Common Nouns and Proper Nouns | A Language Lesson

This Language lesson is designed for 6-12-year-old children. In this video lesson, we will learn about common nouns and proper nouns, the difference between them, and how they’re used in a sentence.

What is a Noun?

A noun is a word that represents the name of a person, place, animal, or thing.

What is a Common Noun?

A common noun is a type of noun that refers to objects, places, people, or animals that do not have specific names. Examples are country, girl, butterfly, city, etc.

Some common examples of common noun

People: man, woman, child, people, judge, cop, criminal, butcher, baker, king, queen, neighbor, friend, enemy, person, stranger, etc.
Places: city, town, country, province, state, outside, upstairs, basement, islands, beaches, continents, hallway, lobby, rooms, alleys, campsites, etc.
Things: guitar, paper, perfume, snow, dirt, drums, apples, oranges, rain, ice, fire, cars, trucks, knees, elbows, food, water, sky, stars, day, weeks, months, years, etc.
Ideas, emotions, concepts: happiness, sadness, confidence, independence, fear, courage, questions, answers, government, chaos, hunger, anger, confusion, doubt, loneliness, friendship, arts, language, etc.

What is a Proper Noun?

A Proper noun is a type of noun that refers to objects, people, places, or animals with specific names. Examples are Paris, Sarah, Statue of liberty, etc.

Some common examples of a proper noun

People: Sarah, Mike, Bill Clinton, Obama, Superman, Lady Gaga, Captain Crunch, Harry Potter, etc.
Places: New York City, Alaska, Asia, Moscow, Portugal, Zimbabwe, Peru, Europe, Asia, Australia, New York city square, Main Street, Rocky Mountains, Nile river, Sahara Desert, etc.
Things: Google, Twitter, Kawasaki Ninja, Playstation 5, Star Wars, Band-aids, Maggie, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Secret Key, Mission Impossible, etc.
Ideas and Concepts: Christianity, Islam, Friday, Buddhism, Secularism, Industrial Revolution, Dark Ages, Monday, November, etc.

Common Noun vs. Proper Noun

The difference between a common noun and a proper noun is what type of thing they refer to. Common nouns refer to generic things, while proper nouns refer to specific names.
Unlike common nouns, proper nouns are always capitalized.

How to Identify Common Nouns and Proper Nouns in a Sentence?

Sara went to school.

Here, Sara is a proper noun, and school is a common noun.

Paris is a beautiful city.

Here, Paris is a proper noun, and the city is a common noun.

Help the child identify and differentiate between common and proper nouns, as shown in the video.

Related Common Noun and Proper Noun Worksheet

Using the above-explained concept, practice common and proper nouns using the following worksheets:

FAQs

How to differentiate between common nouns and proper nouns?

When differentiating whether a word is a common or proper noun, look for any noun capitalized in the middle of a sentence. If so, it is a proper noun else a common noun.

What are common nouns and proper nouns with examples?

Common nouns refer to the generic names of a place, people, or thing, whereas proper nouns refer to specific names of a place, people, or thing. For example, boy is a common noun because it refers to general, non-specific people. On the other hand, Mathew is a proper noun because it refers to a specific name of a person.

Common and Proper Nouns