Phenomenon —-> Phenomena
Bacterium —-> Bacteria

Rule 13

Abstract nouns have no plural form. For example,

Kindness
Happiness
Hope
Love
Hatred
Charity
Lust
Compassion, etc.

If some abstract nouns are used in the plural form such as provocations, coppers, irons, etc… they will be classified into common nouns and material nouns.

These are the important rules for singular and plural nouns.

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Countable and Uncountable Nouns

23rd July 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

One of the common aspects of the noun is the aspect of its count-ability. We can count some nouns on the basis of number or size, while we cannot, for some nouns. In this article, we are going to discuss exactly that – the definitions, examples, and example sentences of Countable and Uncountable Nouns.

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Some nouns can be counted, and some cannot. Those nouns that we can count in number are known as countable nouns. The nouns that cannot be counted with a certain number are known as uncountable nouns.

Countable Nouns

Some examples of countable nouns are man, pen, dog, etc. Those nouns that can be counted in number will be categorized into this type.

The countable nouns come with the articles a/an or the measurements of quantification such as few/ many placed before the noun. For example,

Here is a dog.
A few people are gathered for the meeting.
Many pencils are lying on the floor.
In the forest, there lived an elephant.
A few tigers are roaming in the night.

In all the above examples, we can count all the nouns. Even in examples like ‘few people’, ‘few tigers’, and ‘many pencils’, we can count them no matter how many.

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns usually come with a singular verb as they are mostly abstract nouns. Let us take some examples.

Rice
Knowledge
Tea
Honey
Love
Evidence, etc.

All these examples can only be used as a singular. Secondly, while using uncountable nouns, ‘a lot of’, ‘much’, ‘some’ etc should be used to measure them. Some example sentences of uncountable nouns are as follows:

Honey is a better alternative to sugar.
He has a lot of money in his secret locker.
Rice is a staple food in this country.
Can you share some of that information with me?
He wastes a lot of water when he takes a bath.

These are the various examples of Countable and Uncountable Nouns.

Nouns that are both Countable and Uncountable

Some nouns are classified into both Countable and Uncountable Nouns depending on the context. Some of them are given below

He has a lot of hair on his body.
There is a hair in the soup.

In the first example, the word ‘hair’ is an uncountable noun, and hence ‘a lot of’ is used. In the second example, we are talking about a single strand of hair and hence it is a countable noun, and ‘a’ is used before it.

Now let us see another example.

I made some juice and put it in the fridge.
The fluid container broke and The floor is filled with some juices.

In the first example, the juice in the fridge is an uncountable noun. In the second example, some juices mean a mixture of apple, orange, etc. which makes it a countable noun.

Also Read: Nouns – Definition, Classification, and Examples

Nouns Rules in Grammar with Examples

15th July 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

Hello reader! In this article, we shall discuss the various Nouns Rules and example sentences used in English grammar. We all know that nouns are the names of persons, places, things, or animals, and are one of the parts of speech in the English language. There are various Rules of Nouns so that there will be no grammatical errors associated with nouns.

Nouns Rules in English Grammar

Rule 1: Plurals of Nouns

Generally, we can form the plural forms of nouns by adding ‘s’ or ‘es’ to the singular form of the nouns. For example,

Boy- Boys
Ship- Ships
Vehicle- Vehicles
Cassette- Cassettes
Pen- Pens
Movie- Movies

Rule 2: Nouns that are always Singular

Some nouns are always written in the singular. They are known as uncountable nouns. For example,

Work, Air, water, machinery, dust, traffic, electricity, baggage, postage, wastage, money, hair, furniture, information, wisdom, knowledge, advice, baggage, postage, crockery, etc.

Rule 3: Nouns that are always plural

Some nouns are always written in the plural form and cannot be written in a singular way. For example,

Cattle, police, archives, scissors, binoculars, goggles, surroundings, fireworks, belongings, eyeglasses, etc.

Rule 4: Nouns with the same form

Some nouns have the same form in both singular and plural. Examples: Fish, sheep, deer, crew, family, pike, aircraft, species, swine, Team, etc.

