Nouns refer to name words that represent people, things, places or abstract concepts. Nouns are usually divided into proper nouns and common nouns according to their lexical meanings. Common nouns can be subdivided into four categories according to their grammatical nature: individual nouns, material nouns, collective noun and abstract nouns.

1. proper nouns

Proper nouns mainly refer to the proper names of people, places, organizations and institutions. The first letter of proper nouns is usually capitalized, such as Mary, Mr black, Paris, Sunday, September, French, etc. Look at this example:

They kept it for Mary. They kept this for Mary.

My plan is to go to Paris from Lyon. My plan is to go to Paris from Lyon.

The park is open from May to September. The park is open from May to September.

I work every other day: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I go to work every other day: every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

2. Common nouns

Commonly used nouns usually refer to people, things and concepts. In fact, all nouns can be called common nouns except proper nouns. Such as boys, pens, teachers, water, ideas, clouds, money, etc. Note that there are several common nouns in the same form as proper nouns, except that the first letter is lowercase when used as a common noun and capitalized when used as a proper noun. For example:

He saw the best porcelain in China. He saw the best porcelain in China.

Mrs. Green likes to wear green clothes. Mrs. Green likes to wear green clothes.

3. Individual nouns

The so-called individual nouns refer to individual nouns representing people or things. Such as boys, girls, trees, books, cups, tables, etc. In general, individual nouns are countable. For example:

There is a book on the desk. There is a book on the desk.

We have two children, a boy and a girl. We have two children, a boy and a girl.

4. Substantive provisions

Material nouns refer to things that cannot be divided into individuals, such as air, sand, meat, wine, paper, ink, gas, water and wood. In general, material nouns are uncountable. For example:

Air and water are necessary for life. Air and water are essential to life.

Most of us may eat too much meat. Most of us eat too much meat.

5. collective noun

Collective nouns refer to the collection of several individuals, such as family, army, committee, etc. Some collective noun are countable, for example, one family refers to "one family" and two families refer to "two families" (not two people); And some collective noun are uncountable, such as jewelry and furniture, which respectively represent the meaning of collection and are always uncountable. For example: (/)

She never wears jewelry. She never wears jewelry.

You don't have to dust all the furniture. You don't need to dust all the furniture.

If you want to express "a piece of furniture (jewelry)", you usually use a piece of collocation. For example:

Most people regard TV as an indispensable piece of furniture. Most people think that TV sets are indispensable furniture.

6. Abstract nouns

Abstract nouns are used to express abstract concepts such as nature, behavior, state and feelings, such as age, money, failure, work, music, courage and happiness. Most abstract nouns are uncountable. For example:

Money is everything. Money is not everything.

Failure is the mother of success. Failure is the mother of success.

Loud music drives me crazy. Loud music makes me sick.

Hearing the news, we jumped for joy. Hearing the news, we jumped for joy.

Note: The same word can be classified into different categories.

The classification of nouns may sometimes belong to different classifications according to their different meanings. For example, iron is a material noun when it means "iron" and an individual noun when it means "iron"; Success is an abstract noun when it means "success" and an individual noun when it means "successful person or thing"; Fish is an individual noun when it means fish, and a material noun when it means fish. For example (www.yygrammar.com)

I bought a new iron. It's not made of iron. I bought a new iron, which is not made of iron.

He keeps a lot of chickens, but he doesn't like to eat them. He keeps many chickens, but he doesn't like them.

His new novel is very successful, which shows that hard work is the key to success. His newly published novel has achieved great success, which shows that diligence is the key to success.