How to Write a Common Noun for Each Proper Noun

Once you know how to recognize proper nouns, you'll find it easy to write common nouns for them.

Nouns are words that describe a person, place or thing. They can be identified as common nouns for more general words which are only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence or proper nouns for more specific words that are always capitalized, no matter where in a sentence they appear. Each proper noun has one or more equivalent common nouns that can be useful when you want to refer to something or someone without repeating the specific name.

Instructions

1. Make a list of proper nouns. Examples of proper nouns include Phoebe, New York and Chevrolet.

   Each refers to a specific person, place or thing.

2. Write the categories that your proper nouns fall into. Write "is a" after each common noun and complete the sentence with a word that categorizes the proper noun. In the sentence "New York is a city," city is a common noun for the proper noun New York.

3. Look for a range of examples. Some proper nouns have more than one common noun associated with them. For example, Phoebe is a woman, but she may also be a singer or a daughter. In this example, woman, singer and daughter are all acceptable common nouns for the proper noun Phoebe.

4. Replace proper nouns with common nouns in a piece of text. The text should still convey the same meaning, although in a more general way. The sentence "Phoebe arrived in New York driving a new Chevrolet" becomes "A woman arrived in the city driving a new car."

References

• D'Youville College Online Writing Lab: Nouns
• Grammar Revolution: Proper Nouns and Common Nouns
• Grammar Bytes: The Common Noun