Common Nouns

 . COMMON NOUNS

A noun that can be preceded by the definite article and refer to objects which are grouped together because of their shared characteristics. It may occur with limiting modifiers (as a or an, some, every, and my) and that designates any one of a class of beings or things.

Common Nouns are general names. As common means shared by all, generally known or ordinary, so Common Noun refers to anything that is common to all. Thus, they are not capitalized unless they begin a sentence or are part of a title. Examples

• "Often it does seem a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat." (Mark Twain)

• "Canada is a country whose main exports are hockey players and cold fronts. Our main imports are baseball players and acid rain." (Pierre Trudeau)

• "The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy." (Sam Levenson).

• The highlighted words in the above sentences are Common Nouns. They are common as they refer to anything that is common and known to all.

• Other Examples

• City, plant, river, village, stone, pencil, chair, dog