What is a Proper Noun?
Proper nouns have two distinct features: They name specific one-of-a-kind items, and they begin with capital letters, no matter where they occur within a sentence. Here, we’ll take a closer look at proper nouns, provide proper noun examples, and help you learn how to use a proper noun the right way.
Remember that all nouns are words naming people, animals, places, things, and ideas. Every noun can be further classified as either common or proper. The distinction is very easy to make once you see some examples and come up with a few of your own.
Proper Noun Examples
In the following sentences, proper noun examples are compared with common nouns. Notice that the proper nouns are specific and unique, while the common nouns are much more general in nature.
- Common noun: I want to be a writer.
Proper noun: Agatha Christie wrote many books.
- Common noun:
I’d like to adopt a cat.
Proper noun: Cleopatra is the cutest kitten ever.
- Common noun: Would you like a cookie?
Proper noun: I’m craving Oreos.
- Common noun: Let’s go to the city.
Proper noun: Let’s go to San Francisco.
- Common
noun: My teacher starts work before sunup.
Proper noun: Mr. Bell seems to understand what students need.
- Common noun: I think that’s a planet, not a star.
Proper noun: I can see Jupiter tonight.
- Common noun: He’s always hanging out with his girlfriend.
Proper noun: He never goes anywhere without Sarah.
- Common noun: There are a lot of important documents in the archives.
Proper noun: There are many important documents at The Library of Congress.
How to Use Proper Nouns
It’s easy to use proper nouns, once you know what they are. Simply place them in your sentences as you would common nouns, ensuring that you capitalize them. Here are some examples to help you get started.
- Brett had hoped for an easy teacher for his algebra class, but he got Ms. Boggs, whose unreasonable demands and short temper made the semester unbearable.
→ Teacher is a common noun. Ms. Boggs is a proper noun.
- Gloria had a craving, and not just any cookie would do. She went to the store and bought a box of Oreos.
→ Cookie is a common noun. Oreos is a proper noun.
- We wanted to try a new restaurant, so we went to Taste of Thai.
→ Restaurant is a common noun. Taste of Thai is a proper noun.
Proper Noun Examples
Identify the proper noun in each sentence:
- The boy threw the ball to his dog, Wilson.
- I’d like you to meet my friend Jeremy.
- We’ll be vacationing in Aspen this year.
- My second grade teacher was Mrs. Gilbert, an old battle-axe.
- We went to Smith’s Furniture and bought a new couch to replace our old one.
- Do you think the Dolphins will win the game?
- I’m flying first-class on Emirate Airlines.
- Thomas Jefferson was a president and philosopher.
- My best friend moved to Israel to study.
- When the Titanic sank, the captain went down with the ship.
Answers: 1 – Wilson, 2 – Jeremy, 3 – Aspen, 4 – Mrs. Gilbert, 5 – Smith’s Furniture, 6 – Dolphins, 7 – Emirate Airlines, 8 – Thomas Jefferson, 9 – Israel, 10 – Titanic
Your name is a proper noun. A proper noun is the special word that we use for a person, place or organization, like John, Marie, London, France or Sony. A name is a noun, but a very special noun - a proper noun. English proper nouns have special rules.
man, boy | John |
woman, girl | Mary |
country, town | England, London |
company | Ford, Sony |
shop, restaurant | Amazon, Subway |
month, day of the week | January, Sunday |
book, film | War and Peace, Titanic |
Capital Letters with Proper Nouns
RULE: We always use a Capital Letter for the first letter of a name or proper noun. This includes names of people, places, companies, days of the week and months. For example:
- They like Anthony. (not They like anthony.)
- I live in England.
- She works for Sony.
- The last day in January is a Monday.
- We saw Titanic in the Odeon Cinema.
In normal grammatical writing, there are NO exceptions to this rule. Sometimes, however, for stylistic reasons, people may choose to ignore the rule to give their writing a unique or "modern" look. This is typically seen in advertisements or company logos. For correct writing, and especially in exams, we recommend that you observe the rule without fail.
Proper Nouns without THE
We do not use "the" with names of people. For example:
Bill (not the Bill) |
Hilary |
Clinton |
Gates |
Hilary Gates |
We do not normally use "the" with names of companies. For example:
- Renault, Ford, Sony, EnglishClub (not the EnglishClub)
- General Motors, Air France, British Airways
- Warner Brothers, Brown & Son Ltd
If the full (registered) name of a company starts with "The", then we use "The" if we use the full name, for example:
- The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd
In this case, "The" is part of the company's name and must be capitalised, like all names.
We do not normally use "the" for shops, banks, hotels etc named after a founder or other person (with -'s or -s). For example:
Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Macy's |
Barclays Bank |
Steve's Hotel, Joe's Cafe, McDonald's |
St John's Church, St Peter's Cathedral |
We do not normally use "the" with names of places. For example:
Washington (not The Washington), Paris, Tokyo |
Texas, Kent, Eastern Europe |
England, Italy, Brazil |
Asia, Europe, North America |
Corsica |
Everest |
Exception! If a country name includes "States","Kingdom", "Republic" etc, we use "the":
the United States, the US, the United States of America, the USA |
the United Kingdom, the UK |
the French Republic |
We do not use "the" with "President/Doctor/Mr etc + Name":
the president, the king | President Bush (not the President Bush) |
the captain, the detective | Captain Kirk, Detective Colombo |
the doctor, the professor | Doctor Well, Dr Well, Professor Dolittle |
my uncle, your aunt | Uncle Jack, Aunt Jill |
Mr Gates (not the Mr Gates), Mrs Clinton, Miss Black |
Look at these example sentences:
- I wanted to speak to the doctor.
- I wanted to speak to Doctor Brown.
- Who was the president before President Kennedy?
We do not use "the" with "Lake/Mount + Name":
the lake | Lake Victoria |
the mount | Mount Everest |
Look at this example sentence:
- We live beside Lake Victoria. We have a fantastic view across the lake.
We do not normally use "the" for roads, streets, squares, parks etc:
Oxford Street, Trenholme Road, Fifth Avenue |
Trafalgar Square, Oundle Place, Piccadilly Circus |
Central Park, Kew Gardens |
Many big, important buildings have names made of two words (for example, Kennedy Airport). If the first word is the name of a person or place, we do not normally use "the":
Kennedy Airport, Alexander Palace, St Paul's Cathedral |
Heathrow Airport, Waterloo Station, Edinburgh Castle |
Proper Nouns with THE
We normally use "the" for country names that include "States","Kingdom", "Republic" etc:
the United States of America/the USA |
the United Kingdom/the UK |
the French Republic |
We normally use "the" for names of canals, rivers, seas and oceans:
the Suez Canal |
the River Nile, the Nile |
the Mediterranean Sea, the Mediterranean |
the Pacific Ocean, the Pacific |
We normally use "the" for plural names of people and places:
the Clintons |
the Philippines, the United States |
the Virgin Islands, the British Isles |
the Himalayas, the Alps |
Look at these sentences:
- I saw the Clintons today. It was Bill's birthday.
- Trinidad is the largest island in the West Indies.
- Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.
We normally use "the" with the following sorts of names:
the Ritz Hotel, the Peking Restaurant |
the National Westminster Bank |
the Royal Theatre, the ABC Cinema |
the British Museum, the National Gallery |
the White House, the Crystal Palace |
the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Post |
the United Nations, the BBC, the European Union |
We normally use "the" for names made with "of":
- the Tower of London
- the Gulf of Siam
- the Tropic of Cancer
- the London School of Economics
- the Bank of France
- the Statue of Liberty