As with any other part of speech, the noun is further subdivided into subclasses,

or groups, in accord with various particular semantico-functional and formal

features of the constituent words. The main grammatically relevant subclasses of
nouns are distinguished in the following correlations.
On the basis of �type of nomination� proper nouns are opposed to common nouns.
Common nouns present a general name of any thing belonging to a certain class of
things, e.g.: river � any river, boy � any boy, while the proper nouns have no
generalized meaning; they serve as a label, a nickname of a separate individual
being or thing, e.g.: Mississippi, John, New York, etc. This semantic subdivision
of nouns is grammatically manifested through the differences in their formal
features of the category of article determination and of the category of number.
The use of proper nouns in the plural or with the articles is restricted to a
limited number of contexts: normally, one cannot use the plural form of the word
New York, though it is possible to say There are two Lenas in our group, or The
Joneses are to visit us. If proper nouns are used with articles or other
determiners and/or in the plural, in most contexts it signifies their transposition
from the group of proper nouns into the group of common nouns, e.g.: You are my
Romeo!; I can�t approve of young Casanovas like you.
On the basis of �form of existence� of the referents animate nouns are opposed to
inanimate nouns, the former denoting living beings (man, woman, dog), the latter
denoting things and phenomena (tree, table). This semantic difference is formally
exposed through the category of case forms, as animate nouns are predominantly used
in the genitive case, cf.: John�s leg, but the leg of the table. This subdivision
of nouns is semantically closely connected with the following one.
On the basis of �personal quality� human animate nouns (person nouns), denoting
human beings, or persons, are opposed to non-human (animate and inanimate) nouns
(non-person nouns), denoting all the other referents. This lexico-semantic
subdivision of nouns is traditionally overlooked in practical and theoretical
courses on grammar, but it is grammatically relevant because only human nouns in
English can distinguish masculine or feminine genders, e.g.: man � he, woman � she,
while the non-human nouns, both animate and inanimate, are substituted by the
neuter gender pronoun �it�. The exceptions take place only in cases of
transposition of the noun from one group into another, e.g., in cases of
personification, e.g.: the sun - he, the moon - she, etc.
On the basis of �quantitative structure� of the referent countable (variable) nouns
are opposed to uncountable (invariable) nouns, the former denoting discrete,
separate things which can be counted and form discrete multitudes, e.g.: table �
tables, the latter denoting either substances (sugar), or multitudes as a whole
(police), or abstract notions (anger), and some others entities. This subdivision
is formally manifested in the category of number (see Unit 7).