Concrete and abstract nouns
Nouns can be classified as concrete nouns or abstract nouns. Concrete nouns are used to refer to things that can be touched. Examples: car magazine computer David Beckham Abstract nouns are used to refer...
Graham's Grammar Posts
Proper nouns and common nouns
One way of classifying nouns is to identify them as proper nouns or common nouns. Proper nouns name specific people, places, organisations or objects. They start with a capital letter. Examples: Ivan Anna Harry...
Nouns
Nouns are words that name things, places, people, animals, ideas and qualities.
“Excellent in” or “excellent at”?
‘Excellent at’ is probably more common than ‘excellent in’: ‘She is excellent at English’. But ‘excellent in’ can often be used instead: ‘She is excellent in English’ is acceptable but doesn’t sound as good....
The difference between “lodger” and “tenant”
A lodger is someone who pays rent to live in a room or rooms of a property in which the owner (or ‘landlord’) also lives. The lodger usually shares other space – such as...
“Reputation of” or “reputation for”?
‘Reputation of’ and ‘reputation for’ are interchangeable. Sometimes ‘reputation for’ sounds better, particularly when ‘reputation’ is preceded by the indefinite article: ‘The company has a reputation for good service’ and ‘The company has a...
“Disappointed with” or “disappointed in”?
‘Disappointed with’ and ‘disappointed in’ are mostly interchangeable. ‘Disappointed in’ usually shows a greater level of disappointment. ‘I’m disappointed with this book’ means that it isn’t as good as I hoped it would be....
“Goods train” or “freight train”?
Historically ‘goods train’ in the UK and ‘freight train’ in the US. But nowadays ‘freight train’ is more common than ‘goods train’ in the UK. The railway authorities in the UK use ‘freight train’....
How to pronounce “schedule”
This causes a lot of confusion, even to native speakers of English. Basically: In British English: shedule – /ˈʃɛdjuːl/ In American English: skedule – /ˈskɛdʒuːl/ But many British people pronounce it the American way.
“Historical” or “historic”?
Historical is used to refer to things from or about the past. Historic is used to refer to things that are important or significant. ‘Any past event is historical, but only the most memorable...