 A very fine good afternoon dear learners, I am Dr. Satish Vishambhulakre, I am working as Aston Professor of Communication Skills and Department of Humanities and Sciences in Walchin Institute of Technology, Sholapur and I welcome you all for this session on Nouns. For convenience sake, I have divided the session on Nouns in two parts that is Nouns part 1 and Nouns part 2. So, here we begin now. So, the learning outcome at the end of this session student will be able to use appropriate noun forms in their communication. Now, here is a question for you to think over. Now, the question is what is a noun? So, you have studied this concept in your junior college in your school days. So, I would request you to open your course journal and think over this question and write the answer in your course journal. So, you can pause the video and write the answer and then resume the video. Welcome back and here is the answer for your question what is a noun? So, this is the definition. A noun is a word used as the name of a person, place or thing. In short, a noun names a person, place or thing. So, this is a very simple definition about nouns and after having understood what a noun is, now we will proceed to the various kinds of nouns. So, first we have common noun, then proper noun, collective noun, abstract noun, material noun, countable noun and uncountable noun. Let us understand what a common noun is. A common noun is a name given in common to a person, thing of the same class. This particular definition is very much evident to the following examples. So, the first example I met a boy. So, here in this sentence the word boy is a common noun because it commonly refers to various boys. In sentence number 2, I bought pencils. The word pencils is a common noun in this sentence because it commonly refers to various types of pencils in the market. So, very simple. A common noun is a name given in common to a person, thing of the same class. You can definitely imagine about some more examples like man, woman, city which are common nouns. A very simple concept to understand. Now, let us do a small exercise on common nouns. This is exercise based on articles, a and the and common nouns. So, each sentence has a typical rule related to common nouns and articles. The first sentence I bought a pen. Now here the word pen is a common noun and it has indefinite reference and it is singular and so we use the article a which is used for indefinite reference and singular nouns. Sentence number 2, I bought pens. Now here we do not use any article before the common noun pens because it is in the plural form and the reference to the common noun pens is indefinite and so we do not use any article here. Sentence number 3, I ate an apple. The word apple is a common noun and the reference to the apple is indefinite that is not particular not specific and it starts with a vowel sound and is singular and so we use the article and here. So, I ate an apple. Number 4, I ate oranges. Now here the common noun oranges does not take any article because the reference to the noun the common noun oranges is indefinite. So, we cannot use definite article the. So, the reference to the noun oranges is indefinite it is not particular it is not specific. So, we can use indefinite article, but then indefinite article a and an are used with a singular nouns and oranges is a plural noun. So, there is no question of using any article here. So, sentence number 5, I ate the apple or apples which you bought from Nagpur. Here the reference to the noun apple singular or plural is definite, particular and specific and hence we use the definite article the and the is used with singular nouns or plural nouns. So, no problem. So, I ate the apple or apples which you bought from Nagpur. Sentence number 6, I gave him the pen, oblique pens which you bought from modern stationery. Now here the common noun pen which is in singular and the common noun pens which is in plural form both take the definite article the because the reference to the common noun here is definite, particular, specific and hence we use definite article the and as I said the is used with vowels as well as consonants as well as plural and singular nouns and so sentence number 6 goes like this. I gave him the pen or pens which you bought from modern stationery. Now let us understand the concept of proper noun. Let us look at the definition. A proper noun is the name of a particular person or place. So, the name itself proper noun tells us that it relates to the name of a person or place which is very particular, specific and definite as is illustrated in the following examples. So, sentence number 1, I met Ateesh yesterday in this sentence the noun Ateesh refers to a particular definite specific person called Ateesh and so the reference is very definite and particular and specific. So, Ateesh here is working as proper noun. Likewise in sentence number 2, I visited Pune yesterday. So, the noun Pune is proper noun because it relates to a very specific definite city called Pune and hence Pune is working as a proper noun here. Now let us do exercise based on articles a and the and proper nouns. Sentence number 1, I met Ram yesterday. We use articles with common nouns. Generally we do not use articles with the proper nouns. So, Ram is a proper noun. So, we do not use articles here. So, no article I met Ram yesterday. So, there is no question of using a and an here before Ram and we cannot use the as well because the is a definite article and Ram itself is the noun the proper noun which refers definitely particularly specifically to the person called Ram. So, no article here in sentence number 1. Sentence number 2, I visited Mumbai yesterday. So, same rule Mumbai is a proper noun and we do not use articles. We generally do not use articles before proper nouns and so no article here I visited Mumbai yesterday. Sentence number 3, the Ganga is a sacred river. Ganga is a proper noun and as I said generally we do not use articles with proper nouns but then there are certain exceptions and this is that. So, the rule here is the names or the proper nouns relating to water bodies always take definite article the before them. Hence it is the Ganga, the Brahmaputra, the Nile, the Amazon, the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, the Red Sea, the Baltic Sea. So, sentence number 3 is the Ganga is a sacred river. Sentence number 4, the Himalayas is a mountain range. So, Himalayas is a proper noun which relates to a mountain range. As I said generally we do not use definite article the before proper nouns but this is an exception and the rule is we use definite article the before the names or the proper nouns denoting or relating to a mountain range. Hence it is the Himalayas is a mountain range. Likewise the Sayyadris, the Saturas, the Vindyas. Sentence number 5, Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean. So, here it is a water body and so it will take the before it. So, it is the North Atlantic Ocean. Ravi's brother is an MLA. Here M it starts with a vowel sound and hence it takes the article and so Ravi's brother is an MLA. Sentence number 7, I visited the West Indies. Now, West Indies is a proper noun and generally we do not use the before the names of countries but there are certain exceptions like the West Indies, the US, the United Kingdom of Great Britain. So, here we need to use definite article the because West Indies is a group of Caribbean islands. So, for West Indies we say the West Indies. So, I visited the West Indies collective noun definition. A collective noun is the name of a number of persons or things or a collective noun is the name of a collection of persons or things. Example, a fleet. So, a fleet is a collection of ships and army and army is a collection of soldiers. Now, let us do one exercise based on collective nouns singular and plural. Certain collective nouns though singular in form are always used as plural nouns. Example, people, cattle, poultry, women, gentry. Now, look at sentence number 1, those people are from India. So, the collective noun people though is in the singular form but it is always used as a plural noun. Hence, we use the plural verb are for people. So, it is those people are from India. Sentence number 2, these poultry are mine. So, poultry is a collective noun which is in a singular form but we always use it as a plural noun and hence we have used plural verb are with it. So, these poultry are mine. Sentence number 3, whose are these cattle? So, cattle though singular in form is always used as a plural noun and hence we have used plural verb are with cattle whose are these cattle. Then sentence number 4, women destroy our property and carry disease. So, women though singular in form is always used as a plural noun and hence we have used the plural verb destroy and we will discuss the remaining nouns in the next session. Thank you very much.