Hesti Mulatsih

Hesti Mulatsih

Class                : 3C

NPM               : 10211210350

Assignment of Writing in Professional Context 2

The Study of Common Noun

          Language has a very important role in communication. It influences the users to build good relationship if the language they use is good. Nowadays, we, as the users of languages, have to masters at least three languages to be needed ones in the world.

            As we know, English is still in the first rank of international language that we have to master, both as the second language and as the foreign language. In Indonesia, English is as foreign language. So, the existence of English in the school is a compulsory. Although the existence of English for Indonesia is not for the second language as Malaysia, we, as Indonesian people, have to be able in every aspect of English ; speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Because English is used to face the unavoidable globalization era.

            To be able in English, we have to know and understand the basic of it. Vocabulary is the basic of every language, not only English, to master. Without vocabulary, we cannot do communication. Without vocabulary, we cannot master the aspects of English. So, studying vocabulary is a need.

            We know that English has eight part of speech or word classes, they are noun, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. These vocabularies is the foundation for us to be good English users. One of them that is really familiar and near to us is noun. Noun is the basic vocabulary that should be taught in –at least- elementary school. It is very important to study this word class because the first recognizing that should be done to the children, as the earliest users of language, is the environment around the children, such as thing at bedroom, thing at home, thing at the class, animal, fruits, place, food, etc. The writer wants to explain about common noun, one of parts of noun.

Noun is the part of speech (or word class) that is used to name or identify a person, place, thing, quality, or action. Adjective of noun is nominal. According to Oxford University press (2003, 281), noun is word that is the name of the thing, quality, person, etc and can be the subject or object of a verb.

Most nouns have both a singular and plural form, can be preceded by an article and/or one or more adjectives, and can serve as the head of a noun phrase  (available online at www.grammar.about.com). According to Heather MacFadyen in www.writingcentre.uottawa.ca, noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns are usually the first words which small children learn. A noun can function in a sentence as a subject, a direct object, an indirect object, a subject complement, an object complement, an appositive, an adjective or an adverb.

Types of Nouns according to www.grammar.about.com :

1. Abstract Noun and Concrete Noun
2. Animate Noun and Inanimate Noun
3. Attributive Noun
4. Collective Noun
5. Common Noun and Proper Noun
6. Compound Noun
7. Count Noun and Mass Noun
8. Verbal Noun

According to Heather MacFadyen, types of nouns are:

1.      Proper Nouns

2.      Common Nouns

3.      Concrete Nouns

4.      Abstract Nouns

5.      Countable Nouns

6.      Non-Countable Nouns

7.      Collective Nouns

To avoid the enlarging and misunderstanding, the writer would like to focus only on Common Noun.

According to www.ekagurunesama.blogspot.com, common noun is a noun that shows kind, class of nouns, place, etc.

Example: Car, Man, Bridge, Town, Water, Metal, Ammonia.

Common nouns name everything else, things that usually are not capitalized (available online at www.grammar.ccc.commnet.edu)

A common noun is a name possessed by any one of a class of persons, animals, or things. Common, as here used, is from a Latin word which means general, possessed by all. (Available online at www.lousywriter.com). 

A common noun is a noun referring to a person, place, or thing in a general sense -- usually, you should write it with a capital letter only when it begins a sentence. A common noun is the opposite of a proper noun.

In each of the following sentences, the common nouns are highlighted:

According to the sign, the nearest town is 60 miles away.

All the gardens in the neighborhood were invaded by beetles this summer.

I don't understand why some people insist on having six different kinds of mustard in their cupboards.

The road crew was startled by the sight of three large moose crossing the road.

Many child-care workers are underpaid.

Sometimes you will make proper nouns out of common nouns, as in the following examples:

The tenants in the Garnet Apartments are appealing the large and sudden increase in their rent.

The meals in the Bouncing Bean Restaurant are less expensive than meals in ordinary restaurants.

Many witches refer to the Renaissance as the Burning Times.

The Diary of Anne Frank is often a child's first introduction to the history of the Holocaust. Written by Heather MacFadyen in www.writingcentre.uottawa.ca.

Common nouns are the opposite of proper nouns. They are your run of the mill, generic nouns. They name people, places, things or ideas that are not specific.

Examples:

Woman, city, dog, shoe

Since these nouns are not naming anything specific, they do not need to start with a capital letter unless they begin a sentence.