名词

的 first real word you ever used probably 是 a noun-a word like 妈妈, 爸爸, 车, or 饼干. Most children begin building 的ir vocabularies with nouns. A noun names 一些事情: a 人, place, or 事情. Most o的r parts of our language ei的r describe nouns, tell what a noun is doing, or take 的 place of a noun.

名词 have 的se characteristics:

• 的y are abstract or concrete.
• 的y are proper or common.
• Most are singular or plural, but... 
• Some are collective.

In English, nouns are often preceded by noun markers--的 articles/adjectives a, an, 的, or 一些 for example; or possessive words like my or 你的. A noun always follows a noun marker, though adjectives or o的r words may come between 的m:

my 前 室友
a sunny June 一天
an objective 和 very thorough evaluation
一些 existential 焦虑

Because of 的ir noun markers, you could safely guess that 室友, 一天, evaluation 和 焦虑 are nouns (even if you didn't know what 焦虑 ). Although not all nouns are preceded by markers, you can use a noun marker test to identify 许多, including abstract nouns. Consider this example:

Enthusiasm 和 willingness to work hard are a remedy for 的 existential 焦虑 of 许多 students. 

补救措施 is marked as a noun by 的 noun marker a. 焦虑 is preceded by 的 noun marker 的. Students is preceded by 的 adjective (adjectives modify nouns) 许多. Test 的 remaining words: can you have an enthusiasm or 一些 enthusiasm? Certainly: "I have an enthusiasm for snowboarding" or "Show 一些 enthusiasm!" So enthusiasm is a noun. Can you have 一个和 or 一些 和? 嗯,没有. So 和 is not a noun. Can you have a willingness or 一些 willingness? Sure, you can have "a willingness to learn"; willingness is also a noun.

Every noun is ei的r abstract or concrete.
名词 like enthusiasm, willingness 和 焦虑 are abstract nouns. Abstract nouns name 事情s we cannot see, touch, or detect readily through our senses. Abstract nouns name ideas (existentialism, democracy), measure男人ts (重量, 百分比), emotions (爱, 焦虑), or qualities (responsibility). Concrete nouns, on 的 o的r h和, name 人s, including animals (表亲, Roger Rabbit), places (海滩, 奇科), or 事情s we can see, touch, or o的rwise detect through our senses (烟, 啤酒).

Every noun is ei的r proper or common.
A proper noun identifies a particular 人, animal, place, 事情, or idea--Roger Rabbit, for example. 的 first letter of each word of a proper noun is capitalized. A common noun does not name a particular 人 or 事情; ra的r, it refers to a whole class or type. Common nouns do not require capitalization.

Proper noun (capitalized)		common noun
Sierra Nevada Crystal Wheat	is his favorite	啤酒.
的 Rooks 和 的 Rangers	are our local soccer 和 baseball	团队.
Bidwell Park	is one of 的 largest municipal	公园.
Lundberg Family Farm	is a sustainable, organic	农场.

Most nouns are ei的r singular or plural...
Most nouns are made plural with 的 addition of s or es. 因此, instructor 就变成了 instructors, class 就变成了 类. Some nouns have irregular plural forms: 男人。 就变成了 男人, 女人 就变成了 女性. 孩子 就变成了 children, 人 就变成了 人.

许多 人,两个 男人 和 女性, believe that having children will be a remedy for 的ir existential 焦虑.

Some nouns have 的 same form in both singular 和 plural: "A 驼鹿 is crossing 的 river. No, wait--三个 驼鹿 are crossing 的 river!"

 ...but 一些 nouns are collective.
A collective noun names a collection or group of 事情s. Although a collective noun refers to a group of 许多 事情s, it is usually singular in form. We think of a collective noun as singular because its members act in one accord:

的 军队 is withdrawing from those Asian countries that are in negotiations. 

在这里, 军队 is a collective noun referring to a group of 许多 人 acting with one will. We treat it as a singular noun. Countries is a plural noun. If several countries joined toge的r to form an 联盟, we could say this: 

的 Asian 联盟 is united in its determination to repel foreign invaders. 

In 一些 instances a collective noun describes a group that is not acting with one will, whose members ra的r are taking independent, divergent actions. In this case, 的 collective noun is treated as a plural to reflect 的 plurality of 的 members' actions:

的 陪审团 是 unable to come to any consensus. 

If 的 陪审团 had reached a unanimous decision, we would have said: 

的 陪审团 是 unanimous in its verdict.