1. Descriptive grammar-2s, 2016 Mrs. Belen Berrios Droguett
Nouns
Descriptive grammar-2s, 2016
Mrs. Belen Berrios Droguett

2. Nouns Nouns are one of the largest class of words
Their main function is to be the head or main element of a Noun Phrase
According to what type of element the noun refer to, we can see the following classification:
Proper Nouns: referring to an individual, specific place or person/people, places, or occasions.
Common Nouns: are the name for simple/common/non-specific things.

3. Common Nouns
Common nouns can have more classification, in relation to different aspects. The main subclasses are:
Count: things that can be counted and they can have a singular and plural form
Mass or Non-count: refer to substances, qualities, that we cannot count.
Collective: they are count nouns but they commonly refer to a group or an organization
Concrete: nouns which refer to people, things or places
Abstract: they refer to qualities, states or actions

4. Common Nouns – other types
The book “Introduction to English Grammar” also presents other classification of nouns, some of them can be contained in other and others are just a more specific point of view:
Number: a subclass that identifies singular and plural common count nouns. This also includes irregular plural forms
Gender: it is a small group of nouns in English which have a male and female gender (e.g. father/mother)
Case: this is based on the grammatical function of the noun:
Common case: it is the common form or the ordinary use of nouns
Genitive case: it indicates a noun is dependent on the noun it follows (Mom’s house). This can also be divided into two groups:
Dependent: working as a possessive determiner
Independent: it does not depend on the following noun, the noun may be omitted and understood by context