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The Common Noun

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Muhammad Rizam Hj Bakri
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121 views2 pages

The Common Noun

Uploaded by

Muhammad Rizam Hj Bakri
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE COMMON NOUN

Recognize a common noun when you see one.

Nouns name people, places, and things. Every noun can further be classified as
common or proper. A common noun names general items.

 Go into the kitchen. What do you see? Refrigerator, magnet, stove,


window, coffee maker, wallpaper, spatula, sink, plate—all of these things
are common nouns.
 Leave the house. Where can you go? Mall, restaurant, school, post office,
backyard, beach, pet store, supermarket, gas station—all of these places
are common nouns.
 Go to the mall. Who do you see? Teenager, grandmother, salesclerk,
police officer, toddler, manager, window dresser, janitor, shoplifter—all of
these people are common nouns.

The important thing to remember is that common nouns are general names.
Thus, they are not capitalized unless they begin a sentence or are part of a title.
Proper nouns, those that name specific things, do require capitalization.

Notice the difference in the chart below:

Common Noun Proper Noun


coffee shop Starbucks
waiter Simon
jeans Levi's
sandwich Big Mac
chair Roll-O-Rocker
arena Amway Arena
country Australia
fire fighter Captain Richard Orsini
Here are some sample sentences:

Although there are five other chairs in the living room, everyone in Jim's family
fights to sit in the puffy new Roll-O-Rocker.

Chairs = common noun; Roll-O-Rocker = proper noun.

Harriet threw the stale cucumber sandwich in the trash can and fantasized about
a Big Mac dripping with special sauce.

Sandwich = common noun; Big Mac = proper noun.

Because we like an attentive waiter, we always ask for Simon when we eat at
Mama Rizzoni's Pizzeria.

Waiter = common noun; Simon = proper noun.

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