Grammar Unit 1.1: Nouns – Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

What are Nouns?

Nouns are names of people, animals, things, places, or qualities.

There are two ways to categorise nouns: Common nouns and Proper nouns

Common Nouns

Common nouns are generic names of people, animals, things, places, or qualities.

• These names are names of common everyday nouns.
• Begin with capital letters if they appear at the start of a sentence.
• Do not start with capital letters if they appear in the middle or at the end of a sentence.

Examples of common nouns:

• human
• person
• boy
• girl
• man
• woman
• parent
• spouse
• sheep
• lion
• dove
• dog
• cat
• mouse
• tree
• flower
• fruit
• vegetable
• table
• chair
• pencil
• pen
• eraser
• ruler
• bank
• house
• school

How to use common nouns in a sentence:

1. School is meant to be fun, but has become a boring place.
2. I do not want to go to school today.

Proper Nouns

Proper nouns are specific names of people, animals, places, things, or qualities.

• These names we give to specific nouns.
• Begin with capital letters all the time.

Examples of proper nouns:

• Tony Stark
• Peter Parker
• Steve Rogers
• Iron Man
• Spiderman
• Captain America
• Adam
• Eve
• Moses
• David
• Elijah
• Mr. Lee
• Mrs. Smith
• Ms. Baker
• Starbucks Coffee
• Orchard Road
• Singapore
• Israel
• Japan
• United States of America

How to use proper nouns:

1. Mr. Lee is going to Japan for a holiday.
2. The name of my dog is Biscuit.
3. My name is Peter Parker.