What is a Proper Noun in English | Proper noun Examples

Proper noun

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, idea, or event.

For example, a girl, a man, a boy, Shweta, my mother, the president, a restaurant, Ramesh, a dog, London, India, a shop, company, country, city, month, a week, January, etc. 


A proper noun is a Specific name

A proper noun is the specific name of a person, place, thing.

For example:
  • Ramesh, Mumbai, Amazon    - These are the Proper nouns (specific names).
  • Country, City, a man, a restaurant, company  -  These are Common nouns (Generic names).

Note: Proper nouns and common nouns are the types of nouns.



A proper noun always starts with the Capital letter

A proper noun always starts with the Capital letter, no matter where they fall in the sentence. 

Examples of Proper noun:
  • Ramesh is a wonderful player.
  • He plays for Chennai Super Kings.
  • He lives in Mumbai.
  • She works for Samsung.
  • The last day in March is Monday.
  • He is a fan of Virat Kohli.
  • He plays for India.


A common noun starts with a Capital letter only when they are appearing at the beginning of the sentence or in a title.

For Example:
  • Ramesh is a wonderful player.
  • He owns a house.
  • My keyboard is not working.



General Rules for Proper nouns

  • Always starts with the capital letter.

  • We don't use "the" with the names of people.

    For example:

    the Ramesh, the John         - Incorrect
    Ramesh, Suresh, John                - Correct



  • We don't use "the" with the names of Companies 

    For example:

    the Amazon, the Sony        - Incorrect 
    Amazon, Sony                    - Correct



  • Exception: Sometimes few companies register themselves with "The" in the name of the company, Then we can use "The" with the names of the company.

    For example:

    The Coca-Cola Company, The Walt Disney Company



  • We don't use "the" with the names of places also.

    For example:

    the England, the London, the Everest.        - Incorrect



  • Exception: If the countries name includes "States", "Kingdom", "Republic" etc, then we use "The" with the names of the place.

    For example:

    the United States, the United States of America, the USA, the US, the United Kingdom, the French Republic, etc.



  • We can use "the" for names of rivers, seas, canals, and oceans. But DO NOT use "the" with the names of lakes or bays. 

    For example:

    the Pacific Ocean, the Arabian sea, the river Ganga, etc.


Proper Noun in English




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