Grammar: Word classes: Nouns

Proper nouns

Names of people: Student problems

Here is an example of an introduction sequence in which Speaker B makes a mistake with the name:

A    I'd like to introduce my friend: this is John Smith.
B    Hello, Smith. I'm pleased to meet you.

Western names sometimes cause problems for Chinese students because of the different conventions regarding the order of the names. In Chinese the surname goes first, as in Chong Yuet-ming; however, with English names the order is reversed so that the surname goes last, as in John Smith. If you were addressing this person, you would call him John, or Mr Smith if you wanted to be more formal. It would be very unusual to call him Smith, and he might even find it a bit rude! Note that it is not normally possible to use a determiner in front of a person's name.