For describing the difference between the common noun and proper noun we should understand that what is a common noun and what is a proper noun. After understanding both then we can make a comparison between them.
Common noun:
The name of a person place thing or idea is called a noun. The noun is further classified into many types one of the main types of a noun is a common noun. A common noun is used for naming the general things, not for the specific things. A common noun donates the general name for something. A common noun is a word that used to name a general item.
As an example: Chair, book, copy, boy, girl, computer, car, pen, pencil, etc.
Some example sentences of a common noun:
- Pass me that book.
- She comes from a noble family.
- It is a cat.
- The boy went up the hill.
- People are strange.
- The baby is crying.
In the above sentences, all the underlined words are common nouns.
Proper noun:
Proper is a name of a specific person place thing or idea. Proper nouns generally use for a particular person place thing or idea. A proper noun always starts with a capital letter.
As an example: Ali, Ahmed, Islamabad, Pakistan, Japan, etc.
Some example sentences of a proper noun:
- Ali is a good player.
- Swat is a beautiful city in Pakistan.
- Amazon is a beautiful river.
- Sara is my best friend.
- This is my English notebook.
- She was born in Japan.
- Ali lives in Dubai.
So in the above sentences, all the name of a particular person place thing or idea is a proper noun.
Difference between a common noun and proper noun:
There are two main types of nouns. One is common and the other is a proper noun. A common noun is a word that used to name a general item. A common noun is used for naming the general things, not for the specific things. A common noun donates the general name for something. Proper is a name of a specific person place thing or idea. Proper nouns generally use for a particular person place thing or idea. For a particular person place thing or an idea we use the proper noun and for a specific person place thing or an idea we use a common noun. So this is the main difference between the common noun and the proper noun.