1. What is a noun?
 
　　A noun is the name of someone or something, as in English.
 
 
1.1. Common nouns　
 
　　A common noun is the word that refers to any member of a class of similar things, e.g.

人(person) 河(river) 书(book) 歌(song)
老师(teacher) 学校(school) 国家(country) 文化(culture)
思想(idea) 和平(peace) 今天(today) 晚上(night)
五月(May) 自行车(bike) 互联网(Internet) 自由主义(liberalism) 
 
 
1.2. Proper nouns
 
　　A proper noun is the name of an individual person, place, organization, etc., e.g. 
李白a famous poet in ancient China(Li Bai)　 北京(Beijing)　 长城(the Great Wall)　 银河(the Milky Way)　
美元(US Dollar) 联合国(UN)　 圣诞节(Christmas)　 澳大利亚(Australia)　 
 
 
1.3. Nouns of locality
　
　　A noun of locality is the word indicating direction or position, e.g.
西(west) 中(center) 内(inside) 上(upper)*
下面(bellow)* 左边(to the left)* 后头(back) 以上(above)*
之下(below)* 上下(above and below)* 前后(front and rear) 东南(southeast) 
 
 
2. What is noteworthy about Chinese nouns? 
 
2.1. No changes in plurality　
　　A Chinese noun does never change its form in terms of number, e.g.　

一年(a year) 两三年(two or three years) 一百年(a hundred years
一个学生(a student) 许多学生(many students) 全体学生(all students) 
       
　　So, when referring to a noun with a plural meaning, we can add a word or phrase that indicates a number before it. But in Chinese language, the plural form is not so rigorous in use as in English. In most cases, people understand a noun with a plural meaning not through the form of language, but by their own sense or inference, e.g. 
　
 
　　我是学生。(I am a student) ---- singular meaning
　　我们是学生。(We are students) ---- plural meaning
　　这个学校的学生获作文比赛第一名。(A student of the school came first in the composition competition.) ---- singular meaning
　　这个学校的学生在篮球锦标赛中夺冠。(Students of the school came out first in the basketball championship.) ---- plural meaning 
 
2.2. Person nouns with suffix “们”
 
　　Sometimes, a Chinese noun referring to a person may be followed by a suffix “们” to show its plurality only if there is no word indicates a number before it, e.g.
 
　　 学生们(students) --- right； 工人们(workers) --- right； 许多运动员们 --- wrong 　 
 
2.3. The reduplicated form of nouns “AA”　
 
　　There are a few Chinese nouns that may be reduplicated to show plurality. In this case, AA means every A, e.g. 
 
　　这里人人喜欢游泳。(Everybody here is fond of swimming)
　　家家有汽车。(Every family has its own car)
　　年年丰收。(Bumper harvest is reaped year after year)
　　他们处处受到欢迎。(They were welcomed wherever they went)