Common Noun

Definition of Common Nouns

Common nouns refer to common names of something such as a place, object or person. For example, teacher, fruit, vegetable, parent, etc.

Examples of Common Nouns

Common name of a person: doctor, engineer, artist
Common name of a place: country, city, town
Common name of an object: table, computer, plane
Common name of an animal: bird, insect, dog

Examples of Common Nouns in Sentences

1. The dog barked loudly in the park.
2. She placed the hot pizza on the table.
3. The Sun set behind the mountains, painting the sky in vibrant hues.
4. I bought a new book to read over the weekend.
5. Children played in the garden under the warm afternoon sun.
6. The car zoomed past us on the highway.
7. My sister made a delicious cake for my birthday.
8. We sat on the couch and watched a movie together.
9. The river flowed gently, reflecting the trees on its surface.
10. He wore a bright red hat to stand out in the crowd.

List of Common Nouns

When to Use Common Nouns?

1. Common nouns are used when we refer to general objects without specifying a particular one. For example, bags, trains, shoes, etc.
2. They are used when we talk about generic categories of people or animals. For example, architect, model, driver, etc. 
3. They are used for general locations or general places. For example, beach, school, mountain, etc. 

Mistakes with Common Nouns

While using common nouns, students often make mistakes like:

1. Always capitalising first letter: Starting letter of a common noun will be capitalised only if it appears at the beginning of a sentence or if it is a part of a title. For example, students write " The dog was barking at a Woman" instead of "The dog was barking at a woman."
   
   
2. Not using plural form: Students often forget to add "s" or "es" to make a common noun plural. For example, many will write "I own two car" instead of writing "I own two cars". 
   
   
3. Confusion with singular and plural nouns: Students often need clarification with singular and plural nouns. For example, if they see the word 'jeans' because of an added 's' many would think that it is a plural noun. Whereas, it is a singular noun. 

Click Here to Read About: Collective Noun

How to Identify Common Nouns in a Sentence?

1. First, we should look for words in a sentence that name places, objects or people.
2. The next step is to eliminate all the proper nouns. Unlike common nouns, proper nouns specify an object, animal or people. Excluding all the proper nouns will make it easier to find common nouns.
3. By looking for plural forms, we can easily identify common nouns.

Difference Between Common Noun and Proper Noun

Common noun and proper noun are two types of nouns in English grammar:

FAQs

1. What are common nouns?

Answer: All the general names of people, places, animals or things are known as common nouns. Since common nouns are not unique, they are not capitalised except when they appear at the beginning of a sentence.

2. How common nouns are different from proper nouns?

Answer: The main difference between common noun and proper nouns is that common noun refer to general names of people, animals, and organisations whereas, proper nouns are used to refer to specific and unique names of people, places, animals or organisations. Examples of common nouns are trainer, cousin, coach and examples of proper nouns are Angela, Toby, Rio

3. Give some examples of common nouns.

Answer: Some examples of common nouns are company, government, staff, date, game, member, beach, park