Types of COMMON and OWN nouns

One of the classifications by which we divide the types of nouns in Spanish is the following: on the one hand, we have the common nouns, which are those that name animals, objects, or general ideas; that is, everything that surrounds us throughout our daily life. On the other hand, we find the nouns, which are those nouns that serve to name a particular concept and different with respect to a larger set of the same elements.

In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to study what are the types of common and proper nouns that exist in Spanish and, for this, we will see a series of examples that clarify the explanation. Keep reading!

Index

1. Common nouns
2. Proper nouns
3. Examples of common nouns
4. Examples of proper nouns
5. Animal nouns: what they are and examples
6. Individual common nouns: what they are and examples

The Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (DRAE) defines the common noun as that "name that is applied to people, animals or things that belong to the same class, species or family, and whose meaning expresses their nature or their qualities". Therefore, common nouns are used at the general level to

Unlike proper nouns, common nouns they are never capitalized Except for one exception, which is when a sentence or paragraph begins. On the other hand, the nouns as such do not have their own characteristics and inherent to their nature by which they are individualized with respect to the rest. That is why we say that these are common nouns.

The Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (DRAE) defines the proper noun as one that, "in opposition to the common one, is a name without inherent semantic features that designates a single being". Thus, unlike common nouns, proper nouns are used to to point in a limited and direct way to specific beings, as people, for example, who, as such, stand out and differentiate themselves from the rest, which is the larger group to which they belong. For example, "Marta" It is a proper name because when we use it, we refer to a specific person, different from the rest of the people who have another name.

In this way, all personal names are proper names, as are the names of countries, cities, geographical accidents or historical-social movements, since they are facts that through their own name, are differentiated of others. "Ebro" is a proper name of a Spanish river, which serves to differentiate it from the rest of the rivers that exist in our country.

In addition, one of the characteristics that define proper names is that the first letter with which we begin to write them is written in capital letter:America, Duero, Javier.

Next, we will see some examples of common nouns in Spanish, which can help you understand the difference between common nouns and proper nouns:

Rice, plate, car, home, bed, bread, water, television, beer, book, bar, library, coffee, notebook, pen, cushion, computer, television, pencil, furniture, plate, ground, wall, office, work, suit, glasses, bag, calendar, field, theater, floor, person, radio light, map, mountain, beach, lentils, leaves, dog, cat, shoe, coat, hanger, shirt, pants, movie, song, desk, phone, tablecloth, washing machine, fridge, yogurt.

We also bring you examples of proper nouns in Spanish, such as the following:

Italy, Spain, France, England, Norway, Poland, Rodrigo, Rosario, Tomás, Gerardo, Belén, Julián Juan, Jesús, Marta, Andrea, Gustavo, Víctor, Swiss Alps, Argentina, Buenos Aires, North Pole, Colorado Canyon, Tropic of Cancer, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Chile, Duero, Saja, Nansa, Besaya, Deva, Minho, Tarragona, Moses, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, America, University of Salamanca, International Monetary Fund, Vietnam, Tokyo, Apple, Emilio, Carmen, Alejandro, May Day, Patagonia, Antonio, Cristina, Noelia, Nicolás, Paula, Marcelo, Luis, Luisa, María, Victoria, Jiménez, García, Gaspar, Rodríguez, Martín, Amazonas, New York, Paraguay, Antarctica, Saudi Arabia, Persian Gulf, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Pacific, Indian, Ireland, Dublin, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Seville, Valencia, Lisbon, Murcia, Mallorca, Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Now that you have known what common and proper nouns are, we are going to stop at a question that many students usually have when they have to tackle this lesson at school. It's about knowing examples of proper nouns of animals since, this subject, can cause some confusion.

In this case, the animal nouns are those common nouns that determine the species of the animal in question, that is, it is the name we give to the species such as "cat", "dog", "elephant", etc. They are common because they do not indicate the proper name of the species but simply the general category in which each of the animals is included.

Instead, the proper nouns of animals are those that determine exactly what species we are. That is, we are dealing with a dog, but what kind of dog specifically? For example, "Yorkshire" "Dogo", "Bulldog", etc., are examples of proper nouns for animals. Common names like "dog" are always lowercase but proper names, like Yorkshire, are capitalized.

Examples of proper nouns of animals

So that you better understand which of these proper nouns, here is a list with examples:

• Pug
• Beagle
• Chihuahua
• Persian cat
• Ragdoll
• Siamese cat
• Maine Coon

Also, proper nouns could be the names we give to animals. For example, if we have a pet at home called "Whiskers", that is also the proper noun.

Image: Examples

We are now going to address another topic that also causes quite a bit of confusion among students: individual common nouns. When we speak of an individual noun we are referring to those nouns that we use singularly But, be careful with this: they should not be confused with collective nouns in the singular. To better clarify this issue, here is this definition of individual and collective nouns:

• Individual noun: tree
• Collective noun: grove

So that you better understand how individual common nouns are, below we will leave you a list with examples that you will be able to understand better.

Examples of individual common nouns

• Student
• Tree
• Box
• Blanket
• Pencil
• College
• Boat
• Person
• Mouse
• Dog
• Etc

There is a wide variety of examples since these nouns refer to unitary concepts that are part of our reality.

Image: We are in third

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