பருப்பொருள் 3 வகைப்படும். பருப்பொருள் நம்மைச் சுற்றி உள்ள பொருள்கள் அனைத்தையும், இப்பொருள்களில் உண்டாகிற யாந்திரிக, பௌதிக, இரசாயன, உடலியல் வகைப்பட்ட நிகழ்ச்சிகள் அனைத்தையும் பொருள்வகைப் புலப்பாடு என்றும், அல்லது வெறுமே பருப்பொருள் (Matter) என்றும் சொல்வது வழக்கம்.

In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic particles, and in everyday as well as scientific usage, matter generally includes atoms and anything made up of them, and any particles that act as if they have both rest mass and volume. However it does not include massless particles such as photons, or other energy phenomena or waves such as light or heat. Matter exists in various states. These include classical everyday phases such as solid, liquid, and gas – for example water exists as ice, liquid water, and gaseous steam – but other states are possible, including plasma, Bose–Einstein condensates, fermionic condensates, and quark–gluon plasma.