Lesson 3: Proper Nouns- The names of individuals

Previous lesson:- Lesson 2:Nouns – The naming words

In the previous lesson we talked about the various types of Nouns that we use in a sentence. We had the words boy, girl, dog, etc and we said these were nouns because they were names of people, animals or things. That is quite true; but most people, (and some animals or things) have more than one name.

Let’s consider the image below.

There are two men in the image. We can call each of them man. That is the name given to them In common. But wait, look what they are saying. They say each of them has another name which is particularly given to that man. The first one is named John Brown and the second man is named William Green. Oh look William Green has a dog too. Its name is Timmy. 

Now see when we say dog it refers to any dog belonging to that species. But a particular dog can be given another specific name to identify specifically when needed. For example in the above case William Green has named his dog Timmy.

These specific names given to any individuals or things are called Proper nouns.

A proper noun is the name of 

• A particular person e.g. John Brown, William Green, 
• Animals (especially pet animals) e.g. Timmy
• Thing e.g Gita (book), Eifel Tower (building)
• Geographical location e.g. London
• Event e.g. Christmas, Durga Puja, etc.
• Days in a week e.g. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.
  Months in a year e.g. January, February, March, etc.

Things which are unique are usually given a particular name. They are Proper noun too.

Let’s identify a few proper nouns from these sentences.

1. Ajay wrote a letter to his father.
2. Shila said to Lila, “You can depend on me.”
3. We have a cat named Mishi.
4. Last year my brother went to London.
5. The Ganges is the largest river of India.

The underlined words are the proper nouns used in the above sentences.Notice the first letter of the Proper nouns are highlighted.

Remember: Proper nouns always begin with a capital letter. 

Example: John, Timmy, Ganges, Shila.

Exercise 3 (Level: Easy): Identification of Proper Nouns

Next lesson: Lesson 4: Common Nouns - The class names

Exercise 3 (Level: Easy): Identification of Proper nouns

Based on:- Lesson 3: Proper Nouns – The names of individuals

First read the lessons based on which the Exercises are compiled and then answer the questions.

Q1. Write down ten proper nouns that are names of persons.

Q2. Write down ten proper nouns that are names of places.

Answer to Exercise 2 (Level: Easy):- Identification of Nouns

Based on:- Lesson 2: Nouns - The naming words 

First read the lessons based on which the Exercises are compiled and then answer the questions.

Answer to Exercise 2 (Level: Easy):- Identification of Nouns

Q1. Identification of nouns from the sentences

1. The boy saw his brother.
2. There is a man and a woman in the picture.
3. The gentleman opened the door for his wife.
4. A bird can fly.
5. Gold is a metal.
6. The French revolution took place towards the end of eighteenth century.
7. The Christmas is the yearly celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Bible is holy book of the Christians as the Gita is of the Hindus.

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