KINDS OF NOUNS

There are four kinds of nouns in English:

Common nouns: man, cat, book

Proper nouns: England, New York, Mr. Smith, Jane

Abstract nouns: beauty, freedom, fear, happiness

Collective nouns: crowd, group, team, family

Exercise 7. State whether the nouns in bold type are proper or common.

1. The Imperial State Crown of the Queen of England is normally kept at the Tower. 2. This church has a tower attached to it. 3. The English Channel is the narrow area of water between England and France. 4. The main channelshad been closed by enemy submarines. 5. You are like a Figaro. One minute here, another there. 6. I've bought a Kodak, but I don't know how it works. 7. In the art circles he was known as a Metsenat. 8. Wellingtondefeated Napoleon's army in the battle of Waterloo.9. Wellingtons are rubber boots. Americans call them galoshes. 10. What had happened became a Waterloo Bridge for him. 11. He is a real Paparatssi in everything that concerns making money. 12. Rita Brown writes like an American Evelyn Waugh. 13. He is thrilled at his new buy: a classic Mercedes Benz. 14. Antony Marshall lives outside the city. Every morning he drives to the City where he works as staff manager. 15. The Red-White-and-Blue Union Jack hung out of every window, fluttering in the breeze. 16. Degasand Monetwere her husband's favourite artists, and both were well represented in their house. 17. He glanced at the list of her art collection. Sisleys, Monets, Manets, a Dali, Renoirs and a Degas. It was a fabulous collection. 18. Carl Faberge was Russia's Imperial Jeweller. 19. – What a beautiful Easter egg! – Yes, it’s a Faberge. 20. The two friends bought a Johnny Walker to celebrate the event. 21. Kurt Vonnegut is writing with the half-embittered, half-amused voice of alater-day Mark Twain. 22. Tonight Samantha wore highly polished black Oxfords.

Exercise 8. Explain the origin and the meaning of the following common nouns. Use them in sentences of your own.

A Dracula, a Cartier, a Sony, a Camel, a Marlborough, a complete Shakespeare, a Reebok, a Mauzer, a Lovelace, a Webster, a Don Juan, a Dunhill, the White House, a Barbie, a Jillet, a Petroff, a Stradivarius, an Oscar, a Walkman, a hooligan, bermudas, a Xerox, a Newton.

Exercise 9. Read and translate the following texts. Explain the use of the nouns in bold type.

1. The Uffizi in Florence have more perfect paintings than any other gallery on the planet – not just Tintorettos and Botticellis, but the most arresting works by people like Gentile da Fabriano and Simone Martini. Some Caravaggios, "Bachus" among them, were found in an Uffizi store-room in 1916.

2. The Earl of Cardigan gave his name to one of the garments we wear. A cardigan is a knitted jacket that is fastened up the front with buttons or a zip.

3. – Now, how about some Bellinis to celebrate the holiday? – I've forgotten what a Bellini is. I know Bellini, the composer, of course. I mean, I know it's also champagne but what's in it besides that? – Fresh peach juice. – Now I remember! It's a fabulous drink.

4. – Rumor has it that you're suffering from a terminal Don Juan complex. – It's not such a bad reputation to have, when you think about it. After all no man can be a Don Juan unless women are interested in him.

5. Long ago in pre-Revolutionary France there lived one Etienne de Silhouette, a controller general for Louis XV. Because of his fanatical zeal for raising taxes and slashing expenses and pensions, he enraged royalty and citizens alike, who ran him out of office within eight months. At about the same time that Silhouettewas sacked, the method of making cutouts of profiles by throwing the shadow of the subjects on the screen captured the fancy of the Paris public. Because the process was cheap, the man and the method became associated. Ever since, we have called shadow profiles silhouettes, with a small “s”.

Exercise 10. Match the six common words given below and the following descriptions:

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
Syntactical functions of the noun	\|	A marathon, a bedlam, a bikini, a limerick, a turkey, laconic

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