What is a Noun?

A sentence in the English Language is made of various words we call parts of speech. Each word we write or speak represents a place, a person, an object, an activity or a characteristic. "Noun" is the first part of speech which is discussed in this article.

By Definition
A noun is a word that refers to a place, a person, a thing or an idea.

To understand the definition clearly, try to answer the following question.

• Who are you?
• Where do you live in?
• What are the things you use daily?
• What are things you cannot touch but feel daily?

The answers must be as below:

Questions	Answers
Who are you?	Man, woman, teacher, student, boy, girl, manager, son, brother, sister, mother, father, teenager, infant, employer, employee, trainer, trainee, guide, doctor, surgeon, engineer, chairperson, representative etc.
Where do you live in?	house, hut, bungalow, city, town, state, country, apartment, street, lane etc.
What are the things you use daily?	Pen, pencil, paper, phone, tablet, medicine, scale, book, map, cup, television, laptop, computer, pizza, burger, food, butter, bread.
What are things you cannot touch but feel daily?	Anger, happiness, laughter, danger, friendship, anger, hatred, humour, satisfaction, depression

The answers given on the right-hand side of the table are nouns.

Function of nouns in a sentence

You must be thinking where do we use nouns in a sentence. Right? Basically, nouns are used to perform two functions in a sentence.

• Subject: Does of the activity
• Object: on which activity is performed.

The use of object in sentences is not mandatory.

Sentences without object/Noun

Sentence	Doer	Activity/Action
Boys play	Boys	play
Girls dance	Girls	love
Students read	Students	learn
Mother cooks.	Mother	cooks
Dog barks	Dog	barks
Teacher teaches	Teacher	teaches

Sentences with object/Noun

Sentence	Doer	Activity/Action	Object
Boys play cricket.	Boys	play	cricket
Girls love music.	Girls	love	music
Students read books.	Students	read	books
Mother cooks pasta.	Mother	cooks	pasta
Teacher teaches lessons.	Teacher	teaches	lessons

The action words used in the above sentences are called "Verbs".

Examples of Nouns in sentences

1. Radha repaired laptops.
2. Manoj drives a car.
3. Abhi writes on a notebook.
4. Geeta is learning piano.
5. Akash had finished homework.
6. Purab left for school.
7. Rakesh spent his holidays in London
8. Depression kills people.
9. Happiness is rare.
10. People are running.

The words given in RED are the subject of the sentences whereas the words in BLUE are the object.