There are two main types of nouns: common nouns and proper nouns.

Common Nouns

Words for people, places and things are called common nouns.

These common nouns are words for  things.

ruler   chair   hammer   bicycle   truth

pen   table   saw   ship   calculator

crayons   sofa   axe   truck   television

pencil   loyalty   drill   ferry   fridge

book   lamp   ladder   train   cooker

dictionary   carpet   lawnmower   bus   computer

courage   telephone   spade   laziness   printer

These common nouns are words for  animals. Notice that special names for young animals  are included.

animal                         its young

dog                              puppy

cat                               kitten

cow                              calf

horse                           foal

sheep                         lamb

goat                            kid

frog                             tadpole

These common nouns are words for places.

bank   airport

library   park

museum   farm

mall   zoo

theater   factory

hospital   nursery 

school   post office

office   restaurant

mosque   supermarket

temple   stadium

shop   synagogue

gym   church

These common nouns are words for people who do certain things.

singer   manager   sailor   gardener

dancer   secretary   pilot   police officer

artist   teacher   driver   plumber

photographer   doctor   writer   farmer

magician   dentist   friend   clerk

athlete   lawyer   brother   technician

Proper Nouns

The names of particular people, places and things are proper nouns. They always begin with a capital letter.

These people’s names are proper nouns.

Robin Hood   Florence Nightingale   Mom   Miss Park

Aladdin   Muhammad Ali   Dad   Mrs. Taylor

Frankenstein   George Washington   Granny   Mr. Young

Harry Potter   David Beckham   Grandad   Dr. Lee

Santa Claus   Julia Roberts   Uncle David   Professor Raj

Mahatma Gandhi   Nelson Mandela   Aunt   Diana Jose

Confucius   Alex Rodriguez   Ms. Hall   Yang Ming

The names of the days of the week and the months of the year are proper nouns.

Monday January July

Tuesday February August

Wednesday March September

Thursday April October

Friday May November

Saturday June December

Sunday

The names of special days and celebrations are also proper nouns.

New Year’s Day Veterans' Day

Mother’s Day Thanksgiving

Independence Day Memorial Day

Valentine’s Day Halloween

Labor Day Christmas

Ramadan Yom Kippur

The names of famous places, buildings and monuments are proper nouns.

Big Ben the Empire State Building

the Sphinx the Taj Mahal

Graceland the Eiffel Tower

the Grand Canyon the Golden Gate Bridge

the Sydney Opera House the Great Wall of China

Buckingham Palace Chaco Canyon Pueblo

the Leaning Tower of Pisa the Statue of Liberty

The names of people who live in a particular country are also proper nouns.

Afghanistan Afghans

Australia Australians

Britain the British

China the Chinese

France the French

Germany Germans

India Indians

Indonesia Indonesians

Italy Italians

Japan the Japanese

Korea Koreans

Malaysia Malaysians