Common nouns are general and do not require capitalization, while proper nouns are specific and capitalized. Common nouns can be abstract or concrete, countable or uncountable, and can be collective or compound nouns. Capital letters help distinguish proper nouns.
The common noun simply identifies a person, place, or thing in a common, general way without the need for capitalization. Conversely, proper nouns are used to identify a specific person, place, or thing, and usually require a capital letter. For example, when referring to any “zoo” a common noun is used, but when referring to “San Diego Zoo” a proper noun is used instead.
The main distinguishing factor when identifying common nouns is how they describe something, a place or someone. Common nouns “singer” or “president” are proper and capitalized when used more specifically such as “Madonna” or “Barack Obama.” Even a generic term like “dresser” is common until a brand name is added, like “Broyhill®.”
Typically preceded by an article, such as “a”, “an”, “the”, “this” or “that”, a common noun can describe a person, place or thing as well as several at once. When a common noun has a grouping effect, it is called a collective noun. For example, this sentence shows a common noun that is also a collective noun: “The team won the game.”
When a common noun consists of more than one word, it is called a compound noun. “The fireman has arrived home” uses a common compound noun. Other examples are “policeman,” “blackboard,” and common nouns that can be two words, like “ice cream” or “space station.” These are also referred to as noun phrases.
The key distinction is that common nouns are generalized terms and proper nouns are specific. Capital letters help the reader make this distinction. Common nouns will not be capitalized unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence or as part of a title.
Even common nouns can be abstract or concrete, countable and uncountable. Abstract usages are needed to describe ideas or feelings, such as hate or love. Concrete nouns describing a person or thing seen and heard can be proper or common. “Paul needed to think of a better word” and “The student needed to think of a better word” both use concrete nouns, but the first sentence uses a correct form while the second uses the common form. When grouped together, these nouns can be countable or uncountable. In other words, common nouns like “student,” “beans,” and “chair” are quantifiable, but common nouns like “soil,” “sunshine,” and even “disgust” are considered uncountable because they can’t be measured precisely. in total.
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