Naming Words [Nouns]

Words that we use to name a person, place, animal or thing are naming words.  Here are some naming words:

Names of PersonNames of PlacesNames of AnimalsNames of Things
motherschooldogbook
girlparkcatpen
friendcitycrowchair
fatherlibrarydovecomputer
chefgardenfishbag


Activity 1: Identifying Naming Words [Nouns] 

A. Pick out the naming words from the sentences and write them in the blank spaces:

  1. The boys are flying kites. __________
  2. The driver is wearing a cap. __________
  3. The book is on the table. __________
  4. She is reading a novel. __________
  5. The tree grew tall. __________
  6. The baby smiled at her mother. __________
  7. The flowers bloom in the garden. __________
  8. The moon shone brightly in the sky. __________
  9. The children played in the park. __________
  10. We visited the zoo yesterday. __________

Words that we use to name a person, place, animal, bird or thing are naming words. Such naming words are called nouns.

Activity 2: Identifying Naming Words [Nouns] 

B. Identify each word as a Name of Person, Name of Place, Name of Animal or Name of Thing and write them in the appropriate column.

rabbit, elephant, doctor, peacock, book, teacher, library, sparrow, park, lion, rose, car, father, beach, monkey, pigeon, school, giraffe, table, rooster, flower, museum, tiger, ocean, clock, dove, phone, mountain, zebra, spoon, house, wind, book, eagle, song, pencil, dog, door, tree, hospital

PersonPlaceAnimal Thing 




Nouns: Common and Proper

Common Nouns

We know that words like dog, school, and ball are nouns. But a noun like dog does not refer to one specific dog. It is the name we give to all dogs in general.

A noun like school does not mean just one school. It is the name we give to all schools. The school may be in your town, or it may be in a different place.

Similarly, a noun like ball does not mean one special ball. It is the name we give to all balls. It can be a football, a basketball, or a tennis ball.

These kinds of nouns, like dog, school, and ball, are called common nouns.

A noun which is a general name for the same kind of things, persons or places is a common noun. A common noun does not refer to any particular thing, person or place.

Remember!
A common noun is written with small letters (except when it is at the beginning of a sentence).

Activity 3: Common Nouns
C. Write down ten common nouns in your exercise book.
D. Pick out the common nouns from these sentences. 
  1. The children played in the garden.    
  2. My father bought a new car.
  3. The cat chased the mouse around the kitchen.
  4. She put the flowers in a vase on the table.
  5. The doctor examined the patient carefully.
  6. The baker made fresh bread and cakes.
  7. The teacher gave the students their assignments.
  8. The farmer harvested rice from the field.
  9. The stars shone brightly in the sky.
  10. He keeps his tools in the shed.

Proper Nouns

Look at these sentences:
(a) Mita is my best friend.
(b) Disneyland is a fun place.
(c) The girl lives on Rainbow Street.

In sentence (a), Mita is a noun, but it is a special name, the name of a particular person.

In sentence (b), Disneyland is a noun, but it is a special name, the name of a particular place.

In sentence (c), Rainbow Street is a noun, but it is also a special name, the name of a particular street.

A noun that is a special name—the name of a particular person, place, or thing—is called a proper noun.

So, Mita, Disneyland and Rainbow Street are all proper nouns.

Note that the words friend, place and girl are all common nouns.

Similarly, the names of particular parks, lakes, rivers, oceans, etc., are all proper nouns:

  • Nile River
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Central Park
  • Buckingham Palace
We also see that a proper noun is not always a single word. It can be made up of more than one word:

  • Magic Kingdom
  • Lake Victoria
  • Big Ben
  • North America
  • Indian Ocean
The same is true of the names of people:
  • Ella is a proper noun, and so is Ella Brown.
  • Sam is a proper noun, and so is Sam Taylor.
The names of the months of the year—January, February, March, and so on—are proper nouns.

The names of the days of the week—Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and so on—are all proper nouns.

You must remember that when we write a proper noun, we always begin with a capital letter.

Activity 4: Proper Nouns
E. Write down ten proper nouns in your exercise book.
F. Pick out the proper nouns from these sentences. 
  1. Emma has a cute dog named Buddy.
  2. Michael likes to read books in the library.
  3. Sarah went to New York to visit the museum.
  4. The teacher gave John a certificate for his hard work.
  5. David bought a new bicycle from Walmart.
  6. Lisa loves eating ice cream at Dairy Queen.
  7. The children played soccer in Central Park.
  8. Jessica and Mark watched a movie at Regal Cinemas.
  9. Tom enjoys fishing at Lake Michigan during the summer.
  10. Emily baked cookies for the school fundraiser.

G. Fill in the blanks with proper or common nouns as required:

  1. My favorite fruit is ______.
  2. ______ is the capital of India.
  3. The ______ flew high in the sky.
  4. ______ is my best friend.
  5. ______ loves to play the piano.
  6. The ______ shone brightly in the night sky.
  7. I live in the city of ______.
  8. ______ is a beautiful country.
  9. We had a picnic at the ______.
  10.  ______ is the fifth day of the week.
  11. My birthday is in the month of ______.
  12. ______ wrote a letter to Santa Claus.
  13. ______ is a very popular sport.
  14. We bought fresh vegetables from the ______.
  15. ______ is the tallest mountain in the world.
  16. We went to the ______ to watch a movie.
  17. ______ is the last month of the year.
  18. The ______ is a fast and powerful animal.
  19. I saw a ______ at the zoo yesterday.
  20. ______ is my favorite teacher.