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 nouns are everywhere, and you use them all the time, even if you don’t realize it. Wherever you go, you’ll find at least one common noun. Street, closet, bathroom, school, mall, gas station; all of these places are named using common nouns.
People in general are named using common nouns, though their official titles or given names are proper nouns. When we refer to people using common nouns, we use words like teacher, clerk, police officer, preacher, delivery driver, boyfriend, girlfriend, grandma, cousin, and barista.
The takeaway is this: common nouns are general names and unless they are part of a title like Postmaster General or begin a sentence, they’re not usually capitalized.
Assessment
Circle all common nouns. The number
of nouns in each sentence is in parentheses. 1. The ice is melting. (1) 2. The boy and his dog played happily. (2) 3. When will the pool open? (1) 4. The book is inspiring. (1) 5. My grandparents live down the street. (2) 6. You may use my crayons. (1) 7. The window of the church is stained glass. (3) 8. Joe and Pat are brothers. (1) 9. Did you clean your room? (1) 10.The baby crawled to the table. (2) Instructions: Test your knowledge! Please supply
common nouns. 1. The little ____________________ helped his Mother and Father. 2. A ____________________grows outside my window. 3. Helen and Beth played with their____________________. 4. The ____________________is beautiful. 5. I called my ____________________. 6. I made a ____________________for our pastor. 7. Did you and she go to the ____________________? 8. Dad will fix my ____________________. 9. Mike gave a ____________________to his friend.
10. The clean ____________________is folded.
Proper Nouns
Your name is a proper noun. A proper noun is the special word that we use for a person, place or organization, like John, Marie, London, France or Sony. A name is a noun, but a very special noun - a proper noun. English proper nouns have special rules.
common noun
proper noun
man, boy
John
woman, girl
Mary
country, town
England, London
company
Ford, Sony
shop, restaurant
Maceys, McDonalds
month, day of the week
January, Sunday
book, film
War and Peace, Titanic
Capital Letters with Proper Nouns
RULE: We always use a Capital Letter for the first letter of a name or proper noun. This includes names of people, places, companies, days of the week and months. For example:
They like Anthony. (not They like anthony.)
I live in England.
She works for Sony.
The last day in January is a Monday.
We saw Titanic in the Odeon Cinema.
In normal grammatical writing, there are NO exceptions to this rule. Sometimes, however, for stylistic reasons, people may choose to ignore the rule to give their writing a unique or "modern" look. This is typically seen in advertisements or company logos. For correct writing, and especially in exams, we recommend that you observe the rule without fail.
Proper Nouns without THE
We do not use "the" with names of people. For example:
first names
Bill (notthe Bill)
Hilary
surnames
Clinton
Gates
full names
Hilary Gates
We do not normally use "the" with names of companies. For example:
If the full (registered) name of a company starts with "The", then we use "The" if we use the full name, for example:
The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd
In this case, "The" is part of the company's name and must be capitalised, like all names.
We do not normally use "the" for shops, banks, hotels etc named after a founder or other person (with -'s or -s). For example:
shops
Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Maceys
banks
Barclays Bank
hotels, restaurants
Steve's Hotel, Joe's Cafe, McDonalds
churches, cathedrals
St John's Church, St Peter's Cathedral
We do not normally use "the" with names of places. For example:
towns
Washington (notThe Washington), Paris, Tokyo
states, regions
Texas, Kent, Eastern Europe
countries
England, Italy, Brazil
continents
Asia, Europe, North America
islands
Corsica
mountains
Everest
Exception! If a country name includes "States","Kingdom", "Republic" etc, we use "the":
states
the United States, the US, the United States of America, the USA
kingdom
the United Kingdom, the UK
republic
the French Republic
We do not use "the" with "President/Doctor/Mr etc + Name":
the president, the king
President Bush (notthe President Bush)
the captain, the detective
Captain Kirk, Detective Colombo
the doctor, the professor
Doctor Well, Dr Well, Professor Dolittle
my uncle, your aunt
Uncle Jack, Aunt Jill
Mr Gates (notthe Mr Gates), Mrs Clinton, Miss Black
Look at these example sentences:
I wanted to speak to the doctor.
I wanted to speak to Doctor Brown.
Who was the president before President Kennedy?
We do not use "the" with "Lake/Mount + Name":
the lake
Lake Victoria
the mount
Mount Everest
Look at this example sentence:
We live beside Lake Victoria. We have a fantastic view across the lake.
