Proper nouns and common nouns

One way of classifying nouns is to identify them as proper nouns or common nouns.

Proper nouns name specific people, places, organisations or objects. They start with a capital letter.

Examples:

• Ivan
• Anna
• Harry Potter
• Paris
• The River Nile
• The Kremlin
• Aeroflot

Titles of books, films, plays, records and so on are regarded as proper nouns. Only the main words start with capital letters.

Examples:

• Lord of the Rings
• Star Wars
• The Tower of London
• Three Men in a Boat

The days of the week and the months of the year are regarded as proper nouns and therefore start with a capital letter.

Examples:

• Wednesday
• June

Common nouns are all the other nouns that are not proper nouns. They do not refer to things that are unique.

Examples:

• book
• flowers
• street
• television
• woodpecker
• films

Some words can be proper nouns or common nouns, depending on the context.

Examples:

• a king (common noun – it could be any king)
• the King (proper noun – it refers to a particular person)
• road (common noun – it could be any road)
• Cameron Road (proper noun – it refers to a particular road)