Lição 16 - Abstract Nouns
In this lesson you'll learn about abstract nouns. Abstract nouns are nouns that name concepts, ideas, and qualities. In English abstract nouns are often created by adding a letter or group of letters, called a suffix, to the end of a word.
In this lesson you'll also learn some English words and phrases related to hotels and other accommodations.
Ler Inglês
Chapter 3 Seattle
Ana and Alejandro have taken the train to Seattle where they will be visiting for the next few days.
"Here is our hotel," Alejandro says.
They walk into the lobby of the hotel and head to the reception desk.
"Hello," says the young man behind the desk.
"Hi," Says Ana. "We'd like to check in."
"Do you have a reservation?"
"Yes. For two nights," Alejandro replies.
"Whose name is the reservation under?"
"Alejandro Pérez."
"The man behind the desk looks at the computer, then says, "Ok. A room with two beds, for two nights. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that's right," Ana replies.
"Here is your key card. Your room number is 315. Checkout is at 11:00 AM. The elevators are over there on your left."
"Thank you very much," Ana says.
"Enjoy your stay."
Ana and Alejandro walk over to the elevators. They go into an open one and take it up to, the third floor. They walk down the hall until they get to their room. Alejandro uses the key card and opens the door.
They walk into the room and put down their luggage. Ana goes over to the window, opens the curtains, and looks out at the city. "Let's go explore," she says.
"Ok," Alejandro says, "Let's find a café and get a coffee and something to eat. I'm hungry!"
They walk out of the hotel and begin to explore the city.
Vocabulário
| hotel | hotel |
| hostel | albergue |
| inn | pousada |
| lobby | vestíbulo, lobby |
| reception desk | recepção |
| front desk | recepção |
| room service | serviço de quarto |
| reservation | reserva |
| vacancy | quartos disponíveis |
| baggage | bagagem |
| luggage | bagagem |
| suitcase | mala de viagem, maleta |
| check in | check in |
| check out | pagar e sair de um hotel |
| balcony | varanda |
| elevator | elevador |
| Are there rooms available? | Existem quartos disponíveis? |
| For how many nights? | Por quantas noites? |
| For two nights. | Por duas noites. |
| How much does it cost per night? | Quanto custa por noite? |
| Do you have a reservation? | Você tem reserva? |
| I have a reservation. | Tenho uma reserva. |
| We have a reservation. | Nós temos uma reserva. |
| What time is checkout? | Que horas são check-out? |
Anúncio
Practicar
Escreva uma conversa ou um conto sobre como fazer o check-in em um hotel.
Gramática
Suffix
Um sufixo é uma letra ou grupo de letras que é adicionado ao final de uma palavra para criar uma nova palavra. Existem muitos sufixos em inglês. Esta lição concentra-se em sufixos usados para criar substantivos abstratos.
Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns are nouns that name concepts, ideas, and qualities. Many abstract nouns are created by adding suffixes to verbs and adjectives. Common suffixes include ing, ness, hood, ship, sion, tion, ity, and ment.
The suffix ing
The suffix ing is added to a verb to indicate the concept of doing the action or the result of an action. The suffix ing is also added to a verb to create the present participle that is used in forming the present and past continuous tenses.
Examples
| Verb | Example |
|---|---|
| swim | Swimming is good exercise. |
| read | Reading helps you learn. |
| clear | We walked into a small clearing. |
| open | There's a small opening into the attic. |
| follow | The band has a large following. |
The suffix ness
The suffix ness is added to an adjective to create an abstract noun that means the state of. For example the noun sadness means the state of being sad. If the adjective ends in the letter y, the y is changed to an i before adding the suffix ness.
Examples
| Adjective | Noun | Example |
|---|---|---|
| happy | happiness | Happiness is a state of mind. |
| heavy | heaviness | The heaviness of the box was unexpected. |
| soft | softness | The softness of her voice was very soothing. |
| cold | coldness | The coldness of the water was a shock. |
| thick | thickness | The thickness of the walls helps keep out the noise. |
The suffixes sion, ion, and ation
The suffixes sion and ion are added to verbs to describe a state, condition, action, or process. These words have been borrowed into English from French, so will be very familiar to speakers of French, Spanish, and Portuguese. In some cases, only the noun and not the verb form have been borrowed into English.
| Verb | Noun | Example |
|---|---|---|
| celebrate | celebration | There's going to be a big celebration tomorrow night. |
| educate | education | Andy wants to have a good education. |
| cancel | cancellation | The cancellation of my flight caused me a lot of problems. |
| authorize | authorization | Do you have authorization to be in this room. |
| memorize | memorization | When learning a language, there is a lot of memorization involved. |
| imagine | imagination | You have quite and imagination. |
| interrupt | interruption | I can't work with all these interruptions. |
| act | action | What actions have they taken to fix the problem? |
| collide | collision | If you don't drive carefully, you'll cause a collision. |
| explode | explosion | There was an explosion at the factory. |
The suffix hood
The suffix hood is added to another noun to indicate a state or condition.
Example
| Noun | Definition |
|---|---|
| motherhood | The state of being a mother. |
| fatherhood | The state of being a father. |
| childhood | The state of being a child. The period of time that a person is a child. |
| adulthood | The state of being an adult. The period of time that a person is an adult. |
| neighborhood | An area of a town or city. The houses, stores, parks around where a person lives. |
The suffix ity
The suffix ity is added to adjectives to create abstract nouns that mean the condition or quality of the adjective. The plural form of ity is ities.
| Adjective | Noun | Example |
|---|---|---|
| real | reality | Reality can be hard to accept sometimes. |
| active | activity | I try different activities to make sure I stay active. |
| opportune | opportunity | They find many opportunities to help people. |
| complex | complexity | There is a lot of complexity in your ideas. |
| mature | maturity | Her actions show a lot of maturity. |
The suffix th
The suffix th is added to adjectives to create abstract nouns that mean the condition or quality of the adjective. Note that the vowel sound of some adjectives is changed when th is added.
| Adjective | Noun | Example |
|---|---|---|
| warm | warmth | The warmth of the fire feels nice. |
| deep | depth | The depth of the lake is unknown. |
| long | length | What is the length of the box. |
Exame
Aqui está um breve exame para ajudá-lo a aprender o vocabulário de inglês incluído nesta lição.