In grammar, noun plays a crucial role in forming meaningful sentences. Noun is a naming word that refers to a person, place, thing, idea, feeling, or animal. Noun has several types, and one important type is the common noun. If you've ever said “the dog,” “a city,” or “an idea,” you've already used one! This guide will help you understand what common nouns are, how to use them correctly, and you'll explore 1000+ examples and practice questions to master this topic.
What is a Common Noun?
A common noun is a noun that refers to a general name of a person, place, thing, or idea. It does not refer to a specific individual or entity. Common nouns are used to name general items rather than unique ones.
Example:
- "The dog is barking."
- "I live in this city."
Common nouns are not capitalized unless they start a sentence or are part of a title.
Common Noun Examples
We use common nouns many times in our daily language. Here are some examples to illustrate their usage:
| Common Noun | Used For |
|---|---|
| Dog | A general term for a domesticated animal |
| City | A large human settlement |
| Book | A written work or publication |
| Car | A vehicle used for transportation |
| Teacher | A person who educates others |
Common nouns can be singular or plural, depending on whether they refer to one item or multiple items.
- Singular: "The dog is barking."
- Plural: "The dogs are barking."
- Singular: "This city is beautiful."
- Plural: "These cities are beautiful."
- Singular: "I read a book."
- Plural: "I read many books."
- Singular: "I drive a car."
- Plural: "I drive several cars."
- Singular: "The teacher is explaining."
- Plural: "The teachers are explaining."
Common Noun vs Proper Noun
Common nouns are often confused with proper nouns, which refer to specific names of people, places, or organizations. Proper nouns are always capitalized.
Example:
- Common Noun: "city"
- Proper Noun: "New York City"
- Common Noun: "teacher"
- Proper Noun: "Mr. Smith"
- Common Noun: "book"
- Proper Noun: "Harry Potter"
- Common Noun: "car"
- Proper Noun: "Toyota Camry"
- Common Noun: "dog"
- Proper Noun: "Golden Retriever"
1000 Most Common Nouns in English (A-Z)
Here is a list of 1000+ common nouns:
Common Nouns That Start with A
"apple", "ability", "absence", "academy", "account", "action", "actor", "addition", "address", "advice", "affair", "age", "agency", "agreement", "airplane", "airport", "alarm", "ambition", "amount", "analysis", "angle", "animal", "answer", "anxiety", "apartment", "application", "appointment", "area", "argument", "army", "arrival", "article", "artist", "aspect", "assignment", "assistant", "association", "assumption", "attack", "attempt", "attention", "attitude", "audience", "author", "average", "award", "awareness", "axis",
Common Nouns That Start with B
"baby", "back", "background", "bag", "balance", "ball", "banana", "band", "bank", "bar", "barrier", "base", "basis", "basket", "bath", "battle", "beach", "bear", "beauty", "bed", "bedroom", "behavior", "belief", "bell", "bench", "benefit", "bicycle", "bird", "birth", "birthday", "bit", "bite", "blood", "board", "boat", "body", "bone", "book", "border", "boss", "bottle", "bottom", "box", "boy", "brain", "branch", "brand", "bread", "break", "breakfast",
Common Nouns That Start with C
"cabinet", "cake", "camera", "campaign", "campus", "cap", "capacity", "capital", "car", "card", "career", "carpet", "case", "cash", "category", "cause", "ceiling", "celebration", "cell", "cemetery", "center", "century", "ceremony", "chair", "challenge", "chance", "change", "channel", "chapter", "character", "characteristic", "charge", "chart", "check", "cheek", "cheese", "chest", "child", "childhood", "choice", "church", "circle", "circumstance", "city", "claim", "class", "classic", "classroom", "client", "clock",
Common Nouns That Start with D
"dad", "dance", "danger", "dark", "data", "database", "date", "daughter", "day", "deadline", "death", "debate", "debt", "decision", "definition", "degree", "delay", "delivery", "demand", "department", "departure", "dependent", "deposit", "depth", "description", "design", "desire", "desk", "designation", "desire", "detail", "development", "device", "devotion", "diagram", "dialog", "diamond", "diet", "difference", "difficulty", "digestion", "dimension", "dinner", "direction", "dirt", "disaster", "discipline", "discovery", "discussion", "disease",
