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Common Nouns
What Are Common Nouns?
A common noun is the generic name for a person, place, or thing, e.g., boy, town, lake, bridge.Common nouns contrast with proper nouns, which are the given names (or titles) we give to things, e.g., Peter, New York, Lake Superior, London Bridge.
Common nouns are written with lowercase letters (unless they start a sentence), and proper nouns are written with uppercase letters.
Table of Contents
- Examples of Common Nouns and Proper Nouns
- "Find the Common Noun" Test
- Real-Life Examples of Common Nouns
- Categories of Common Noun
- Video Lesson
- Why Common Nouns Are Important
- Printable Test

Examples of Common Nouns and Proper Nouns
The difference between common nouns and proper nouns becomes obvious when they're listed side by side.(written with lowercase letters) | (written using capital letters) |
---|---|
car | Ford Focus |
lake | Lake Baikal |
material | Harris Tweed |
ocean | The Atlantic Ocean |
restaurant | Burger King |
soldier | Corporal Jones |
supermarket | Walmart |
tea | Earl Grey |
"Find the Common Noun" Test
Click on the Two Common Nouns
(Interactive Game)
Real-Life Examples of Common Nouns
In the following examples, the common nouns are in bold and the proper nouns are shaded:- I've been in a lot of castles, and they're pretty gloomy. However, I love Windsor Castle. (Author Tracie Peterson)
- With members all around the globe, the Flat Earth Society believes the Earth is flat and horizontally infinite. (Globe is a common noun, but Earth isn't. Earth is the name of our planet.)
- Turkeys aren't from Turkey, but there are lots of turkeys in Turkey. (A common noun is written with a lowercase letter unless it starts a sentence.)
Categories of Common Noun
Every common noun can be categorized as at least one of following types of noun:Noun Type | Description | Examples |
---|---|---|
An Abstract Noun | Abstract nouns are things you cannot see or touch | hate, happiness, determination |
A Collective Noun | Collective nouns describe groups | jury, team, school |
A Compound Noun | Compound nouns are nouns made up of more than one word | paperclip, court-martial, sister-in-law |
A Concrete Noun | Concrete nouns are things you can see or touch | table, cup, rain |
A Countable Noun | Countable nouns are ones with a singular and plural form. They are things you can count. | pen (pens), wall (walls), animal (animals) |
A Non-countable Noun (Mass Nouns) | Non-countable nouns are things you cannot count | air, music, oxygen |
A Gender-specific Noun | Gender-specific nouns are things which are definitely male or female | vixen, waitress, actress |
Verbal Noun | Verbal nouns represent actions | writing, dancing, thinking). (Verbal nouns have no verb-like qualities.) |
Gerund | Gerunds represent actions | writing, dancing, thinking). (Gerunds contrast with verbal nouns because they can have verb-like qualities; e.g., they can be modified by adverbs and take an object.) |
Are you a visual learner? Do you prefer video to text? Here is a list of all our grammar videos.
Here are five noteworthy points related to common nouns and lowercase letters:
(Point 1) A common noun is not written with a capital letter unless it starts a sentence.
Do not be tempted to give a word a capital letter just because it's an important word in your sentence. In the following four examples, the words in bold are common nouns and should have lowercase letters.- We value our Clients' opinions.
- Lisa, Vampires are make-believe, like elves, gremlins, and Eskimos.
(Homer Simpson)
(Vampires is wrong. Eskimos is correct.)
- We live in an age when Pizza gets to your home before the Police.
(Point 2) Write the seasons with lowercase letters.
The seasons are not written with capital letters unless they form part of a name.- This winter, I will spend a week at Winter Mountain River.
- I booked a ticket for the Rhine Summer Ball/span> last autumn.
(Point 3) Write the points of the compass with lowercase letters.
Do not use a capital letter for north, south, east, or west (i.e., the points of the compass) unless the word forms part of a name.- Take ten paces East and then dig.
- To get to West Ham, go north then west.
- I live in The East. (There is a lot of leniency on whether to capitalize The. Few would argue that the region is called The East as opposed to East, but, for many, the capital T looks too unwieldy. There is more on this subject in the entry on definite articles.)
- How well the area is defined? (consider South Africa (well defined) and southern Africa (not well defined))
- How common is the term?
- What would your readers expect?
- How does each version look aesthetically when written?
(Point 4) Write the Sun and the Moon with capital letters.
Our moon is called the Moon, and our sun is called the Sun. Therefore, the words to denote our moon and our sun can be either proper nouns or common nouns depending on context.- The moon orbiting Earth is called The Moon name of our moon) is a proper noun. That's why it has a capital letter.)
- Are all suns as hot as The Sun?
- The largest moon orbiting Jupiter is Ganymede.
- I'm going to take the dog for a walk. Where is Dog's lead?
(Point 5) Write terms like Director and Claims Department with capital letters if they refer to specific people or departments.
With job titles and the names of departments particularly, it's sometimes unclear whether a term is a common noun or a proper noun. What's a company's claims department called? The Claims Department, I'd guess. So, it can be a common noun or a proper noun depending on context.Treat such terms as proper nouns (i.e., treat them like titles and give them capital letters) when they refer to specific people or offices, otherwise use lowercase letters.
- The President is my favourite president.
- The Commanding Officer thought he'd never be a commanding officer.
- I know my Dad is looking down on us. He's not dead – just very condescending.
(Comedian Jack Whitehall)
(Terms like mum/mom/mam and dad are given capital letters when they refer to a specific parent.)
- Don't give a word a capital letter just because it's an important word in your sentence.
- The seasons and the points of the compass are written with lowercase letters (unless they're part of a name, i.e., part of a proper noun).
- Our sun and moon are called The Sun and The Moon, which complicates things. This'll help (most of the time): If they're preceded by the word the, give them a capital letter.
- With terms like Mum, Director, and Finance Department, use capital letters when they refer to specific people or offices.
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