Common Noun and Proper Noun Exercises

Nouns are basically classified as common nouns and proper nouns. Learning to identify proper nouns and common nouns might be one of the first steps when learning English grammar. To help you with this, this article provides you with some practice exercises on proper nouns and common nouns.

Common and Proper Nouns Exercises with Answers

Are you sure what a common noun and a proper noun are? Why not check if you know them well? Try out the following exercises to find out.

Exercise 1: Identify the type of noun

Read the following sentences and identify the common or proper nouns in them.

1. I gave my book to Riya to read.
2. The Taj Mahal in India is very beautiful.
3. Red Riding Hood met the fox in the forest.
4. Mr Tony Stark walks his dog everyday.
5. The boy ran to his mother.
6. The flat was in the middle of Lenin Street.
7. The reporter went to Noida to collect news.
8. This milk tastes sour.
9. Rose is a beautiful girl.
10. I have read the novel by Emily Bronte.
11. King Arthur was a noble king.
12. The author wrote a crime novel.
13. The captain steered the ship from hitting the iceberg.
14. The old judge passed a unique judgement.
15. The Milky Way is a big galaxy.
16. The Indian Express is the newspaper I read regularly.
17. Sheldon Cooper is an intelligent physicist.
18. The Ganga is an important river of India.
19. J.K Rowling wrote the famous novels on Harry Potter.
20. My uncle works in the Reserve Bank of India.

Answers –

1. Book – Common noun, Riya – Proper noun
2. Taj Mahal, India – Proper nouns
3. Red Riding Hood – Proper noun; fox, forest – Common nouns
4. Mr Tony Stark – Proper noun; dog – Common noun
5. Boy, mother – Common nouns
6. Flat – Common noun; Lenin Street – Proper noun
7. Reporter, news – Common nouns; Noida – Proper noun
8. Milk – Common noun
9. Rose – Proper noun; Girl – Common noun
10. Novel – Common noun; Emily Bronte – Proper noun
11. King Arthur – Proper noun; king – Common noun
12. Author, novel – Common nouns
13. Captain, ship, iceberg – Common nouns
14. Judge, judgement – Common nouns
15. Milky Way – Proper noun; galaxy – Common noun
16. The Indian Express – Proper noun; newspaper – Common noun
17. Sheldon Cooper – Pronoun noun; physicist – Common noun
18. Ganga, India – Proper nouns; river – Common noun
19. J.K Rowling, Harry Potter – Proper nouns; book – Common noun
20. Uncle – Common noun; Reserve Bank of India – Proper noun

Exercise 2: Categorise the Nouns

Given below are some nouns which you have to categorise as common nouns and proper nouns.

Answers –