Definition of Proper Nouns

Basically, proper nouns refer to words which are used to name a specific person, place, animal, thing, or event. Aside from that, this type of noun always starts with a capital letter and is usually (but not always) in singular form.

Explanation of Proper Nouns

Based on the definition above, it can be said that proper nouns have two unique features: a) it names a specific or a “one-of-a-kind” person, place, animal, event, or thing, and b) it always begins with a capital letter, regardless of its location in the sentence.

The proper noun can be considered as the opposite of the common noun, which is used to give generic names to people, animals, things, places, or events. Lastly, you should remember that there is always a common noun equivalent for every proper noun, but not all common nouns have proper noun counterparts.

Examples of Proper Nouns

Darth Vader

Great Pyramid of Giza

Audrey Hepburn

The underlined words in the sample sentences below are some examples of proper nouns.

• Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors.
• Ross and Rachel ended up together.
• It was a rainy Sunday when we first met.
• Jonathan and Raphael went to Mall of Asia to watch the event.
• As a child, he used to play Pokemon on his Gameboy Advance.
• My mom made these awesome Nutella cupcakes.
• V for Vendetta is a really cool movie for me.
• Carol wants to buy a Mini Cooper.
• Abbey Road is located in London.
• He named his sons after the Beatles.

Examples of Proper Nouns in Literature

Below are some examples of proper nouns (underlined words) used in famous literary pieces:

• “Once she had loved Prince Joffrey with all her heart, and admired and trusted her his mother, the queen. They had repaid that love and trust with her father’s head. Sansa would never make that mistake again.” – George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings
• “It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.” – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Copper Beeches“
• I asked if Tyler was an artist. Tyler shrugged…What Tyler had created was the shadow of a giant hand. . . he said how at exactly four-thirty the hand was perfect.” – Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
• “Your father, Jo. He never loses patience, never doubts or complains, but always hopes, and works and waits so cheerfully that one is ashamed to do otherwise before him.” – Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
• “Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.” – J.K Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• “The title was but a courtesy due him as a council member; Varys was lord of nothing but the spiderweb, the master of none but his whisperers.” – George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones
• “Pilkington, at Mombasa, had produced individuals who were sexually mature at four and full grown at six and a half.” – Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
• “But courage, child: we are all between the paws of the true Aslan.” – C.S Lewis, The Last Battle
• “Men at some time are masters of their fates. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.” – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar
• “Every once in a very long while, Lord Tywin Lannister would actually threaten to smile; he never did, but the threat alone was terrible to behold.” – George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords

Function of Proper Nouns

While the common noun provides a generic name for  a person, an animal, a thing, a place, or an event, a proper noun gets more specific. Simply put, its main function is to state the actual name of a specific person, an animal, a thing, a place, or an event, so that the audience will easily know which one are you talking about.

What is a Noun?

In the simplest sense, a noun is any word that names people, things, animals, places, events, or ideas. Take a look at the sentences below:

• Jack Gleeson, the actor who plays as Joffrey in Game of Thrones, was the boy saved by Batman in Batman Begins.
• Beatrice and Carla will meet at the coffee shop on Tuesday.
• For me, birthdays are just ordinary days.

All of the underlined words in the sample sentences above are nouns. Now that you already know the answer to the question, “What is a noun?” it’s time to discuss the different functions, genders, and plural forms of nouns.

What are the Functions of a Noun?

A noun can function as a subject, an object (object of the preposition, direct object, indirect object), and a subject complement in a sentence.

Examples:

• Arya Stark is really cool.
• In this example, the underlined noun serves as the subject in the sentence.

• They were supposed to meet at noon.
• The noun in this sentence functions as an object of the preposition. (at is the preposition)

• Jeremy is a swimmer.
• This sample sentence has two nouns, “Jeremy” and “swimmer”. “Jeremy” is a noun that serves as the subject, while the underlined noun acts as the subject complement.

• The beavers built a dam.
• In this sentence, “beavers” is the subject, the word “built” is the verb, and the underlined word is the noun that serves as the direct object (the thing that is acted upon).

• He gave Maria a love letter.
• This example has two nouns, “Maria” and “love letter.” The thing that is acted upon (direct object) is the “love letter,” while the indirect object is “Maria.” Simply put, an indirect object refers to the recipient or the one who gets the direct object.

What are the Different Genders of Nouns?

Aside from providing the answer to the question, “What is a noun?” and discussing the various functions, this article will also explore noun genders. Basically, there are four genders of nouns, and these are: masculine, feminine, common, and neuter.

1. Neuter – this gender simply refers to nouns that have no sex.

• Examples: computer, city, pizza, bus, brownies, oven

2. Common– is the gender of nouns which can refer to either the male or female sex.

• Examples: student, driver, lawyer, criminal, leader, visitor

3. Masculine– this refers to nouns of the male sex

• Examples: sorcerer, actor, tiger, rooster, prince, fox, stag, bull, ram

4.Feminine– this denotes nouns of the female sex.

• Examples: sorceress, actress, tigress, hen, princess, vixen, doe, cow, ewe

What are the Different Forms of Nouns?

Nouns normally come in their singular form, however, if these nouns name more than one person, place, thing, animal, event, or idea, it is necessary for you to transform them into their plural form.

These are most common ways of pluralizing nouns:

1. Add “s”

Examples:

• bike- bikes
• trap- traps
• coin- coins
• game- games
• swimming pool- swimming pools

2. Add “es”

Examples:

• beach- beaches
• potato- potatoes
• hero- heroes
• box- boxes
• torch- torches

3. Change “y” to “i,” and then add “es”

Examples:

• butterfly- butterflies
• party- parties
• reply- replies
• factory- factories
• baby- babies

Note: Sometimes, you just have to add “s” without changing “y” to “i” (e.g., chimney- chimneys; trolley- trolleys)

4. Change “f” to “v,” and then add “s” or “es”

Examples:

• wife- wives (“s” only)
• thief- thieves (“es”)
• loaf- loaves (“es”)
• knife- knives (“s” only)
• wolf- wolves (“es”)

Note: Sometimes, you only need to add “s” without changing “f” to “v” (e.g., cliff- cliffs; chef- chefs).

Other ways of pluralizing nouns:

1. For some nouns ending in “um,” change “um” to “a”

Examples:

• medium- media
• curriculum- curricula
• bacterium- bacteria
• ovum- ova
• datum- data

2. For some nouns ending in “is,” change “is” to “es”

Examples:

• crisis- crises
• analysis- analyses
• thesis- theses
• axis- axes
• oasis- oases

3. For some nouns ending in “us” change “us” to “i”

Examples:

• radius- radii
• nucleus- nuclei
• fungus- fungi
• stimulus- stimuli
• bacillus- bacilli

4. Some nouns have the same singular and plural form

Examples:

• sheep
• deer
• moose

Final Thoughts

This article entitled “Parts of Speech: What is a Noun?” can be a good starting point in your exploration of the different types of words that can be regarded as the building blocks of grammar. If you want to have great grammar skills and improve your writing, you really need to have a good grasp of what is a noun, as well as the other parts of speech. These things can be considered among the most basic yet essential concepts in grammar, so it’s really important for you to be well acquainted with these before moving on to the more advanced topics.