For such nouns, based on the context, the corresponding verb should be used. Go through the following sentences

The team has taken the decision to withdraw from the match (Team is considered singular here and hence a singular verb is used)
The team are wearing their uniforms (Team is considered plural here and hence a plural verb is used)

Rule 5: Nouns Expressing numbers

We should always use the Nouns expressing numbers in a singular form with numerical adjectives in the sentence. For example,

Couple, pair, hundred, billion, dozen, thousand, etc.

Sam bought a dozen eggs.
She ate a couple of apples.

Rule 6

Whenever we use ‘one of’, ‘either of’, ‘neither of’, or ‘each of’ in the sentences, the noun must be in the plural form. For example,

Neither of my brothers attended the funeral.
One of those players will score a century today.
Either of those men is the murderer.

Rule 7: Proper Nouns as Common Nouns

If we take the example “John is the Gandhi of the college”, the word Gandhi doesn’t represent Mahatma Gandhi, but the principles he is known for, i.e., truth and non-violence. So, the proper noun Gandhi is used as a common noun in this case. This is another of the important rule of Nouns you must learn.

Note: Whenever such a case arises, we should always use the article ‘the’ before the common noun.

Rule 8: Gender of the Collective Nouns

One should always write the collective nouns in the neuter gender even if they talk about living beings. For example,

The mob has been creating a lot on nuisance. The Mayor asked the police to look after it.
I have a herd of cows. I appointed an assistant to help me with its management.

These are some important nouns rules that one should keep in mind while using Nouns in sentences

Also, Read The 10 types of Nouns in Grammar

Know what a Pronoun is; Types of Pronouns in Brief

15th July 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

Pronouns are one of the important parts of speech used in the English language. To learn English grammar effectively and to communicate in English without making any mistakes, it is essential to master the concepts of parts of speech, which are the basic concepts. In this article, we are going to learn What a Pronoun is and the various types and examples of pronouns.

Do You Know What a Pronoun Is?

To define a pronoun, the pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun while writing a sentence. To avoid repetition of the same noun many times in a sentence, the pronoun replaces a noun. Some examples of pronouns are:

She
They
Our
Myself

Who
This
That
These

Types of Pronouns

There are many types of pronouns. They can be categorized into the following types:

Personal Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns
Reflexive Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns
Relative Pronouns
Interrogative pronouns
Reciprocal pronouns
Universal Pronouns
Distributive Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns

Personal Pronouns

There are three persons in English grammar. Personal pronouns are the pronouns that speak about the three persons. They are:

First-person: that is the person who is speaking. The pronouns used are I, WE.
Second- Person: that is the person spoken to. The pronoun used is YOU.
Third-person: they are persons other than the two. The pronouns used are HE, SHE, IT, THEY.

Possessive Pronouns

Some of the personal pronouns listed above can be categorized as Possessive as they show to whom something belongs. They are:

My
Mine
Your
Yours

His
Her
Hers
Its

Their
Theirs

Reflexive Pronouns

When a pronoun consists of a reflection of the self, it is a reflexive pronoun. For example,

He hurt himself.
She herself turned up to the event.

Demonstrative Pronouns

These pronouns demonstrate and point out to the objects that are spoken in the sentence. For example,

This
These
That
Those
Such

Indefinite Pronouns

When the pronoun describes a general phenomenon and no one specific in a sentence, that is an indefinite pronoun. For example,

One
All
Some
No one
Nobody
Somebody
Any
Other
Many
Anyone
Everyone
Someone, etc.

Distributive Pronouns

Distributive pronouns describe one thing at a time in a sentence. It is important to note that the distributive pronoun is always singular. Each, either, neither are some examples of distributive pronouns.

Neither of the two was present in the class. (Were should not be used)
Either this or that option fits the schedule. (The plural ‘fit’ should not be used)

Relative pronouns

A relative pronoun is a word that is related to the noun mentioned before in the sentence. The relative pronoun also works as a conjunction in the sentence, thus acting as a link between various sentences.

He works in that room which is also like his bedroom.
The man whose bike was stolen came to the police station today.
It is the best movie that I ever watched.
I have a friend whom I treat as my teacher.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are used for asking questions in the sentences. Examples of such pronouns are

What
Who
Which
When
Where
Why, etc.

