Of the classification of all nouns, the common noun is perhaps the simplest category.
He has a simple definition. In fact, a common noun is a word that denotes people, animals, objects, abstract ideas and concepts. They do not include words meaning names of people, names of places, countries, cities, etc. These nouns are of the type of proper names.
Thus, the country is a common noun, and Russia is a proper name. Puma is the name of a wild animal, and in this case the noun puma is a common noun. And as the name of a well-known company that produces sportswear and shoes, Puma is a proper name.
Even in the first half of the last century, the word "apple" was unthinkable in the use of a proper name. It was used in its original meaning: that is, an apple, a fruit, the fruit of an apple tree. Now Apple is both a proper noun and a common noun.
This happened after an unsuccessful three-month search by partners for a suitable name for the company, when, in desperation, the founder of the company, Steve Jobs, decided to name it after his favorite fruit. The name has become a truly iconic American tablet brand.computers, phones, software.
Examples of common nouns
It will not be difficult to pick up examples of common names. Let's start with the household items around us. Imagine you wake up in the morning. What do you see when you open your eyes? Of course, an alarm clock. An alarm clock is an object that wakes us up in the morning, and from a linguistic point of view, it is a common noun. Leaving the house, you meet a neighbor. There are many hurrying people on the street. You notice that the sky has frowned. Get on the bus and go to the office. Neighbor, people, sky, office, bus, street - common nouns
Types of common nouns
In Russian, a common noun is divided into 4 main types:
- Specific concepts (people, animals, objects, plants). These are the designations of objects / persons in the singular: student, neighbor, classmate, seller, driver, cat, cougar, house, table, apple. Such nouns can be combined with cardinal numbers.
- Abstract concepts. It is a type of nouns with abstract meaning. They can denote phenomena, scientific concepts, characteristics, state, quality: peace, war, friendship, suspicion, danger, kindness, relativity.
- Real nouns. As the name implies, these nouns denote substances, substances. These may include medicinal products, foodstuffs, chemicals, building materials,minerals: coal, oil, oil, aspirin, flour, sand, oxygen, silver.
- Collective nouns. These nouns are a collection of persons or objects that are in unity and belong to a certain conceptual category: midges, infantry, foliage, relatives, youth, people. Such nouns are usually used in the singular. Often combined with the words a lot (a little), a little: a lot of midges, few youth. Some of them can be used in the plural: people - peoples.
