Common and Proper nouns

What is a noun?

A noun describes a specific person, place, animal, thing, or idea. Nouns refer to general items such as items or schools and particular things such as Japan or Ariana Grande. The nouns we use can be broken down into two categories: common and proper nouns.

Common noun vs. proper noun

The category of the thing being referred to is what differentiates a common noun and a proper noun from one another. Common nouns generally talk about things, while proper nouns talk about specific things. For example, “country” is a common noun because it refers to a large group of places instead of a specific one. On the other hand, “Japan” is considered a proper noun because it refers to a particular nation found in Asia (another proper noun). The most important difference between common and proper nouns is that proper nouns are capitalized. Proper nouns are always written with capital letters, but common nouns are only capitalized in a few situations.

Examples of common nouns

Common nouns can refer to people, places, things, and ideas.

People: 

boy, girl, man, woman, teacher, soldier, student, engineer, sister, brother, father, friend

Places: 

Country, city, town, school, beaches, islands, parks, department store, outside, basement, upstairs, downstairs, kitchen

Things: 

Glass, bottles, kitchenware, cars, notebooks, books, laptops, days, weeks, months, years, food, water, guitar, drums, apples, oranges

Ideas, emotions, concepts: 

Happiness, loneliness, sadness, courage, bravery, friendship, love, hunger, doubt, admiration, intelligence, humor

Proper nouns

People, places, things, and ideas are proper nouns. Proper nouns are more specific.

Examples of proper nouns

People: 

Helen of Troy, Superman, Lady Gaga, Columbus, Ms. Cascabel

Places: 

America, Okinawa International School, Europe, Asia, Australia, Rocky Mountains, Colorado River, Sahara Desert

Things: 

Jupiter, Google, Twitter, Playstation 5, Star Wars, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Sony, Toshiba, Toyota

Ideas and Concepts: 

Romanticism, Monday, November, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism

Here’s the video lesson to watch. Happy learning!!!

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Common and Proper nouns Slide presentation and Quizzes

YouTube Video Lesson Common and Proper nouns

Common and Proper nouns worksheet

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