Proper and Common Nouns

A Today you'll learn

Define a noun
Tell the difference between a proper noun and a common noun
Use capital letters correctly for proper nouns

B Let's understand

A noun is a naming word — it names a person, place, animal or thing. A common noun names any person, place or thing in general, like "boy" or "city". A proper noun names a specific person, place or thing, like "Raj" or "Delhi", and always starts with a capital letter.

C See it step by step

Example 1: Worked example

Common noun: girl, city, river — Proper noun: Meera, Mumbai, Ganga

Example 2: Worked example

Common noun: country — Proper noun: India

D Your turn

Which of these is a proper noun?

Look back at "Let's understand" above for a clue.

E Ready to practise?

A noun names a person

A noun names a person, place, animal or thing.

A common noun names any one in general

A common noun names any one in general.

A proper noun names a specific person

A proper noun names a specific person, place or thing.

Key idea 4

Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter.

Key idea 5

Common nouns do not need a capital letter unless starting a sentence.

Warm up

1. Is "teacher" a common or proper noun?

2. Is "Mr Sharma" a common or proper noun?

3. Name a proper noun for a city.

Practise

4. Correct this: my friend lives in delhi.

5. Is "river" common or proper?

6. Give the proper noun for the river in India that is a common noun "river".

Challenge

7. Write one common noun and one proper noun for an animal.

8. Why must proper nouns start with a capital letter?

Download worksheet (PDF)

1. Is "teacher" a common or proper noun?

Common noun

2. Is "Mr Sharma" a common or proper noun?

Proper noun