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Activities: “What are common nouns and proper nouns in English?”

By: Erin Kuester
Associated Articles

These activities are part of our English Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

Activity 1: Answering questions with proper nouns

In this activity, we’ll try and come up with some of our own proper nouns!

For each question below, answer with a full sentence that includes a proper noun. To practice your English fluency, you can add even more information. After you finish, use these questions to interview a friend or family member who is also learning English!

Remember these common types of proper nouns: names, places, days, months, titles, holidays, company names, titles of books/movies/art, formal ideas and concepts.

Here’s an example:

Question:

Who is your best friend?

Answer:

My best friend is Charlie.

→ Optional: We live very far away from each other, so I talk to Charlie once a week on Skype.

Now you try!

  • Who is your best friend?

    e.g. My best friend is Lily.

  • What is your favorite holiday?

    e.g. I love Halloween!

  • Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?

    e.g. I like going to Myrtle Beach for vacation.

  • What store do you shop at most often?

    e.g. Every week I shop at Target for groceries.

  • When is your birthday?

    e.g. My birthday is November 9.

  • What is your favorite day of the week?

    e.g. I love Monday because I have dance class.

  • What are some of the most famous places in your city, or a city near you?

    In Chicago, we have many famous places, such as Navy Pier, Millennium Park, and the Field Museum of Natural History.

  • Who is your favorite movie or TV character?

    My favorite movie character is Batman.

Activity 2: Thinking of common and proper nouns

Look at the pictures below. Can you name them with both a proper noun and a common noun?

NOTE:
There may be more than one possible answer for naming these nouns!

Example:

A red Nike brand shoe pictured against a red background.

Proper noun(s): Nike

Common noun(s): tennis shoe, sneaker, shoe

  • A photograph of Big Ben and the British Parliament building taken from across the river.

    Proper noun(s):

    e.g. London, Big Ben

    Common noun(s):

    e.g. city, tower, clock, bridge

  • A photo of a hand holding out a blue and green Starbucks take-out cup with starts on it.

    Proper noun(s):

    e.g. Starbucks

    Common noun(s):

    e.g. coffee, cup, drink

  • A copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is lying on a gray blanket.

    Proper noun(s):

    e.g. Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

    Common noun(s):

    e.g. book, story, cover art

  • A photo of President Obama speaking on the phone and holding up one hand as though he is waving to someone out of frame. He is surrounded by several other people in suits and appears to be somewhere in the White House.

    Proper noun(s):

    e.g. Barack Obama

    Common noun(s):

    president, leader, people

  • A photo of a desk calendar resting on a table. It reads "September 2021."

    Proper noun(s):

    e.g. September, Monday, Tuesday

    Common noun(s):

    e.g. calendar, day, month

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