Proper Nouns— Let’s Practise!

Proper Nouns— Let’s Practise! exercise

• Help Goopaw find the proper nouns.

  Hints

  Jack, Boxing Day and Friday are examples of proper nouns.

  Examples of common nouns are school, monkey and pencil.

  Solution

  The correct answers are:

  • Holidays: Christmas, Easter, Halloween
  • Names of People: David, Emma, Michael
  • Days of the Week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

  These are all examples of proper nouns.

  Animals, people and places are common nouns.

• Which words in the sentences are proper nouns?

  Hints

  Check to see if the word is the specific name of a person, place, holiday, product, day of the week or month.

  These words are proper nouns.

  Remember all proper nouns start with a capital letter.

  Some examples of proper nouns are:

  • Easter
  • Matthew
  • Thursday

  Solution

  Above are the sentences with the proper nouns correctly highlighted.

  Proper nouns we capitalise are people, places, holidays, products, days of the week and months.

  1. Choccos is the name of a food product, so it is a proper noun.
  2. Olivia is the name of a person, so it is a proper noun.
  3. Christmas is the name of a holiday, so it is a proper noun.
  4. Asia is the name of a place, so it is a proper noun.

• Can you find the mistakes?

  Hints

  Proper nouns are the specific names of people, places, holidays, products, days of the week and months.

  Check if all of the proper nouns in the sentences have capital letters.

  Common nouns are non-specific people, places and things.

  Check to make sure no common nouns are capitalised.

  Solution

  Two of the sentences had errors with capital letters. New York City is the name of a place, so it is a proper noun that should start with a capital letter. The word teacher is a non-specific person, so it is a common noun and does not need a capital letter.

  The correct sentences are shown below:

  • On Thursday, I'm going to New York City.
  • My teacher's name is Miss Smith.

• Which letters should be capitalised?

  Hints

  Have you checked that there are capital letters for all the names of people and places in the letter?

  Have you checked that there are capital letters for any days of the week or months in the letter?

  Solution

  Above is the letter with all of the errors highlighted.

  Proper nouns we capitalise are people, places, holidays, products, days of the week and months.

  June is the name of a month, so the 'J' must be a capital.

  France is the name of a place, so the 'F' must be a capital.

  Sarah is the name of a person, so the 'S' must be a capital.

  Amour is the name of a restaurant, so the 'A' must be a capital.

• Are these proper or common nouns?

  Hints

  Think about each word. Is it the name of a person, place, holiday, product, day of the week or month?

  If so, it is a proper noun.

  Proper nouns are always capitalised.

  Common nouns start with a lowercase letter unless they are at the start of a sentence.

  Solution

  Proper nouns are people, places, holidays, products, days of the week, and months. They always start with a capital letter.

  Common nouns are people, places, animals, and things. They do not start with a capital letter unless they are at the start of a sentence.

• Choose the correct word to complete each sentence.

  Hints

  Is the missing word in the sentence a person, place, holiday, product, day of the week or month? If so, it is a proper noun.

  Remember that proper nouns always start with a capital letter.

  Solution

  1. I live in a city called Leeds. Leeds is the name of a place so is a proper noun.
  2. My pet dog loves to run and play at the park. The words dog and park are common nouns.
  3. I play tennis every Tuesday. The word tennis is a common noun, however, Tuesday is a day of the week so is a proper noun.
  4. My dad loves celebrating Hanukkah. Hanukkah is the name of a holiday so it is a proper noun.