Meaning & use
proper noun
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Meaning
nouncountabletechnical
A noun that names one particular person, place or thing and is written with a capital letter, such as London or Maria.
Grammar: Usually no article and no plural: Paris is lovely, not a Paris.
Patterns
- capitalize a proper noun
Always write a proper noun such as Canada with a capital letter.
In the sentence, 'Tom' is a proper noun and 'boy' is a common noun.
Brand names like Google are treated as proper nouns.
Word forms
| plural | proper nouns |
|---|
Common combinations
- capitalize a proper noun
- Remember to capitalize each proper noun.
- common noun and proper noun
- Students sort words into common noun and proper noun lists.
- a proper noun such as
- A proper noun such as Everest names one mountain.
- underline the proper noun
- Underline the proper noun in each sentence.
Synonyms and how they differ
- name
- Name is an everyday word, whereas proper noun is the grammatical term for a word class.
- proper name
- Proper name is nearly identical but often refers to the specific name itself, not the word class.
Opposites
Word family
- noun noun
- a word naming a person, place or thing
- proper adjective
- correct or appropriate, and here meaning specific to one
- capitalization noun
- the use of capital letters
Commonly confused: proper noun or common noun?
proper noun vs common noun
A common noun names a general class, like city, and takes no capital letter unless it begins a sentence. A proper noun names one specific example, like Tokyo.
Practice
Which word is a proper noun?
Choose one answer.
Amazon names one particular river, so it is a proper noun. River, country and mountain are general common nouns.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “proper noun”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.