Introduction to Nouns part 1

TYPES OF WORDS
Common vs. Proper Nouns
Concrete vs. Abstract Nouns
TYPES OF WORDS
OPEN WORDS
CLOSED WORDS
You can always add new words
to this class of words. A hundred
years ago people didnt know what
a computer was and 40 years ago
not many people downloaded
anything. In time, new nouns, verbs,
adjectives and adverbs will appear.
You cant add any new words to this
group. For example, in English we
have 8 personal pronouns (I, you, he,
she, it, we, you, they) and it wouldnt
be possible to add another pronoun
to this set.

OPEN WORDS
CLOSED WORDS
I. Nouns
II. Adjectives
III. Verbs
IV. Adverbs
I. Pronouns
II. Determiners
III. Prepositions
IV. Conjunctions
There are 80 million nouns in the English language. They can be divided in
several different ways:


I. COMMON NOUNS vs. PROPER NOUNS
II. CONCRETE NOUNS vs. ABSTRACT NOUNS
III. POSSESSIVE NOUNS
IV. SINGULAR vs. PLURAL NOUNS
V. COUNTABLE NOUNS vs. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS



*These are not all of the groups that nouns could be segregated into, but they are the most
important ones for a student of English to understand.
Nouns
We use nouns to give names to things. We use nouns when we
answer questions like what? or who?


OPEN WORDS - Nouns
CAT
MARY
FLOWER
CANADA ROBIN HOOD
ARMCHAIR
Common vs. Proper Nouns
COMMON NOUNS
refer to general categories of things:
OPEN WORDS Nouns TYPES OF NOUNS
PROPER NOUNS
refer to specific people, places, objects
and are usually written with a capital
letter:
CAT ARMCHAIR
Mary
Canada
Robin Hood
Leonardo Di Caprio
War and Peace
New York
BAG
OFFICE
REMEMBER!

PROPER NOUNS dont usually take determiners a and the.

I went to J amaica for holiday. NOT: I went to the J amaica for holiday
Have you read Hamlet? NOT: Have you read the Hamlet?
I would love to meet Tina Turner. NOT: I would love to meet the Tina
Turner.

REMEMBER!

PROPER NOUNS can in time turn into COMMON NOUNS. It happens
when a brand becomes so popular that people start to use its name
with reference to items produced by other companies.

hoover =any vacuum cleaner
Where do you keep your hoover?
biro =any pen
Do you have a biro I could borrow?
Concrete vs. Abstract Nouns
OPEN WORDS Nouns TYPES OF NOUNS
CONCRETE NOUNS
refer to things which you can see, feel,
hear, smell, taste:


ABSTRACT NOUNS
refer to things that you cannot touch or
measure emotions, ideas, etc:
TELEPHONE
SIGN
LOVE
BEAUTY
COURAGE
WISDOM
BUS / PEOPLE
KNOWLEDGE
HOPE
NEW YORK
REMEMBER!

Some ABSTRACT NOUNS (but never CONCRETE NOUNS) can be used
in sentences like:

It is a wonder (that) he didnt get killed.
It is a pity (that) I hadnt met him earlier.
It would be a crime to leave her like that.
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