1. Kinds of nouns The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names. Chinese proverb

2. Kinds of nouns  Objective:  Learn why the noun, and its six identifiable subgroups, is the fundamental component of our language.

3. Nouns  Nouns are naming words. They help us identify the persons, or things we talk about.  There are six distinct groups of nouns:  Common nouns, proper nouns, concrete nouns, abstract nouns, collective nouns, and compound nouns.

4. Common Nouns  A common noun is a word that speaks of something only in a general way. Like book, car, and person. Common nouns can be written in singular form (book, car, and person) or plural (books, cars, and people).

5. Proper Nouns  Unlike common nouns, proper nouns name a very specific person, place, or thing. One distinguishing aspect of proper nouns is that they always begin with a capital letter. Catcher in the Rye, BMW Z4, and Albert Einstein are proper nouns.

6. Concrete Nouns  Concrete nouns name something that appeals to your senses. For instance, toothbrush, cell phone, moonlight, waves, and breezes are all concrete nouns.

7. Abstract Nouns  In contrast to concrete nouns, abstract nouns name beliefs, concepts, and characteristics or qualities – things that can’t be touched, seen, or accrued. For example, composure, sovereignty, free enterprise, daring, and handsome are abstract nouns.

8. Collective Nouns  Collective nouns are words used to name people, places, and things in terms of a unit,. For instance, class, flock, herd, and family are collective nouns.

9. Compound Nouns  New words can be formed by combining two or more words, thus creating a compound word. Compounds can be made up of a number of speech components including nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Some examples of compound nouns are motorcycle, onlooker, input, and washing machine.

10.  Many nouns may fall into more than one of these categories. For example, the noun school (of fish) is common, concrete, and collective. The noun well-being is abstract and compound.