At a glance
Five kinds of nouns
- Properone special name, capital letter
- Dhaka, Sara, Monday, the Nile
- Commonany one of a kind
- city, girl, day, river
- Collectivea group as one
- team, family, class, flock
- Materialwhat things are made of
- gold, water, wood, rice
- Abstractideas and feelings
- love, honesty, childhood
- Start
- Is it the name of one special person, place or thing?YesProper nounRahim, Paris, Friday
- Is it a group of people or animals?YesCollective nounteam, army, herd
- Is it a material (what things are made of)?YesMaterial noungold, milk, cotton
- Is it an idea, feeling or quality you cannot touch?YesAbstract nounkindness, joy, truth
- Common nounbook, teacher, river
Proper nouns
Paris is in France.
Sara is my friend.
We have a test on Friday.
- Proper nouns always start with a capital letter.
Common nouns
a city
a dog
a teacher
Collective nouns
Material nouns
gold
wood
milk
rice
- Material nouns are usually uncountable: some gold, not
two golds.
Abstract nouns
love
happiness
peace
knowledge
| From | Add | Abstract noun |
|---|---|---|
| kind (adjective) | -ness | kindness |
| free (adjective) | -dom | freedom |
| child (noun) | -hood | childhood |
| friend (noun) | -ship | friendship |
| honest (adjective) | -y | honesty |
| able (adjective) | -ity | ability |
| grow (verb) | -th | growth |
| move (verb) | -ment | movement |
| decide (verb) | -sion | decision |
| strong, wise, enter | (new spelling) | strength, wisdom, entrance |
Concrete or abstract?
Concrete: you can see or touch it.
Abstract: you cannot touch it.
Practice
Answer the questions. Get 7 out of 10 to finish this lesson.