Nouns

ENG 110
Prof. K. Horowitz
Index
Objectives
Introduction
What is a noun?
Common & Proper nouns
Concrete & Abstract nouns
Collective & Compound
Try Your Luck!
Practice Exercises

Objectives
This module is designed to offer students the
opportunity to familiarize themselves with
English nouns and their different categories.
Students should be able to identify nouns
according to their individual characteristics.
Introduction
There are many nouns in English, and
coincidentally, the categories we use to
identify them are the same as the ones we
use in Spanish. Through this module, it is
hoped that youll be able to better identify
them based on the categories they belong to.
A noun is a word which refers to a
person, place, thing, or idea.
There are several different types of nouns:
Common and proper nouns.
Concrete and abstract nouns.
Collective & compound nouns.
Noun categories overlap, and it is possible for
a noun to be more than one.
For example, the noun dog is common and
concrete. The noun butterfly is common,
concrete, and compound.
Common & Proper Nouns
Common Nouns: Refer to something that is
not unique and has no defining
characteristics. EX: desk, chair
Proper Nouns: Refers to a unique person,
place, thing, or idea; that has defining
characteristics. They are always written with
the first letter capitalized. EX: Mayaguez,
John
Concrete & Abstract Nouns
Concrete Nouns: Can be perceived by at least
one of the five senses (sight, hearing, smell,
touch, taste). EX: Chair, John
Abstract Nouns: Cannot be perceived by any
of the five senses. They are usually emotions,
ideals, or concepts. EX: Freedom, love,
sadness.
Collective & Compound Nouns
Collective Nouns: Refers to a single noun that
indicates or refers to more than one. EX:
Family, team, club
Compound Noun: A single noun formed by
two or more words. They can be together,
separate, or divided by hyphen (-). EX:
Butterfly, Christmas tree, mother-in-law
Try Your Luck!
What types of nouns is the following
example?

Kansas City

Abstract &
collective

Common &
concrete

Compound &
proper
Lets try another one!

Family



Concrete &
collective

Abstract &
collective

Common &
compound
Practice Exercises
Identify the following nouns as common or proper.
Car
Dog
William
Mall
France
Cheetos
House
Clothes
Mother
New York
Identify the following nouns as concrete or abstract.
Table
Hate
Keys
Snow
Common courtesy
Boredom
Pen
Chicago
Music
Wood
Identify the following nouns as collective or compound.
New York City
grizzly bear
gang
man-at-arms
strawberry
band
city
freshman
circus
school
Great job! See you next module!
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