1. Grammatical description

1.1.0. Semantics.

The noun is used to name physical objects (concrete nouns) or abstractions (abstract nouns).

1.1.1. Concrete nouns may be further subdivided into:

• "thing" nouns - denoting single physical objects (animate or inanimate) having a certain shape and measurements (boy, girl, dog, chair, table).

• mass noun - denoting a physical' substance having no particular shape or measurements, "materials" (bread, butter, sugar, tea, timber, copper)

• collective nouns - denoting a group of objects (animate or inanimate) or paired objects (family, crew, jury, shorts).

Abstract nouns do not denote physical objects. They denote "objects of thought", i.e. states, actions, qualities abstracted in thought from the physical objects possessing these qualities, performing these actions or experiencing these states:

• "thing" nouns - single states, actions or qualities (color, smell, height, length, movement, thought)

• collective nouns - grouping of features or qualities (tactics, politics, contents, looks)

1.1.2. Nouns (concrete and abstract) may be subdivided into common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns do not refer to any particular object, they refer to any and every object of the same kind: boy, table, family, smell.

Proper nouns refer and give a name to one particular object: John, the Thames, London.

Proper nouns are generally concrete “thing” nouns:

• names of individuals, animals, celestial bodies, ships, hotels, newspapers, etc. John, White Fang, Mars “The Queen Mary”;

• place names: London, the Thames.

In writing proper nouns should always have a capital letter. A noun may have different kinds of meaning and depending on the meaning you wish to convey it will function differently.

Concrete nouns Abstract nouns

a beauty (красавица) a beauty (красота)

an authority (влиятельный человек) an authority (влияние)

a witness (свидетель) a witness (свидетельство)

Concrete thing nouns Concrete material nouns

a lemon (лимон) a lemon (сок или мякоть лимона)

a chicken (цыпленок) a chicken (мясо цыпленка)

an iron (утюг) an iron(железо)

a wood (лес) a wood (древесина)

Proper nouns Common nouns

John Ford (Джон Форд) а Ford (машина марки Форд)

Gharles Macintosh (Чарльз Макинтош) Macintosh (макинтош, непромокаемый плащ)

Father, mother (when used Father, mother (when used without a mother reference to one’s family)

by member of the family)

Semantic Classification of Nouns

	Common			Proper
	“Thing”	Collective nouns	“Mass nouns”	“Thing nouns”	Collective nouns
Concrete animate Inanimate	Boy Girl Dog Book Pen Pencil	Family Crew Clothes Greens Savings Goods Dominoes	- Bread Sugar Copper	John Brown London the Thames the times	- the British Isles the Azories
Abstract	Idea Color Love Hatred	Tactics Politics	-	-	the Renaissance the reformation