From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar.

Imagine you hear a mother or father talking to a child. The parent wants the child to do well in school, but the child does not like to read books.

The exchange might sound something like this:

A: To get a good grade, the first thing you have to do is read books.

B: Why do people always tell me to read books? I don't think books are fun.

A: Lots of people don't read books – that's why they do badly in school. The last thing you want is a bad grade!

Today's Everyday Grammar program is not about reading books, nor is it about how Americans lecture their children. In fact, our report is about something very different: commonly used nouns.

Today we are going to explore two of the most commonly used nouns in American English: people and thing.

What are nouns?

A noun is traditionally defined as a word that names a place, object, or person. Nouns can be plural -- meaning more than one -- or possessive, or they can be both plural and possessive.*