Introduction to Nouns part 1

TYPES OF WORDS Common vs. Proper Nouns Concrete vs. Abstract Nouns

TYPES OF WORDS
OPEN 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.

CLOSED WORDS
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

1. 2. 3. 4.

Nouns Adjectives Verbs Adverbs

1. 2. 3. 4.

Pronouns Determiners Prepositions Conjunctions

Nouns
There are 80 million nouns in the English language. They can be divided in several different ways: 1. COMMON NOUNS vs. PROPER NOUNS 2. CONCRETE NOUNS vs. ABSTRACT NOUNS 3. POSSESSIVE NOUNS 4. SINGULAR vs. PLURAL NOUNS 5. 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.

OPEN WORDS - Nouns

We use nouns to give names to things. We use nouns when we answer questions like what? or who?

CAT

MARY

FLOWER

ROBIN HOOD

ARMCHAIR

CANADA

Common vs. Proper Nouns

OPEN WORDS Nouns TYPES OF NOUNS

COMMON NOUNS
refer to general categories of things:

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

BAG War and Peace OFFICE

New York

REMEMBER!
PROPER NOUNS dont usually take determiners a and the.
I went to Jamaica for holiday. NOT: I went to the Jamaica 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:
LOVE

BUS / PEOPLE

BEAUTY

TELEPHONE
COURAGE

SIGN

WISDOM NEW YORK KNOWLEDGE HOPE

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.