Common nouns and Proper nouns

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.