We do not normally use "the" for roads, streets, squares, parks etc:
streets etc
Oxford Street, Trenholme Road, Fifth Avenue
squares etc
Trafalgar Square, Oundle Place, Piccadilly Circus
parks etc
Central Park, Kew Gardens
Many big, important buildings have names made of two words (for example, Kennedy Airport). If the first word is the name of a person or place, we do not normally use "the":
people
Kennedy Airport, Alexander Palace, St Paul's Cathedral
We normally use "the" for country names that include "States","Kingdom", "Republic" etc:
States
the United States of America/the USA
Kingdom
the United Kingdom/the UK
Republic
the French Republic
We normally use "the" for names of canals, rivers, seas and oceans:
canals
the Suez Canal
rivers
the River Nile, the Nile
seas
the Mediterranean Sea, the Mediterranean
oceans
the Pacific Ocean, the Pacific
We normally use "the" for plural names of people and places:
people (families, for example)
the Clintons
countries
the Philippines, the United States
island groups
the Virgin Islands, the British Isles
mountain ranges
the Himalayas, the Alps
Look at these sentences:
I saw the Clintons today. It was Bill's birthday.
Trinidad is the largest island in the West Indies.
Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.
We normally use "the" with the following sorts of names:
hotels, restaurants
the Ritz Hotel, the Peking Restaurant
banks
the National Westminster Bank
cinemas, theatres
the Royal Theatre, the ABC Cinema
museums
the British Museum, the National Gallery
buildings
the White House, the Crystal Palace
newspapers
the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Post
organisations
the United Nations, the BBC, the European Union
We normally use "the" for names made with "of":
the Tower of London
the Gulf of Siam
the Tropic of Cancer
the London School of Economics
the Bank of France
the Statue of Liberty
Proper Nouns
Your name is a proper noun. A proper noun is the special word that we use for a person, place or organization, like John, Marie, London, France or Sony. A name is a noun, but a very special noun - a proper noun. English proper nouns have special rules.
common noun
proper noun
man, boy
John
woman, girl
Mary
country, town
England, London
company
Ford, Sony
shop, restaurant
Maceys, McDonalds
month, day of the week
January, Sunday
book, film
War and Peace, Titanic
Capital Letters with Proper Nouns
RULE: We always use a Capital Letter for the first letter of a name or proper noun. This includes names of people, places, companies, days of the week and months. For example:
They like Anthony. (not They like anthony.)
I live in England.
She works for Sony.
The last day in January is a Monday.
We saw Titanic in the Odeon Cinema.
In normal grammatical writing, there are NO exceptions to this rule. Sometimes, however, for stylistic reasons, people may choose to ignore the rule to give their writing a unique or "modern" look. This is typically seen in advertisements or company logos. For correct writing, and especially in exams, we recommend that you observe the rule without fail.
Proper Nouns without THE
We do not use "the" with names of people. For example:
first names
Bill (notthe Bill)
Hilary
surnames
Clinton
Gates
full names
Hilary Gates
We do not normally use "the" with names of companies. For example:
If the full (registered) name of a company starts with "The", then we use "The" if we use the full name, for example:
The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd
In this case, "The" is part of the company's name and must be capitalised, like all names.
We do not normally use "the" for shops, banks, hotels etc named after a founder or other person (with -'s or -s). For example:
shops
Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Maceys
banks
Barclays Bank
hotels, restaurants
Steve's Hotel, Joe's Cafe, McDonalds
churches, cathedrals
St John's Church, St Peter's Cathedral
We do not normally use "the" with names of places. For example:
towns
Washington (notThe Washington), Paris, Tokyo
states, regions
Texas, Kent, Eastern Europe
countries
England, Italy, Brazil
continents
Asia, Europe, North America
islands
Corsica
mountains
Everest
Exception! If a country name includes "States","Kingdom", "Republic" etc, we use "the":
states
the United States, the US, the United States of America, the USA
kingdom
the United Kingdom, the UK
republic
the French Republic
We do not use "the" with "President/Doctor/Mr etc + Name":
the president, the king
President Bush (notthe President Bush)
the captain, the detective
Captain Kirk, Detective Colombo
the doctor, the professor
Doctor Well, Dr Well, Professor Dolittle
my uncle, your aunt
Uncle Jack, Aunt Jill
Mr Gates (notthe Mr Gates), Mrs Clinton, Miss Black
Look at these example sentences:
I wanted to speak to the doctor.
I wanted to speak to Doctor Brown.
Who was the president before President Kennedy?
We do not use "the" with "Lake/Mount + Name":
the lake
Lake Victoria
the mount
Mount Everest
Look at this example sentence:
We live beside Lake Victoria. We have a fantastic view across the lake.