Reciprocal Pronouns

There are two reciprocal pronouns. They are Each other and One another.

10 Nouns (types) in English You Must Learn!

14th July 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

Nouns are the first and foremost parts of speech you must learn to get a good grasp on English grammar. There are various types of nouns and each type has a lot of importance. Hence, in this article, we are going to discuss the types of the 10 nouns in English you must learn, their definitions, and examples. Let us get started!

10 Nouns in English You must Learn

We all know that noun is a word that denotes the name of a person, place, a thing, a collection of things, or ideas, etc. The following are the 10 different types of nouns in the English language:

Proper Nouns
Common Nouns
Collective Nouns
Abstract Nouns
Countable Nouns
Uncountable Nouns
Material Nouns
Singular Nouns
Plural Nouns
Tangible Nouns

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns are the nouns that are used to name a specific person, a specific place, thing, a particular event, and a group. Examples include

Tom Hanks
Peter Drucker
The Washington Post
Narendra Modi
Barack Obama

Common Nouns

This is a type of noun that is used to denote any general item, thing, animal, etc. For example,

Chair
Cup
Book
Pen
TV
Dog
Shoes

Collective Nouns

Any noun that represents a specific group of people or things is called a collective noun. For example,

Team
School
Class
Government
Flock

Abstract Nouns

Abstract nouns are intangible nouns, that cannot be touched or felt by the sense such as things like feelings, ideas, concepts, perceptions, etc. For example,

Beauty
Ugliness
Confidence
Fear
Love
Anxiety

Countable Nouns

Countable Nouns refer to one of the 10 nouns that can be counted. They have the singular and plural forms of the nouns. For example,

Man- Men
Animal- Animals
Mountain- Mountains
Country- Countries
River- Rivers

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns cannot be counted, and do not have the singular and plural forms, unlike the countable nouns. For example,

Truth
Air
Coffee
Water
sand

Material Nouns

A material noun is a noun that indicates the names of materials from which things are made. Or it is a type of noun that cannot be counted but can be measured. For example,

Gold
Water
Ice
Iron
Diamond

Singular Nouns

A singular noun is one of the 10 Nouns that names one person, thing, or place. For example,

A man
An elephant
A table
A chair
A classroom

Plural Nouns

A plural noun names more than one person, place, thing, or idea. For example

Men
Elephants
Tables
Chairs
Classrooms

Tangible Nouns

Tangible Nouns are those nouns that one can touch or feel with the senses. They are also known as concrete nouns. For example,

A suitcase
A dictionary
Toothpaste
Laptop
Box of peanuts

These are the 10 nouns (types) in English Grammar. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for daily doses of vocabulary.

Are Names Nouns? Explained with Examples

14th July 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

One of the common and basic questions anyone gets while starting to learn English grammar is: “Are names Nouns or Pronouns?” While it is easy to remember this basic rule in parts of speech, it is also important to remember the various types and examples of nouns. This article answers the question about whether names are nouns or not, discusses the types of names present in parts of speech, and provides enough examples so that it becomes easy to remember the names and their parts of speech.

Are Names Nouns or Pronouns?

To answer this question simply, YES! all names come under the category of nouns. All kinds of names such as the names of people, places, things, and various other names come under the category of nouns. Specifically, they are classified as “Proper Nouns”. Proper Nouns is one of the important categories of nouns, the other being common nouns, collective nouns, abstract nouns, etc.

What is a Proper Noun?

A proper noun is a noun that denotes the names of the people, things, places, etc. Any noun with a specific name to it can be classified as a proper noun. For example,

Barack Obama, the NASA, Pacific Ocean, Australia, etc.

The above examples are names of the nouns such as a person, an organization, an ocean, and a continent. Hence those names are categorized into proper nouns. However, words such as ‘person, organization, ocean, continent’ are common nouns. So to answer the question again: Are names Nouns? Absolutely Yes! All names are nouns. They belong to the category of proper nouns. Now let us look at some example sentences of some names.

Examples of the Names of Things

I ordered a Dell Laptop online.
They are going shopping at Costco.
She is pursuing her law degree at Harvard University.
I’m going to give my performance in Central Auditorium.
He lost his Samsung phone in the shopping mall yesterday.
French Toast is one of my favorite breakfasts.

