Common name. Characteristic and examples

Of the classification of all nouns, the common noun is perhaps the simplest category.

He has a simple definition. In essence, a common name is words that designate people, animals, objects, abstract ideas and concepts. They do not include words meaning the names of people, names of places, countries, cities, etc. These nouns are of the type of proper names.

Thus, the country is a common name, and Russia is a proper name. Puma - the name of a wild animal, and in this case, the noun puma is a household name. And as the name of a well-known company that produces sportswear and shoes, Puma is a proper name.

In the first half of the last century, the word "apple" was inconceivable in the use of a proper name. It was used in its original meaning: that is, an apple, fruit, fruit of an apple tree. Now, Apple is a noun and its own 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 in honor of his favorite fruit. The name has become a truly iconic American brand producing tablet computers, phones, and software.

Pick up examples of common names is not difficult. 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 household name. Leaving home, you meet a neighbor. There are a lot of hurrying people on the street. You notice that the sky frowned. Get on the bus and go to the office. Neighbor, people, sky, office, bus, street - household names

Common Noun Types

In Russian common noun It is divided into 4 main types:

1. 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 quantitative numerals.
2. Abstract concepts. It is a type of noun with abstract abstract meaning. They can denote phenomena, scientific concepts, characteristics, condition, quality: peace, war, friendship, suspicion, danger, kindness, relativity.
3. Real nouns. As the name implies, these nouns denote substances, substances. These may include medicinal products, food products, chemical elements, building materials, minerals: coal, oil, oil, aspirin, flour, sand, oxygen, silver.
4. Collective nouns. These nouns are a set of persons or objects that are in unity and belong to a certain conceptual category: midges, infantry, foliage, relatives, youth, people. Such nouns are used, as a rule, in the singular. Often combined with the words a lot (a little), a little: a lot of midges, a little youth. Some of them can be used in the plural: people - peoples.