We do not normally use "the" for roads, streets, squares, parks etc:
streets etc
Oxford Street, Trenholme Road, Fifth Avenue
squares etc
Trafalgar Square, Oundle Place, Piccadilly Circus
parks etc
Central Park, Kew Gardens
Many big, important buildings have names made of two words (for example, Kennedy Airport). If the first word is the name of a person or place, we do not normally use "the":
people
Kennedy Airport, Alexander Palace, St Paul's Cathedral
We normally use "the" for country names that include "States","Kingdom", "Republic" etc:
States
the United States of America/the USA
Kingdom
the United Kingdom/the UK
Republic
the French Republic
We normally use "the" for names of canals, rivers, seas and oceans:
canals
the Suez Canal
rivers
the River Nile, the Nile
seas
the Mediterranean Sea, the Mediterranean
oceans
the Pacific Ocean, the Pacific
We normally use "the" for plural names of people and places:
people (families, for example)
the Clintons
countries
the Philippines, the United States
island groups
the Virgin Islands, the British Isles
mountain ranges
the Himalayas, the Alps
Look at these sentences:
I saw the Clintons today. It was Bill's birthday.
Trinidad is the largest island in the West Indies.
Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.
We normally use "the" with the following sorts of names:
hotels, restaurants
the Ritz Hotel, the Peking Restaurant
banks
the National Westminster Bank
cinemas, theatres
the Royal Theatre, the ABC Cinema
museums
the British Museum, the National Gallery
buildings
the White House, the Crystal Palace
newspapers
the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Post
organisations
the United Nations, the BBC, the European Union
We normally use "the" for names made with "of":
the Tower of London
the Gulf of Siam
the Tropic of Cancer
the London School of Economics
the Bank of France
the Statue of Liberty
Proper Nouns
Your name is a proper noun. A proper noun is the special word that we use for a person, place or organization, like John, Marie, London, France or Sony. A name is a noun, but a very special noun - a proper noun. English proper nouns have special rules.
common noun
proper noun
man, boy
John
woman, girl
Mary
country, town
England, London
company
Ford, Sony
shop, restaurant
Maceys, McDonalds
month, day of the week
January, Sunday
book, film
War and Peace, Titanic
Capital Letters with Proper Nouns
RULE: We always use a Capital Letter for the first letter of a name or proper noun. This includes names of people, places, companies, days of the week and months. For example:
They like Anthony. (not They like anthony.)
I live in England.
She works for Sony.
The last day in January is a Monday.
We saw Titanic in the Odeon Cinema.
In normal grammatical writing, there are NO exceptions to this rule. Sometimes, however, for stylistic reasons, people may choose to ignore the rule to give their writing a unique or "modern" look. This is typically seen in advertisements or company logos. For correct writing, and especially in exams, we recommend that you observe the rule without fail.
Proper Nouns without THE
We do not use "the" with names of people. For example:
first names
Bill (notthe Bill)
Hilary
surnames
Clinton
Gates
full names
Hilary Gates
We do not normally use "the" with names of companies. For example:
If the full (registered) name of a company starts with "The", then we use "The" if we use the full name, for example:
The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd
In this case, "The" is part of the company's name and must be capitalised, like all names.
We do not normally use "the" for shops, banks, hotels etc named after a founder or other person (with -'s or -s). For example:
shops
Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Maceys
banks
Barclays Bank
hotels, restaurants
Steve's Hotel, Joe's Cafe, McDonalds
churches, cathedrals
St John's Church, St Peter's Cathedral
We do not normally use "the" with names of places. For example:
towns
Washington (notThe Washington), Paris, Tokyo
states, regions
Texas, Kent, Eastern Europe
countries
England, Italy, Brazil
continents
Asia, Europe, North America
islands
Corsica
mountains
Everest
Exception! If a country name includes "States","Kingdom", "Republic" etc, we use "the":
states
the United States, the US, the United States of America, the USA
kingdom
the United Kingdom, the UK
republic
the French Republic
We do not use "the" with "President/Doctor/Mr etc + Name":
the president, the king
President Bush (notthe President Bush)
the captain, the detective
Captain Kirk, Detective Colombo
the doctor, the professor
Doctor Well, Dr Well, Professor Dolittle
my uncle, your aunt
Uncle Jack, Aunt Jill
Mr Gates (notthe Mr Gates), Mrs Clinton, Miss Black
Look at these example sentences:
I wanted to speak to the doctor.
I wanted to speak to Doctor Brown.
Who was the president before President Kennedy?
We do not use "the" with "Lake/Mount + Name":
the lake
Lake Victoria
the mount
Mount Everest
Look at this example sentence:
We live beside Lake Victoria. We have a fantastic view across the lake.
We do not normally use "the" for roads, streets, squares, parks etc:
streets etc
Oxford Street, Trenholme Road, Fifth Avenue
squares etc
Trafalgar Square, Oundle Place, Piccadilly Circus
parks etc
Central Park, Kew Gardens
Many big, important buildings have names made of two words (for example, Kennedy Airport). If the first word is the name of a person or place, we do not normally use "the":
people
Kennedy Airport, Alexander Palace, St Paul's Cathedral
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