What Are Common and Proper Nouns?

      Nouns are words for people, places, or things.

      Some nouns are common and others are proper.

      Proper nouns name a specific person, place, or thing, like Annie.

      Common nouns name a general person, place, or thing, like girl.

Examples of Proper Nouns

Ken, Boston, Nike, Kleenex, Main Street

      Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter.

      Your name is a proper noun. 

The city where you live is a proper noun.

      If a proper noun has two or more words, each word should be capitalized.

John Michael, Hudson River, Walt Disney

      Days of the week, months of the year, and holidays are also proper nouns.

Friday, March, New Year's Day

Common Nouns

      Common nouns do not name a specific person, place, or thing.

Take a look at these common nouns:

school

teacher

food

shoes

child

We use common nouns all the time.

      Common nouns do not begin with capital letters.

Is 'I' a Proper Noun?

We always capitalize the word I. ✅

But is 'I' a proper noun? 🤔

👉 It turns out no!

      I is a common noun, like he, not a proper noun like James.

      We capitalize 'I' out of convention, which means just because that's how people like to do it. 🙈 But officially, it's not a proper noun. 🤯

Are the Seasons Common or Proper?

The four seasons are:

spring, summer, fall or autumn, and winter

      Even though the months of the year are proper nouns, the seasons are common nouns! 🙈 We don't capitalize them.

January is in the winter.

Practice

What are the two nouns in the sentence below?

The city of London is beautiful.

Great! The nouns are city and London.

London is the proper noun, and city is the common noun.

Tip: It's easy to spot the proper noun because it's always capitalized.

Can you spot the nouns here.👇

Mount Fuji is one of my favorite mountains.

Mount Fuji and mountains are the nouns in this sentence. 

The proper noun is Mount Fuji.

The common noun is mountains.

Let's Review

Proper nouns are specific names. They always begin with capital letters.

Common nouns are general names. They do not begin with capital letters.

Great job! 🤗

Now, finish the practice to help you remember for longer.