Common and Proper Nouns

Common and Proper Nouns

Nouns which name specific people or places are known as PROPER NOUNS.   
  

John  
Mary  
London  
France

Many names consist of more than one word:   
  

John Wesley  
Queen Mary  
South Africa  
Atlantic Ocean  
Buckingham Palace

Proper nouns may also refer to times or to dates in the calendar:   
  

 January, February, Monday, Tuesday, Christmas, Thanksgiving

All other nouns are COMMON NOUNS.   

Since proper nouns usually refer to something or someone unique, they do not normally take plurals. However, they may do so, especially when number is being specifically referred to:  
  

there are three Davids in my class  
we met two Christmases ago

For the same reason, names of people and places are not normally preceded by determiners the or a/an, though they can be in certain circumstances:   
  

it's nothing like the America I remember  
my brother is an Einstein at maths

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