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The noun

Types of nouns

Proper nouns

Common nouns

Plural nouns

Concrete nouns

Abstract nouns

Collective nouns

Possessive nouns

Singular possessive nouns

Plural possessive nouns

Compounded nouns that are possessive

Double possessives

Common nouns

The opposite of a proper noun is a common noun. These are nouns that don’t represent specific people or things, but just people or things in general. For instance, if we were talking about a fire-fighter named Bob, we could say something like:

Because ‘Bob’ refers to a specific person, it is a proper noun and starts with a capital ‘B’. The noun ‘fire-fighter’, however is a common noun, because it represents people who fight fires - but not a specific person.

Common nouns can, however, be used as proper nouns. For instance, the noun ‘foundation’ is normally just a common noun. But if you use it in a sentence like this, it becomes a proper noun:

I like the Andre Agassi Charity Foundation.

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