Common Nouns That Start with E
"eagle", "ear", "earth", "edition", "editor", "education", "effect", "effort", "egg", "eight", "element", "elephant", "embarrassment", "emphasis", "employee", "employer", "employment", "end", "enemy", "energy", "engine", "engineering", "enhancement", "entry", "environment", "episode", "error", "escape", "essay", "essence", "estate", "estimate", "event", "evidence", "exam", "example", "exchange", "excitement", "exercise", "exhibition", "existence", "exit", "experience", "expert", "explanation", "expression", "extension", "extent", "eye", "eyebrow",
Common Nouns That Start with F
"fabric", "face", "fact", "factor", "factory", "failure", "family", "fan", "farm", "farmer", "fashion", "fat", "fault", "fee", "feed", "feedback", "feel", "feeling", "female", "festival", "fiber", "fiction", "field", "fight", "figure", "film", "finger", "fire", "firm", "fish", "flight", "floor", "flow", "flower", "focus", "fold", "food", "football", "force", "forest", "form", "formula", "fortune", "foundation", "frame", "freedom", "frequency", "friend", "front", "fruit",
Common Nouns That Start with G
"game", "garage", "garden", "garlic", "gas", "gate", "gathering", "gender", "gene", "general", "generation", "girl", "glass", "glove", "goal", "god", "gold", "government", "governor", "grade", "grain", "grandfather", "grandmother", "grant", "grass", "gravity", "greatness", "green", "ground", "group", "growth", "guarantee", "guard", "guest", "guide", "guitar", "gun", "habit", "hair", "half", "hall", "hammer", "hand", "handle", "hardware", "harm", "hat", "hate", "head", "health",
Common Nouns That Start with H
"hearing", "heart", "heat", "height", "help", "herb", "hero", "hesitation", "history", "hole", "holiday", "home", "homework", "honey", "hope", "horizon", "horn", "horse", "hospital", "host", "hotel", "hour", "house", "human", "humor", "hunger", "hunter", "ice", "idea", "ideal", "identification", "identity", "image", "imagination", "impact", "implement", "importance", "improvement", "impulse", "income", "increase", "independence", "indicator", "industry", "inflation", "influence", "information", "ingredient", "initiative", "injury",
Common Nouns That Start with I
"ink", "insect", "inspection", "inspector", "instance", "instruction", "insurance", "intention", "interaction", "interest", "internet", "interview", "introduction", "invention", "investigation", "investment", "invite", "item", "jacket", "jail", "jam", "jeans", "joint", "journey", "judge", "judgment", "juice", "jungle", "jury", "justice", "justification",
Common Nouns That Start with K
"kangaroo", "keen", "kelp", "key", "keyboard", "kick", "kid", "kitchen", "kite", "kitten", "knee", "knife", "knowledge", "label", "labor", "ladder", "lady", "lake", "lamp", "land", "language", "law", "lawyer", "layer", "lead", "leader", "league", "leather", "lecture", "leg", "length", "lesson", "letter", "level", "library", "life", "lift",
Common Nouns That Start with L
"light", "limit", "line", "link", "lion", "lip", "list", "literature", "living", "local", "location", "lock", "logic", "long",
Common Nouns That Start with M
"machine", "manager", "market", "marriage", "material", "math", "matter", "meal", "meaning", "measure", "meat", "media", "medicine", "meeting", "member", "memory", "menu", "message", "metal", "method", "middle", "might", "mile", "milk", "mind", "mine", "minister", "minute", "mistake", "model", "moment", "money", "month", "mood", "moon", "morning", "mother", "motion", "mountain", "mouse", "mouth", "move", "movement", "music", "musician", "mystery",
Common Nouns That Start with N
"name", "nation", "nature", "neck", "need", "negative", "negotiation", "network", "news", "night", "noise", "note", "notebook", "notice", "notion", "number", "nurse", "nut", "object", "obligation", "occasion", "office", "officer", "operation", "opinion", "opportunity", "opposite", "option", "orange", "order", "organization", "owner",
Common Nouns That Start with O
"ocean", "octopus", "office", "officer", "operation", "opinion", "opportunity", "option", "orange", "order",
Common Nouns That Start with P
