Difference Between Common and Proper Nouns with Examples

A noun is a figure of speech used to identify a person, place, or thing. Nouns are mainly divided into common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns are used to name persons, places, or things belonging to the same class. They usually start with a small letter. For example, girl, boy, man, woman, lady, baby, child, etc.

Proper nouns are used to name a particular person, place, or a thing. They usually start with a capital letter. For example, Emily, John, David, Seattle, Chicago, Paris, London, Mrs. Jones, etc. Both common and proper nouns play various roles in a sentence. E.g. subject, object (both direct and indirect), object of the preposition, predicate nominative, etc.

Let us learn both these types in detail, with the help of examples.

* Note: Click anywhere on the tables provided below to obtain a print.


A common noun is a common name used for a person, place, or a thing belonging to the same class. It does not start with a capital letter, unless it appears at the beginning of the sentence, or is a part of a title. Common nouns are further divided into singular and plural nouns, mass and count nouns, and abstract and concrete nouns.


Apart from singular and plural, common nouns are also divided into collective nouns. Penlighten has explained collective nouns with examples to help you understand them better.


A proper noun is a specific name given to a person, place, or a thing, and starts with a capital letter. Proper nouns include specific names given to people, pets, months, days of the week, cities, states, countries, newspapers, magazines, books, buildings, monuments, brands, languages, planets, etc.



There are a number of worksheets available on the Internet to test your knowledge about the difference between common and proper nouns. So, solve them, check your score, and keep practicing.