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Nouns: common and proper

Lesson details

Learning outcome

I can define and identify a noun.

Key learning points

  1. Nouns are words that name people, places or things.
  2. Common nouns do not need capital letters.
  3. Proper nouns need capital letters.

Keywords

  • Noun - a naming word for people, places or things

  • Common noun - a naming word that does not need a capital letter

  • Proper noun - a naming word that always has a capital letter

  • Capital letter - the upper case formation of a letter

Common misconception

Pupils may think that proper nouns only have a capital letter at the start of a sentence.

Pupils will be exposed to a range of sentences in which proper nouns feature at the beginning, middle and end.

Teacher tip

Supplement this lesson with images that suit your particular class and context.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
(Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

6 Questions

Q1.
Find the two capital 't's.

Correct answer: T
t
Correct answer: T
l
k

Q2.
Select the capital letter for 'd'.

b
B
Correct answer: D
d

Q3.
'Aisha' is a name. Choose the version of 'Aisha' that is written correctly below.

aisha
aishA
Correct answer: Aisha

Q4.
Which two of the following are a place?

Correct answer: the park
Correct answer: the beach
a dog
a lorry driver
a pencil

Q5.
Which three of the following are people?

Correct answer: a doctor
a table
Correct answer: a sister
the zoo
Correct answer: a teacher

Q6.
Which two of the following are things?

a shopkeeper
Correct answer: a pair of glasses
Correct answer: a bucket
the playground
a grandmother

6 Questions

Q1.
Match the noun types.

Correct Answer:a headteacher,person

person

Correct Answer:the library,place

place

Correct Answer:an apple,thing

thing

Q2.
What is a common noun?

a word that always comes at the end of a sentence
Correct answer: a naming word that does not need a capital letter
a naming word that always has a capital letter

Q3.
What is the common noun in this sentence: "The pen is green."

Correct Answer: pen, Pen

Q4.
What is a proper noun?

a naming word that does not need a capital letter
a word that always comes at the start of a sentence
Correct answer: a naming word that always has a capital letter

Q5.
Which one is a proper noun?

lamp
bat
dog
Correct answer: Rasheed

Q6.
Which sentence is written correctly?

Correct answer: The boy lives in Scotland.
The Boy lives in Scotland.
The boy lives in scotland.

To help you plan your 1 English lesson on: Nouns: common and proper, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...