Common Noun - Definition, Examples, List & Usage

What is a common noun? and what is the difference between common nouns and proper nouns? You must have this question in your mind. In this article, we will explore more about common nouns and get to know about the differences between a common and proper noun.

What is a Common Noun?

A Noun is a term that refers to a person, animal, place, thing, or idea. All nouns may also be categorized as proper nouns or common nouns.
"Common nouns are words that are used to name broad-sense objects instead of specific things." Common Noun refers to a general term for a person, place, or thing in a class or in a group. In contrast to proper nouns, common nouns are not tried to capitalize unless they initiate a sentence or that seem in a headline. Common nouns can be constructive (sensible), collective (referring to a category or cluster), or nebulous (that included broad qualities or ideas).

Common Noun Definition

"A noun that may occur with limiting modifiers (such as an or an, some, every, and my) and that designates any one of a class of beings or things" is the Merriam-Webster definition of a common noun. A common noun is described as "a noun that is the name of a group of similar things, such as "table" or "book," and not of a single person, place, or thing" by the Cambridge Dictionary.

Common Noun Definition For Kids

A common noun is a general name for any person, place, thing, or idea. It's not the specific name of someone or something. For example, "dog," "city," and "book" are common nouns

Common Nouns Examples

Let's understand the common noun with some examples. Here is the list of some common nouns with the relations they belong to.

Related to Human Beings

•  Man
•  Women
•  Child 
•  Boy
•  Girl
•  Citizen
•  Individual
•  Life
•  Student
•  Businesswomen

Related to Animals

•  Cow
•  Kitten 
•  Goat
•  Dog
•  Deer
•  Donkey 
•  Elephant
•  Horse
•  Lion
•  Buffalo

Related to Insects

• Mosquito
•  Honeybees
•  Ant
•  Beetle
•  Butterfly
•  Grasshopper
• Earthworm
• Ladybug
• Dragonfly
• Cicada

Related to Place

•  Railway station 
•  Junction 
•  Airport 
•  Bus Stand 
•  Clinic  
•  Park
•  Garden
•  Riverbank
•  Beach
•  Jungle

Related to object/things

•  Bike
•  Shoes
•  Bottle 
•  Pencil
•  Mango
•  Car
•  iPod
• Mobile
• Newspaper 
• Cosmetic

Examples of common nouns

• Girl
• Chocolate
• Elephant
• Donkey
• Animal
• Dove
• Bird
• Book
• Carrot
• Shirt

Common Nouns Examples Used in Sentences

• My Car is brand new.
•  I felt sick yesterday, so I skipped school.
•  I was shown images of you as a baby by your mother.
•  Give me the novel of Prem Chandra. 
•  We will go to the park tomorrow. 
•  He was deeply involved in his computer because of his work.
• My favorite toy is lost.
• My niece is like her mother in looks.
• The water of river Gomati is being polluted.

Difference Between Common Nound and Proper Noun

Contrasting common nouns with proper nouns helps to define them. Accordingly, all nouns fall into one of two categories: common or proper, albeit the same noun might serve as both in various circumstances.

• Common Nouns are broad; they typically refer to groups of objects, persons, and locations rather than specific ones. They can be changed by articles, determiners, and adjectives, and are only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence.

• Proper Nouns are the names of certain people, objects, locations, businesses, etc. They are often not modified by articles, determiners, or adjectives, and they are always capitalized. 

To learn about nouns, pronouns, verbs, and more, explore our language articles for detailed explanations and examples.

Nouns & pronouns

• Collective nouns
• Rules of Noun In English Grammar
• Personal pronouns
• Uncountable nouns
• Countable nouns
• Proper nouns

Verbs

• What is a Verb?
• Main Verbs
• Verb Forms
• Helping Verb
• Action Verbs
• Stative Verbs
• Auxiliary Verbs
• What are Irregular Verbs?
• Verb vs. Adverbs
• What is Linking Verb?
• What Are Modal Verbs?
• Modal Verbs
• Active vs passive voice
• Subject-verb agreement

Other

• English Grammar
• Determiners
• Prepositions
• Interjections
• Adjectives