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Differences between proper nouns and common nouns.
Nouns are classified as either common nouns or proper nouns.
Common nouns refer to general people, places or things, while proper nouns name specific people, places, organizations or entities.
Common nouns refer to general classes of people, places, animals, objects or ideas.
Examples include city, teacher, river, computer and happiness.
Proper nouns identify specific people, places, organizations, events and other unique entities.
Examples include London, Maria, Google, Mount Everest and Christmas.
Proper nouns begin with a capital letter.
Capitalization distinguishes proper nouns from common nouns and follows standard English writing conventions.
Titles may appear before proper nouns and follow capitalization rules.
Examples include Professor Brown, Queen Elizabeth II and Dr Smith.
A common noun becomes a proper noun when it forms part of a specific name.
Compare the river with the River Thames and the university with Oxford University.
Some proper nouns develop common noun meanings through general usage.
Examples include sandwich, diesel, boycott and champagne in certain contexts.
Brand names are proper nouns, but some become generic through widespread use.
Examples include Google, Photoshop and Hoover, though usage varies by region and context.
Many proper nouns consist of two or more words.
Examples include New York City, United Kingdom and Bank of England.
Proper nouns form possessives using the same rules as other nouns.
Examples include James's bicycle, London's museums and the United Nations' headquarters.
Some proper nouns have unique capitalization patterns.
Examples include iPhone, eBay, McDonald's and the lowercase brand name adidas in its official styling.
Distinguish between common nouns and proper nouns and capitalize only proper nouns.
Common mistakes include unnecessary capitalization and failing to capitalize names, countries, languages and nationalities.