Nouns
The names of people, places, things and ideas.
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How nouns work, from the ground up.
Nouns in English: A Beginner’s Guide
A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea. This guide covers the main types — common/proper, concrete/abstract, countable/uncountable, collective and more — with examples and a practice quest.
Read guide →Proper and Common Nouns
How common and proper nouns differ — capitalization, the many types of common nouns, nouns of address, cardinal directions, proper adjectives, and when to use "the".
Read guide →Word guides
One word at a time, every sense. Words that work as more than one part of speech appear on each of their hubs.
Trace
One root image — a mark left behind by something that has passed. The noun senses from trace amounts to a stack trace, the verb that always looks backwards, trace to vs trace back to, the whole word family, the trace/track/trail split that «след» hides, distributed tracing and spans, a debugging phrasebook, the трасса false friend, and a quiz.
Read guide →Concern
The professional word for worry — and for whose job something is. One root (it touches you) splitting into worry and responsibility: the noun senses, the verb, concerned vs concerning, the about/with/by line, separation of concerns, a meeting phrasebook, the концерн false friend, and a quiz.
Read guide →whereas — every use
The unambiguous contrast word — and the first word of every contract you've ever signed. Why it compares rather than concedes, the comma rule, whereas vs while vs although, the legal recital and whether it's binding, whereas vs whereby, and a quiz.
Read guide →while — every use
One word, four jobs and a trap. Time, contrast, concession, and the noun — plus while vs during (the error that never dies), the «поки» problem, dangling while clauses, whilst, awhile vs a while, and a quiz.
Read guide →either — every use
One word, five jobs. Determiner, pronoun, conjunction, adverb, noun — plus the both-sides ambiguity, either vs any vs both, “me neither” vs “me either”, the too trap in negatives, and a quiz.
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