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

I.

Nouns

I.

Pronouns

II.

Adjectives

II.

Determiners

III. Verbs

III. Prepositions

IV. Adverbs

IV. Conjunctions

Nouns

There are 80 million nouns in the English language. They can be divided in
several different ways:

I.
II.

V.

COMMON NOUNS vs. PROPER NOUNS

CONCRETE NOUNS vs. ABSTRACT NOUNS
III.
POSSESSIVE NOUNS
IV.
SINGULAR vs. PLURAL NOUNS
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

ROBIN HOOD

MARY

ARMCHAIR

FLOWER

CANADA

Common vs. Proper Nouns

OPEN WORDS Nouns TYPES OF NOUNS

COMMON NOUNS

refer to general categories of things:

CAT

ARMCHAIR

PROPER NOUNS

refer to specific people, places, objects

and are usually written with a capital
letter:
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.

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