Common Noun Definition with Sentences for Kids

In this section we’ll see what is a common noun, how to identify them and see how are they different from other types of noun and at the end we’ll look at some examples so that you can have a better understanding.

What is a Common Noun?

Common nouns are words used for categorizing or classifying a group of similar items.

We can see the examples of common nouns everywhere around us like TV, couch, window, door, animals etc.

Occupations of people are often named using common nouns like driver, painter, artist etc. These words are non-specific nouns and can be referring to any driver, any painter, or any artist.

Driver : Here we are not referring to any specific driver.

Painter : Any painter.., not a specific one.

Let’s understand this with one example.

• Ashoka was a great king.
• Maharana Pratap was a great king.

The Noun Ashoka, Maharana Pratap refers to a particular king, but the Noun king might be used with any other king . We call Ashoka and Maharana Pratap a Proper Noun and king a Common Noun.

In a Short Note : Words used to classify the items of same type are common nouns.

Having looked at the overview and some examples you must have noticed that we are not able to identify the gender of those words, they are neither male nor female. Why is that so ?, That is because they have common gender or neuter gender ( if an object is a non living thing ). Have a look at the common gender noun examples and you’ll notice that they are quite similar to the words and examples mentioned above.

6 Types of Common Noun

The Common nouns are further subdivided into 6 types following types.

1. Collective nouns: These nouns are used to refer to a collection or group of people or things. For eg:  a number of soldiers is called an army, a large, organized group of singers-choir etc

2. Abstract nouns: These nouns are used to refer to a non-physical entity, basically an emotion or an act. For eg:  love, kindness, truth etc

3. Concrete nouns: These nouns are used to refer to physical entities, things which can be touched or felt. For eg:  table, school etc

4. Compound nouns: These nouns are formed by the combination of two or more nouns. For eg: sunrise, blackboard etc

5. Gender specific nouns: These nouns are used to refer to a particular gender, whether feminine or masculine.  For eg: actor, heiress etc

6. Non-countable nouns: These nouns are used to refer to things or ideas which can not be counted.  For eg: gas, rain etc

Below is a table which illustrates several examples of each category of common nouns:

Collective noun	Abstract Noun	Concrete noun	Compound noun	Gender specific noun	Non-countable noun
Team	Anger	Car	Swimming pool	Actor	Sleep
Choir	Happiness	Soda	Bus stop	Actress	Sincerity
Flock	Determination	Tissue	Haircut	Waiter	Oxygen
Pack	Bravery	Supermarket	Netball	Waitress	Milk
Band	Hope	City	Checkpoint	King	Cheese
Committee	Justice	Building	Software	Queen	Wine
Herd	Knowledge	Table	Tea spoon	Heir	Leather
Army	Intelligence	Flower	Baby sitter	Heiress	Dust
Fleet	Success	Aeroplane	Father-in-law	Cow	Rain
Swarm	Freedom	Artifact	Housework	Bull	Gravity

There are more of them to add to this table, but we are done with the basic overview. The above table just includes the small list of common nouns and you can extend it with your own findings.

Rules of Capitalizing Common Nouns

1.Common nouns are not usually capitalized let’s see an example here.

• Bring that chair.
• We like watching movies.
• Delhi is a big city.

2. Common nouns are capitalized only when they start the sentence or used as the title. Let’s see some examples

• Lion is a very clever animal.

10 Sentences Using Common Noun

Now we’ll have some examples of common nouns to see how they are used in sentences.

They have been italicized for an easy identification.

1. You broke my favorite mug.
2. I really want a new pair of shoes.
3. Delhi is a city.
4. Let’s go to the restaurant.
5. That boy wants to play with Ekta.
6. Akbar was a great king.
7. India is a country.
8. I need this chair for today.
9. Painters work really hard to create a masterpiece.
10. Let’s go to watch a live show at the stadium.

Notice how none of the common noun in the above examples has been capitalized.