Examples of the Names of People

Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, is one of the most powerful leaders in the world.
Napolean Bonaparte was a powerful military commander in France.
Leonardo DiCaprio won an Oscar for his performance in The Revenant.
Manish missed his flight as he was stuck in traffic.

Examples of the Names of Places

Jasper National Park is a beautiful place.
They are flying to Abu Dhabi via Bengaluru tomorrow.
The car has just reached the Pearson Airport.
Take the fifth exit at the end of Richmond Street.
New Delhi is one of the most populous cities in the world.

These are some of the examples of names of various kinds. Read here for more examples of names and their example sentences.

Examples of Nouns of Various types with Definitions

11th July 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

Hello reader! In this exciting article, we’re going to discuss all the different types of nouns, their definitions, and ten Examples of Nouns of Various types. We all know that nouns are one of the parts of speech in the English language. There are many types of nouns that we use in daily communication. We’re going to discuss them in detail in this article.

Types and Examples of Nouns

The following are the definitions and examples of Nouns of various types. There are four major types of nouns. They are:

Proper Nouns – Definition and Examples

Proper nouns are the nouns that are used to name a specific person, a specific place, thing, a particular event, and a group. Examples of proper nouns include:

Tom Hanks
Peter Drucker
The Washington Post
Narendra Modi
Barack Obama
Marie Curie
New York
The Beatles
World War II.

Example Sentences of Proper Nouns

Donald Trump is the president of the United States.
Australia is the smallest continent in the world.
Warren Buffet is the richest person in the world.
The Washington Post is an acclaimed newspaper.
Napoleon Bonaparte was a military leader in France.
Great Britain was a colonial power.
World War II claimed thousands of lives.
I ordered a Macbook from Amazon.
Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world.
We are going to Central Park for a walk.

Common Nouns – Definition and Examples

A Common noun is a type of noun that is used to denote any general item. For example, the things we see around us, such as a chair, a cup, a book, a pen, a TV- all these items are classified as common nouns. For example,

Dog
Animal
Bird
Water
Building
furniture
Shoes
Mattress
Pen
Couch

Example Sentences of Common Nouns

The cat is under the bed.
I need a set of pencils.
The parking lot is eerie and scary.
His wife is driving the car.
The bed is in the other room.
They are sitting on the couch and watching TV.
The grass is greener on the other side.
The road leads to the supermarket.
The waterfall is a mile away.
The fridge is not working.

Collective Nouns – Definition and Examples

Any noun that represents a specific group of people or things is called a Collective Noun. The examples of collective nouns are:

Team
School
Class
Government
Flock
Cattle
Committee
Jury
Legislature
Board.

Example Sentences of Collective Nouns

The committee convenes on Monday.
The jury came to a decision.
The legislature revoked that bill.
That crowd of protestors is protesting against the banning of alcohol.
There is a galaxy of stars in the sky.
This road leads to a junction where you need to take a left.
The gang of robbers looted the shopping mall.
I have a packet of chocolates in my bag.
That row of buildings belongs to that politician.
His company is producing a new release next week.

Abstract Noun – Definition and Examples

Any noun is of two types: Something that is tangible (which can be touched and seen) and intangible (that which cannot be seen). The abstract nouns belong to the category of intangible nouns. They cannot be felt by any of the five senses such as things like feelings, ideas, concepts, perceptions, etc. Some examples of Abstract Nouns are:

Beauty
Ugliness
Confidence
Fear
Love
Anxiety
Enthusiasm
Fascination
Misery
Depression
Hatred
Anger

Example Sentences of Abstract Nouns

There is no security in this job.
Pain and pleasure are part of life.
There needs to be a sense of adventure for life to get exciting.
Those protests unleashed total chaos in the city.
His loyalty towards that party is surprising.
I have a madness towards rap music.
My strength is my hardworking nature.
It is fun to hang out with friends once in a while.
Shiela is gripped with anxiety on the eve of her examination results.
Communism suppresses the basic human rights of the people.

