What Are Proper Nouns?

In the last lesson, you learned that nouns can be common or proper.

$Common vs proper nouns$

⭐ Proper nouns are special names of people, places, or things. They always begin with a capital letter.

In this lesson, let's learn about different types of proper nouns.

Names of People

⭐ People's names are proper nouns and should be capitalized.

Here are some examples of names:

Rosa,
William Shakespear,
J. K. Rowling

⭐ The first and last name of a person should be capitalized.

If a person has more than two names, the first letter of each name should be capitalized.

If a person has an initial, capitalize it too.

Tip: The word "I" is always capitalized, but it's actually not a proper noun. It's a common noun like he or she, but we just always capitalize it anyway. 👍

Nicknames

Nicknames are familiar names that people call their family or friends. These names are also proper nouns.

Willy, Frankie, Annie, Benjie, Liz

Capitalize them. 👍

Job Titles

Some people write their job titles before their names.

This makes the job title with the person's name a proper noun.

For example:

Dr. Harper, Mayor Brown, Governor Smith, President Abraham Lincoln

$Abraham Lincoln$

Capitalize both the title and the name.

Names of Places

⭐ Continents, countries, and cities are all proper nouns.

Africa, Denmark, Los Angeles

Remember to capitalize the first letter of every word in the name.

Tourist places like beaches, lakes, and mountains are also proper nouns.

San Clemente Beach, Mount Everest, Lake Michigan

$The beach$

Schools, stores, and other places in your community are also proper nouns.

Frost Elementary School, New Seasons Market, Mall of America

$A school$

If a common noun is included in the specific name of a place, it should be capitalized also.

Names of Things

The specific name given to an animal is a proper noun.

lion = Simba

cat = Ruby

fish = Nemo

$A fish in a fish bowl$

Brand names are also proper nouns. Here are some examples of brands:

car = Toyota

shirt = Gap

chips = Lay's

$A bag of potato chips$

Names of Days, Months, and Holidays

The days, months, and holidays 🎊 are proper nouns.

Tuesday, August, Halloween

$Kids trick or treating in their Halloween costumes$

We capitalize them.

Tip: The seasons are not proper nouns. So you don't capitalize summer, winter, autumn, or spring, but you do capitalize the months like January. Weird right? 🤷‍♀️

Practice Identifying Proper Nouns

Identify the proper noun in the sentence.

My favorite holiday is Independence Day.

Yes! Independence Day is the proper noun and a holiday. 🎉

$Fireworks$

Let’s try another one.

What's the proper noun in this sentence?

We learned about the Golden Gate Bridge in class today.

Great! Golden Gate Bridge is the name of a specific bridge, so it is a proper noun. 👍

$Bridge$

Great job learning about proper nouns!

Think you got it? Try the practice.

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