"pack", "page", "paint", "painting", "pair", "palace", "pan", "paper", "parent", "park", "part", "particle", "partner", "party", "passage", "position", "possession", "possibility", "potato", "potential", "power", "practice", "preference", "preparation", "presence", "pressure", "price", "priority", "prison", "privacy", "problem", "process", "product", "profession", "profit", "program", "project", "promise", "property", "protection", "psychology", "public", "purpose", "push",
Common Nouns That Start with Q
"question", "queue", "quilt", "quintessence", "quiz", "quote", "queen",
Common Nouns That Start with R
"ring", "rabbit", "road","railway", "rocket", "reaction", "reader", "reading", "reason", "recipe", "record", "recording", "region", "relation", "relationship", "religion", "remedy", "reminder", "report", "representation", "republic", "request", "requirement", "research", "resolution", "resource", "respect", "responsibility", "restaurant", "result", "return", "revenue", "review", "revolution", "rice", "ride", "right", "ring", "river", "rock", "role", "room", "root", "rope", "rule"
Common Nouns That Start with S
"self", "sense", "sequence", "series", "service", "session", "setting", "shape", "share", "sheep", "sadness", "salary", "sale", "salt", "sample", "sand", "satisfaction", "sauce", "scale", "school", "science", "screen", "seat", "secret", "section", "sector", "security", "selection", "shelf", "ship", "shirt", "shoe", "shop", "shopping", "shore", "shoulder", "sign", "signal", "silence", "silver", "similarity", "singer", "sir", "site", "skill", "skin", "smile", "snow", "society", "software", "soil", "soldier", "solution", "song", "sort", "sound", "source", "space",
Common Nouns That Start with T
"table", "tactic", "talent", "taste", "tax", "teaching", "team", "technology", "television", "temperature", "term", "territory", "test", "text", "theory", "thing", "thought", "ticket", "time", "title", "tooth", "top", "touch", "tour", "tourist", "town", "trade", "tradition", "training", "transportation", "treatment", "tree", "trend", "trial", "trouble", "truth", "type",
Common Nouns That Start with U
"umbrella", "uncle", "understanding", "uniform", "union", "unit", "university", "upper", "use", "user"
Common Nouns That Start with V
"vacation", "value", "variation", "variety", "vehicle", "version", "vessel", "veteran", "view", "village", "virus", "visitor", "voice", "volume", "vote", "vulnerability", "vulnerability", "vulture", "wagon", "waist",
Common Nouns That Start with W
"wait", "wake", "walk", "wall", "war", "warning", "water", "wealth", "weather", "web", "wedding", "week", "weight", "width", "wife", "wind", "window", "wine", "wing", "winter", "wish", "woman", "wood", "word", "work", "worker", "world", "worry", "worth", "wound", "writing",
Common Nouns That Start with X
"x-ray", "xenophobia", "xylophone"
Common Nouns That Start with Y
"yard", "year", "youth", "yoga"
Common Nouns That Start with Z
"zone", "zoo", "zebra", "zip"
Practice Questions
Here are some practice questions to test your understanding of common nouns:
-
Identify the common noun in the following sentence: "The cat chased the mouse."
- a) cat
- b) chased
- c) the
- d) none of the above
-
Which of the following is a common noun?
- a) London
- b) city
- c) John
- d) Eiffel Tower
-
Fill in the blank with a common noun: "I need to buy a new ________."
- a) car
- b) Toyota
- c) Honda
- d) BMW
-
True or False: Common nouns are always capitalized.
-
Choose the correct common noun to complete the sentence: "The ________ is shining brightly."
- a) star
- b) sun
- c) Earth
- d) SUNSHINE
-
Which of the following sentences contains a common noun in the subject?
- a) "The dog barked loudly."
- b) "I visited Paris last summer."
- c) "She is reading a Gita."
- d) "Mount Everest is the highest mountain."
-
Identify the common noun in the following sentence: "The teacher gave us homework."
- a) teacher
- b) gave
- c) homework
- d) us
-
Fill in the blank with a common noun: "The ________ is full of stars."
- a) sky
- b) Sky
- c) SKY
- d) SKYLINE
-
True or False: Common nouns can refer to both countable and uncountable nouns.
-
Which of the following is NOT a common noun?
- a) apple
- b) happiness
- c) London
- d) car
Answers:
- a) cat
- b) city
- a) car
- False
- a) star
- a) "The dog barked loudly."
- a) teacher
- a) sky
- True
- c) London
Related Posts: