Common and Proper Nouns

Common and Proper Nouns

English 6

Objectives

• Identify nouns in a sentence.

• Distinguish between common and proper nouns.

Recap: Nouns

• A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.

  There are several kinds of nouns, including concrete and abstract nouns, compound and collective nouns, and common and proper nouns.

• Today we will be focusing on common and proper nouns.

Before we begin...

Find all the nouns in the following paragraph.

• Explorers have trekked across the earth. The ocean, however, is still a big mystery. Today, scientists are exploring deeper and deeper water in a bathysphere. A bathysphere is a big ball made of metal. Divers can watch strange fish through its windows. Some bathyspheres have doors. People can go out and look around as long as they have tanks of air. They have discovered high mountains and deep valleys under the water. Some of these valleys are quite deep.

Find all the nouns in the following paragraph.

• Explorers have trekked across the earth. The ocean, however, is still a big mystery. Today, scientists are exploring deeper and deeper water in a bathysphere. A bathysphere is a big ball made of metal. Divers can watch strange fish through its windows. Some bathyspheres have doors. People can go out and look around as long as they have tanks of air. They have discovered high mountains and deep valleys under the water. Some of these valleys are quite deep.

A common noun names any person, place, or thing.

​

A proper noun names a particular person, place, or thing.

Proper nouns are always capitalized and common nouns are only capitalized when they appear in a title or at the beginning of a sentence.

• Common Noun

  girl

  country

  book

• Proper Noun

  Amy Clark

  United States

  Twilight

Poll

Quick Check:

Are all proper nouns capitalized?

• Yes

• No

Multiple Choice

Read each word and label it as a common or proper noun.

pigeon

• common

• proper

Multiple Choice

Read each word and label it as a common or proper noun.

house

• common

• proper

Multiple Choice

Read each word and label it as a common or proper noun.

White House

• common

• proper

Multiple Choice

Read each word and label it as a common or proper noun.

student

• common

• proper

Multiple Choice

Read each word and label it as a common or proper noun.

Jackie Burkhart

• common

• proper

Multiple Choice

What change should be made in this sentence?

The cafeteria is serving hamburgers on wednesday.

• Change cafeteria to Cafeteria

• Change hamburgers to Hamburgers

• Change wednesday to Wednesday

• No change is needed

Multiple Choice

What change should be made to this sentence?

Let's order chinese food for dinner.

• Change food to Food

• Change dinner to Dinner

• Change chinese food to Chinese Food

• Change chinese food to Chinese food

Multiple Choice

What is the correct way to write this sentence?

The winter months are december, january, and february.

• The Winter months are December, January, and February.

• The winter months are December, January, and February.

• The Winter months are december, january, and february.

• The winter Months are December, January, and February.

Multiple Choice

What is the correct way to write this sentence?

My father can speak german and french.

• My father can speak German and French.

• My father can speak German and french.

• My Father can speak German and French.

• My Father can speak german and french.

Multiple Choice

What change, if any, should be made to this sentence?

During the civil war, many relatives fought against each other.

• Change civil war to Civil war

• Change relatives to Relatives

• Change civil war to Civil War

• No change is needed

Let's Review...

• A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.

• A common noun names any person, place, or thing.

• A proper noun names a particular person, place, or thing.