Question

Choose the nouns in the following sentence, and say whether they are Common, Proper, Collective, or Abstract:
We saw a fleet of ships in the harbour.

a)we - Collective; ships - Common; harbour - Proper
b)fleet - Collective; ships - Common; harbour - Common
c)we - Collective; fleet - Common; harbour - Collective
d)we - Common; fleet - Abstract; ships - Collective

Answer 1

Hint: Common noun refers to a noun denoting a whole class of objects, proper nouns refer to a name used for an individual, usually starting with a capital letter, collective nouns refer to nouns that denote a group of people or objects, and abstract nouns refer to nouns that are intangible or not material objects.

Complete step-by-step answer:

We know what common, proper, collective, and abstract nouns are. Now let’s have a look at our options one by one:

a)we - Collective; ships - Common; harbour - Proper - The word ‘we’ is not a noun at all. It is used in place of a noun, so it is a pronoun. The word ‘ships’ is a common noun. The word ‘harbour’ is not a proper noun, since it is not the name of an individual or a thing. So, this option is incorrect.
b)fleet - Collective; ships - Common; harbour - Common - The word ‘fleet’ is a collective noun, as it denotes a collection of ships. The words ‘ships’ and ‘harbour’ are common nouns as they denote a whole class of objects and do not refer to one particular ship or harbour. So, this is the correct option.
c)we - Collective; fleet - Common; harbour - Collective - The word ‘we’ is not a noun, it is used as a placeholder for a noun. It is a pronoun. The word ‘fleet’ is not a common noun as it does not denote a whole class of things. The word ‘harbour’ is not a proper noun as it does not refer to the name of a particular object or individual. So, this option is incorrect.
d)we - Common; fleet - Abstract; ships - Collective - The word ‘we’ is a pronoun, as it is used in place of a noun. The word ‘fleet’ is not an abstract noun as it denotes a tangible object or idea. The word ‘ships’ is not a collective noun, it is just the plural form of a common noun. So, this is an incorrect option.


Note: Identify the parts of speech in the given sentence and use the method of elimination to choose the correct answer.