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PROPER AND COMMON NOUNS

What is a Proper Noun?

While a noun names a person, place, thing, or idea a proper noun gets more specific. It gives us the actual name of
the person, place, thing, or idea. The actual names of people are proper nouns. So are the names of states, streets,
rivers, oceans, countries, companies, institutions, churches, and more. You can see more specific examples below.
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What is a Common Noun?

A noun is a word that names a person, animal, place, thing, or idea. All nouns can be further classified as proper or
common. Common nouns are words used to name general items rather than specific ones. Go into your living room.
What do you see? Lamp, chair, couch, TV, window, painting, pillow, candle all of these items are named using
common nouns.
COMMON NOUN PROPER NOUN
Man James
Woman Julie
State Californi
Company General Motors
Store Neiman Marcus
Restaurant Applebee's
Mountain Mickinley
Country . France
Waitress Betty
Chair La-Z-Boy
Soldier Lieutenant Mark Davis
River The Mississippi River
Institution University of Georgia

Proper Noun: Identify the proper noun in each sentence: ec.; SO6k* 4). r

1. The boy threw the ball to his dog,

2. I'd like you to meet my friend Jeremy,
3. We' ll be vacationing in Asp ,, this ye ar.
4. My second grade teacher was Mrs.,6 [Ikea, an old battle-axe.
5. We went to Smith'sfulniture and bought a new couch to replace our old one.
6. Do you think thel)siphias will win the game?
7. I'm flying first-class on Emirate Air lines,
8. ThomasJefferAon was a president and philosopher.
9. My best friend moved to . lsrael.to study.
10. When the liaaicisank, the captain went down with the ship.

Common Noun Exercises: Identify the common noun in each sentence:

1. Sarah finally got her degree

A Sarah, B her, C degree
2. Jennifer and her brother are going to Disneyland next month.
A Jennifer, B brother, C Disneyland
3. I told Donald that I prefer vegetarian food.
A told, B Donald, C -food
4. Harry went to the park with his friend Keisha.
A Harry, B park C Keisha

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Is the highlighted noun a common noun or a proper noun?

1. Karen loves to eat at the restaurant on the corner. pro p e r n o k 3 r \
2. I went to the dentist for a root canal. 6C4 rn ry. con oovr
3. We're going to have fish for dinner.
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4. His favorite car is a Porsche.
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Identify the common noun in each sentence:

1. This calendar covers January through December.

A - calendar, B - January, C- December
2. Jethro named his boat the Karen II.
A -Jethro, B- boat C - Karen II
3. North America and Asia are continents.
A North America, B - Asia, C - continents.
4. This book was co-written by doctors Smith and Klein.
A - book, B - Smith, C- Klein
5. Nick and Terry got into a fight with Dennis.
A - Nick and Terry, B - fight, C - Dennis

Fill in the blank with the common noun that fits best:

1. I'm going to see the de VS+ about my tooth.

A - Dr. Ling, B - dentist, C- cardiologist
2. The Sn!"1100 cck- sank during the storm.
A - Karen II, B- bridge, C - sailboat
3. Of all animals, 6 c (p are my favorite.
A - dog, B - dogs, C- pretzels 4
4. The lestir c(A.e. r, were named Nick and Jerry.
A - kitchen, 8- library, C- spa
5. The f- "j 114 is full of books, including classics by everyone from Shakespeare to
Tolkien.
A - Nick and Terry, B - fight, C- Dennis
EXERCISES: IDENTIFY THE PROPER AND COMMON NOUN

1. Co mmon noun : I w ant to be a wr it er .

2. Proper noun: Agatha Christie wrote many books.
3. Co mmon noun : I'd like to ado pt a c at .
4. Proper noun: Cleopatra is the cutest kitten ever.
5. C o m m o n n o u n : Wo u ld yo u l i k e a c o o k i e?
6. P r o p er n o u n : I'm c r av in g O r eo s .
7. Co mmon noun : Let 's go to t he cit y.
8. Proper noun: Let's go to San Francisco.
9 . Common noun: My teacher starts work before sunup.
1 0 . Proper noun: Mr. Bell seems to understand what students need.
1 1 . Common noun: I think that's a planet, not a star.
1 2 . Proper noun: I can see Jupiter tonight.
1 3 . Common noun: He's always hanging out with his girlfriend.
1 4 . Proper noun: He never goes anywhere without Sarah.
1 5 . Common noun: There are a lot of important documents in the archives.
1 6 . Proper noun: There are many important documents at The Library of Congress.

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 Capitalizing Proper Nouns

The rules for capitalizing proper nouns are pretty simple. Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter.

However there are times when a word can be used as either a common noun or proper noun and you might get
confused as to when you should use the capitalized form. For example, "father" can either be common or proper.

One rule for thumb is that if you are using the word as a title and name it should be capitalized.

I had dinner with my father last night."

"Would you like to hav e dinner with me, Father?"

See the difference? In the first example the word was used more generally as a common noun. In the second
example, the word was used like a name. In this instance the term "father" took the place of the actual name, such
as "Bob."

To make things a little clearer for you, here is a list of proper nouns categories.

Holidays: Christmas, New Year's Day, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving

Geographical areas: San Francisco, Europe, Spain, the Nile River
People and pets: Mrs. Caroline Jones, Rip Van Winkle, Snoopy
Books, Newspapers, Magazines: Wuthering Heights, Atlanta Journal, Southern Living
Companies and organizations: Google, ChildFund International, General Electric
Religious terms: Christian, Methodist, Hindu, God, Allah
Places, buildings: Yellowstone National Park, Empire State Building, Ritz -Carlton
Titles: President Bush, King George, Queen Elizabeth, Judge Judy (titles are not capitalized when they're
referred to in general terms. For example: The criminal appeared before the judge.
Languages: English, French, Italian
B rand n am es: C oach , Pepsi, Luc ky
Possessive Proper Nouns

Creating the possessive form of a proper noun follows the same rule as the possessive of a common noun. Add 's if
the word is singular or if the word ends in s just the apostrophe. Plural nouns that end in s get an apostrophe at the
end.

Mary's coat
U n it ed S t at es ' h ea lt h c ar e pr o gr am
Georgia's swampland
Kansas' prairie lands

Proper names that end in s are made possessive by adding 's: Charles's house. It's also correct to just add the
apostrophe, such as with Jesus' mother.

Are these nouns common nouns or proper nouns? Write 'common' or 'proper' in the box.

1. San francisco
2. John smith
3. Brother
4. Motorbike
5. Museum of Modern Art
6. September .....................
7. Girl
8. Mexico
9. Park
10. L u c y

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