Proper nouns and uncountable nouns

Question

Would one ever think of proper nouns in terms of being countable or mass/uncountable? Or do those only apply to common nouns?

And secondly, would one consider abstract nouns to be common nouns? When reading about common nouns I usually see concrete nouns mentioned as examples.

Thanks

Canadian45 · Accepted Answer

AnonymousWould one ever think of proper nouns in terms of being countable yes
There have been sixteen Dukes of Cambridge. (I have no idea what the real number is.)

or mass/uncountable I don't think so.

And secondly, would one consider abstract nouns to be common nouns? yes

When reading about common nouns I usually see concrete nouns mentioned as examples. That seems to be true, but the site below lists abstract nouns with other common nouns.

http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/nouncommon.htm

Cool Breeze · Answer

AnonymousWould one ever think of proper nouns in terms of being countable or mass/uncountable?

Yes. At least theoretically, it is possible to say: Do you think there will ever be two Swedens? (In my grammar and my dictionaries, duke isn't a proper noun.)

CB

Canadian45 · Answer

Cool Breeze
AnonymousWould one ever think of proper nouns in terms of being countable or mass/uncountable?
Yes. At least theoretically, it is possible to say: Do you think there will ever be two Swedens? (In my grammar and my dictionaries, duke isn't a proper noun.)
But I think that in 'Duke of Cambridge' one could argue that it is. One wouldn't say 'duke of Cambridge'.

As far as "two Swedens", of course no two countries can have exactly the same name. Likewise, when there were two Germanys the names of course were not exactly the same, but people did refer to the 'two Germanys'. So taking some liberty, I think your idea has merit.

CB

Cool Breeze · Answer

canadian45duke isn't a proper noun.)
But I think that in 'Duke of Cambridge' one could argue that it is.

There are different ways of analyzing language. I wouldn't capitalize 'duke' in 'duke of Cambridge' as the name of the person isn't mentioned. In the same way:

Did the president of the United States attend the meeting?

Did President Obama attend the meeting?

Anyway, on this side of the Atlantic 'duke of Cambridge' is considered to be made up of three words: duke, a common noun; of, a preposition and Cambridge, a proper noun. I have no objection to the way you se it, though.

CB

Proper nouns and uncountable nouns

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