Common Noun & Proper Noun

• A noun is the name of a thing, place, or person, e.g., chair, book, cup, room, doctor, New York, London.

Nouns are broadly categorized into two types:

1. Common Noun
2. Proper Noun

Common nouns and proper nouns are also known as generic nouns and particular nouns, respectively.

1. Common Noun

A common noun is the name of a common, general or non-specific thing, place, or person.

Examples: book, pen, car, room, garden, boy, girl, man, camera, month, day. Each of these refers to a general or common entity.

A common noun refers to something as a member of a group of similar items. In such cases, there is no intention to specify a particular entity, as the reference is general.

Common nouns are used to represent an individual as a member of a group or class of similar items. There is no intention to specify a particular instance, as the reference is inherently general.

Example 1:

• He eats an apple daily.

In this sentence, apple is a common noun. It represents any apple as a member of the general class of apples, rather than a specific apple.

Example 2:

• She bought a camera.
  

In this sentence, camera is a common noun. It refers to any camera as a general device used for photography, rather than a specific one.

2. Proper Noun

A proper noun is the name of a particular or specific person, place, or thing.

Examples: Oxford University, London, America, David, John, limousine car, August, Sunday. Each of these refers to a unique entity.

Proper nouns do not denote general categories; they identify specific items. For instance:

• City is a common noun because there can be many cities, but London is a proper noun because it is a specific city.
• University is a common noun, while Oxford University refers to a specific institution.
• Monthis a common noun, whereas April denotes a particular month.

■ Capitalization of Proper Nouns

The first letter of a proper noun is always capitalized. Common nouns are not capitalized, but are capitalized only when they come at the beginning of a sentence.

Examples:

They live in London.
She helped David.
He studies at the University of Glasgow.
He will come here in August.
The meeting will be held on Friday.
The author of this book is John Stephen.
He says that Bill Gates is the richest person in the word.

■ Rules for Using the Article “The” with Proper Nouns

The article the is sometimes used before proper nouns. The following rules clarify its usage:

1. The is not used before the names of cities or countries, e.g., Paris, London, New York, Canada, America, Mexico. However, it is used for groups of places, e.g., the United States, the Netherlands, the Philippines.
2. The is not used before university names written as Yale University, Oxford University, or Columbia University. It is used when the name includes of, e.g., the University of Oxford, the University of Toronto.
3. The is used before names combining a common noun with a proper noun, as the common noun is specified by the proper noun, e.g., the River Nile, the city of New York, the BMW car.
4. The is used before names of oceans, seas, rivers, deserts, and forests (except lakes and waterfalls), e.g., the Pacific Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Sahara, the Black Forest.
5. The is used before names of geographical regions and points on the globe, e.g., the Middle East, the West, the Equator, the North Pole.
6. The is used before names of organizations, e.g., the Association of Chartered Accountants, the World Health Organization.