Idioms

NOUN

Proper Nouns

A proper noun is the name of a person, place or thing (i.e., its own name). A proper noun always starts with a capital letter.

Examples:

* Michael 

* Africa

* Peking

* Dayton Peace Accord

* United Nations

* The Tower of London

* Uncle George

(Uncle is written with a capital letter because it is part of his name.)

* My favourite auntie is Auntie Sally. 

(In this example, the first auntie is a common noun, but the second Auntie is part of a proper noun.)

* The Red Lion

Common Nouns

A common noun is the word used for a class of person, place or thing.

Examples:

* Car

* Man

* Bridge

* Town

* Water

* Metal

* Ammonia

Common nouns are further classified into:

* Abstract nouns – things you cannot see or touch (e.g., bravery, joy)

* Collective nouns – words to describe groups (e.g., team, choir)

* Compound nouns – nouns made up of more than one word (e.g., court-martial, pickpocket, water bottle)

* Concrete nouns – things you can see or touch (e.g., tree, cloud)

* Non-countable nouns (mass nouns) – things you cannot count (e.g., food, music)

* Gender-specific nouns – words which are definitely male or female (e.g., vixen, actress)

* Verbal nouns (gerunds) – nouns that represent actions (e.g., running, guessing)

Collective Nouns

A collective noun is the word used for a group of people or things.

Examples:

* Choir

* Team

* Jury

* Shoal 

* Cabinet (of ministers)

* Regiment

The big question with collective nouns is whether they should be treated as singular or plural. The answer is: They can be treated as singular or plural depending on the sense of your sentence. This is covered in more depth in the lesson Collective Nouns – Singular or Plural? and in the Beware section on the right of this page.

Verbal Nouns 

Verbal nouns (also called gerunds) are formed from verbs. They end -ing. They are a type of common...