Common and Proper Nouns Capitalization

By: Kaley and Aimar

What is a common noun?

Common nouns are the general names of people, places, and things.

These types of nouns are usually not capitalized unless they are the first word of a sentence.

What is a proper noun?

Proper nouns are the names of a specific person, place, or thing.

The basic rule of proper nouns is that the first letter is capitalized.

Common noun examples

• woman

• city

• ocean

Ex: The woman in the restaurant lives in the city.

The common nouns woman, restaurant, and city in the sentence need to be written in lowercase since the nouns are not referring to any one or anything in specific.

Proper noun examples

• Aimar Sandoval

• San Francisco

• Pacific Ocean

Ex: When Michelle Obama went to New York City she went to Starbucks.

The proper nouns Michelle Obama, New York City, and Starbucks in the sentence have to be capitalized since they are referring to a specific person, city and place.

Question # 1

1. A proper noun for the common noun “actress” would be _____.

a. she

b. Beyoncé

c. performer

The correct answer is B!

Because “she” and “performer” are not proper nouns like Beyoncé as it refers to an actress in specific.

You can tell by how it’s capitalized too.

Question # 2

Q. A common noun for the proper noun “Washington DC” would be ______.

a. city

b. Virginia

c. it

The correct is A!

Because “Virginia” is referring to a specific place and “it” could be anything whereas it’s asking for the common noun of “Washington DC” that could only be city.