Proper nouns are specific names for individual people, places, things, or organizations. They are always capitalized.
* Examples:
* People: John Smith, Queen Elizabeth II, Barack Obama
* Places: New York City, Mount Everest, the Pacific Ocean
* Things: iPhone, Mona Lisa, the Eiffel Tower
* Organizations: Google, NASA, the United Nations
Common nouns are general names for people, places, things, or organizations. They are not capitalized unless they start a sentence.
* Examples:
* People: man, woman, child
* Places: city, mountain, ocean
* Things: phone, painting, tower
* Organizations: company, government, institution
Here's a table summarizing the key differences:
| Feature | Proper Noun | Common Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Specificity | Specific | General |
| Capitalization | Always capitalized | Capitalized only at the beginning of a sentence |
| Examples | John Smith, New York City, iPhone | man, city, phone |
In short, proper nouns are like unique identifiers, while common nouns are general categories.
