Proper Nouns: What you need to Know 

Proper nouns are the most delicate nouns because of how they can easily be misused by second language speakers. Some second language users often write proper nouns the way they write common nouns, and minute as it may seem, getting proper nouns right in writing goes a long way in determining the appropriateness and grammaticality of a written work. The rest of this article borders on the concept of proper nouns.

Proper nouns are nouns that name persons and specific objects. They are not like other nouns that name general entities—these nouns name specific persons and objects. For example they name individuals as in:

1. John

2. Mr. Pattinson

3. Bob the Builder

4. Queen Elizabeth the Third

5. George of the Jungle

Examples of use in sentences include;

1. John is the king.

2. Mr. Pattinson lent me his wheels.

3. Bob the Builder is a canonical kids show.

4. Queen Elizabeth the Third was once the queen of the queen of England.

5. George of the Jungle was a hilarious movie.

Proper nouns can also be used to refer to names of places like countries for example;

1. Nigeria

2. Ghana

3. Canada

4. India

5. UK

6. USA

7. South Africa

8. Benin Republic

9. Senegal

10. Zambia

Place names like states, for example;

1. Los Angeles

2. Lagos

3. Mumbai

4. Accra

5. Free Town

6. Florida

Proper nouns can also be used to refer to different brands in different industries of business for example;

1. McDonald's

2. ShopRite

3. Coca-Cola

4. Meta

5. Tesla

6. MTN

7. FedEx

8. Marvel Comics

9. Apple

10. TECNO

It could even be used to refer to movies and series for example;

1. Fast and Furious

2. Avengers Endgame

3. The Terminator

4. Titanic

5. SpongeBob SquarePants

6. Living in Bondage

7. Money Heist

8. Dragonball Super

9. Demon Slayer

10. Henry Danger

Take note, however, that only lexical words have their initials capitalized in proper nouns. Lexical words, also known as content words are words that have meaning in isolation like nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, while grammatical or structural words are words that are relevant only in co-occurrence with other words for the purpose of grammaticality for example; pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, etc.

Some common nouns can be converted into proper nouns but this depends on context. For instance, when a person's title is used more often to refer to them, such titles or even nicknames can be written as proper nouns in sentences. For example;

1. Coach is coming for you.

2. What happened to Teacher?

3. Is Puncher the culprit?

4. You can tell Danny the truth.

5. What is wrong with Michie?

6. Will you call Suzzie for me?

So proper nouns are basically nouns that name specific persons or objects and the initials of such nouns are always capitalized.

Related posts: 

• Comparing Common Nouns with Proper Nouns
• Functions of Nouns in Sentences
• Noun Phrase: Structure and Function