These are some examples of Nouns of various types. Also, check these examples of sentences with Nouns of all the types

Read more on Nouns:

What are Abstract Nouns? Definition and Examples

11th July 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

Hello reader! In this article, we are going to discuss the definition, rules, and some examples of Abstract Nouns and some example sentences of Abstract Nouns. We all know that there are eight parts of speech in the English language. A Noun is one of those parts of speech and is one of the basic elements to learn in the English language. We all know that the noun denotes the names of persons, places, things, collections, events, and groups, etc. There are various types of nouns such as proper nouns, collective nouns, common nouns, etc. Each type signifies a peculiar variety of nouns. Among them, Abstract nouns are one of the most important types of nouns.

Definition of Abstract Nouns

Any noun is of two types – Something that is tangible (which can be touched and seen) and intangible (that which cannot be seen). The abstract nouns belong to the category of intangible nouns. They cannot be felt by any of the five senses such as things like feelings, ideas, concepts, perceptions, etc.

Examples of Abstract Nouns

Beauty
Ugliness
Brilliance
Wisdom
Knowledge
ignorance
Government
Democracy
Communism
Victory
Defeat
love
Hatred
Depression
Curiosity
Anxiety
Tension
Confidence
Fun
Wit
Humour
Strength
Weakness
Courage
Bondage
Freedom
Faith

Madness
Loyalty
Immaturity
Humility
Idiosyncrasy
Patience
Anger
Calmness
Excitement
Fascination
Wonder
Disappointment
Attraction
Lust
Pleasure
Pain
Satisfaction
Dissatisfaction
Security
Adventure
Risk
Calmness
Chaos
Peace
Distort
Slavery

Example Sentences of Abstract Nouns

The government‘s priority is the welfare of the people.
His opponent’s victory sent shock waves across the country.
Sam looked forward to that day with excitement.
Faithfulness is a virtue that should be practiced.
The judges showed bias while deciding who the winner is.
Ram’s improvement in the English language over the years has been unbelievable.
The crowds watched in awe and disbelief, at the brilliant display of excellence by that sportsman.
Curiosity is a virtue that needs to be developed.

Read 10 example Sentences of all types of Noun Sentences

Degrees of Comparison of Adjectives

9th July 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

Hello reader! In this article, we are going to discuss an exciting and important concept, which is the various degrees of comparison of adjectives in English grammar. This chapter is extremely important in order to master the concept of adjectives and learn English grammar effectively.

Essentially, an adjective is a part of speech that is used to qualify a noun or a pronoun. It means, it highlights the quality of the noun or the pronoun in the sentence. The various degrees of comparison of adjectives denote the levels of the quality of the noun mentioned. These degrees are also known as the forms of the adjective. There are three degrees in which an adjective can be formed/ compared. They are as follows:

Degrees of Comparison

Positive Degree
Comparative Degree
Superlative Degree

Positive Degree of the Adjective

The primary form of the adjective is called the positive degree. It is the adjective itself. For example,

Ron is tall.
The bridge is long.
Michael is a bad person.
Monica is studious.
The scenery of beautiful.

Comparative Degree of the Adjective

The comparative degree of the adjective is used when two persons or things are compared. To change the positive degree into comparative, the adjective is adjoined with ‘er’ or ‘more’. If we take the previous examples into consideration, they are written in the comparative degree as follows:

Ron is taller than Donald.
The Howrah bridge is longer than the Victoria bridge.
Michael is worse than Adam.
Monica is more studious than Mary.
The scenery in this room is more beautiful than the one in that room.

Superlative Degree of the Adjective

When comparing three or more nouns or subjects, the superlative degree is used in the sentence. Let us, again, take the above three adjectives and write them in the superlative degree. They can be written as follows:

Ron is the tallest person in the room.
The Howrah bridge is the longest bridge in the world.
Michael is the worst person I’ve seen.
Monica is the most studious student in the room.
That scenery is the most beautiful scenery of all.

Rules for Writing an adjective in the Positive, Comparative, and Superlative Degrees

The following are some of the important rules for the degrees of comparison of adjectives:

Rule 1: While comparing the subjects between two things, only the comparative degree is to be used. For example,

Mary is the richest of the two women. (INCORRECT)
Mary is the richer of the two women. (CORRECT)

Rule 2: While writing a sentence in the comparative degree, the word ‘than’ is used after the adjective. hence, the structure of the adjective in the comparative degree is “adjective + er + than“. For example,

Don is taller than his father.

Rule 3: Adjectives for the Same Noun

It is mentioned above that the comparative degree is used when comparing two persons or things. However, two qualities are compared of a single person or thing, the positive degree should be used. And the word ‘more’ is used before the adjective. For example,

Ram is more lucky than hardworking. (The word Luckier should not be used).
His speech is more loud than clear.

Rule 4: How to Convert Comparative and Superlative into positive Degree

If an adjective is to be changed from comparative or superlative degrees to positive degree, the adjective should be used between “as—-as” and “so——as”. For example,

“Dan Brown is greater than Hitchins” can be changed into “Hitchins is not so great as Dan Brown”.
“Mount Everest is the highest mountain peak in the world” can be written as “No other peak in the world is as high as Mount Everest”.

Rule 5: While writing an adjective in the superlative degree, the article ‘the’ is used before it. For example,

Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world.
Russia is the largest country.
Maria is the tallest girl in the class.

Some more Rules

Rule 6: For adjectives ending in ‘ior’ such as superior, inferior, junior, senor, prior, anterior, posterior, exterior, interior, etc, ‘to’ is used in the comparative degree instead of ‘than’. For example,

She is junior to me in college.
His grades are inferior to mine.

Rule 7: Some adjectives can only be used in the positive degree and not in comparative and superlative degrees. They are:

perfect, supreme, impossible, absolute, ideal, everlasting, eternal, triangular, unique, universal, entire, chief, entire, major, minor, superior, etc.

Rule 8: For directions, there is no comparative degree. They can only written in positive and superlative degrees.

East- Easternmost
West- Westernmost
North- Northernmost
South- Southernmost
Up- Uppermost
Bottom- Bottomost

Rule 9: The words ‘prefer’ and ‘preferable’ can be used only in the comparative degree, and the preposition ‘to’ is used instead of ‘that’.

I prefer Coffee to Tea.
I prefer running to walking.

Also, instead of ‘to’, ‘rather than’ can also be used.

I prefer Coffee rather than Tea.
I prefer running rather than walking.

The rule for Converting Superlative Degree into Positive and Comparative Degrees

In the degrees of comparison of adjectives, while converting the superlative degree into the comparative degree, the words “any other” should be used in the comparative degree after the adjective. While converting the superlative degree into the positive degree, the words “no other” should be used.

Superlative degree: Australia is the smallest continent in the world.
Comparative degree: Australia is smaller than any other continent in the world.
Positive degree: No other continent in the world is as small as Australia.

What are Common Nouns? Definition and Examples

8th July 2020 By Edify English Leave a Comment

Hello reader! In this article, we are going to discuss the definition, rules, and some example sentences of Common Nouns. We all know that a noun is one of the eight parts of speech and indicates the names of things, people, places, collections, etc. There are many types of nouns such as proper nouns, common nouns, collective nouns, etc. In this article, we’re going to have an in-depth discussion on common nouns. Also, we’re going to discuss the difference between a proper noun and a common noun.

Definition of Common Nouns

We all know what a noun is- anything that names a person, place, thing, or any collection. A Common noun is a type of noun that is used to denote any general item. For example, the things we see around us, such as a chair, a cup, a book, a pen, a TV- all these items are classified as common nouns. To put it simply, any common item that we see in everyday life comes under a common noun.

Some Examples of a common noun include:

There is a dog lying on the footpath.
Her husband is driving the car.
I need a set of pens.
There is a chair in the corner of the room.
The basement is dark and eerie.

The above examples consisted of Common Nouns in the sentences. A proper noun is different from the common noun in the sense that the proper noun specifically addresses the noun instead of a general expression. For example,

Dog is a common noun while Fido, the name of a dog is a proper noun.
Husband is a common noun while Russell, the name of the husband, is a proper noun.
Newspaper is a common noun while The Washington Post is a proper noun.
Movie is a common noun while Titanic is a proper noun.

Learn more about the differences between the common noun and proper noun

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