Video lesson with Luna

Common and Proper Nouns for Kids: When to Use a Capital Letter (Grade 1 and 2 English)

🎓 Grade 1 and 2 📖 English ⏱️ 2 min 16 sec Ages 6 to 7

Sort common and proper nouns with Luna from DoodleBeez. Children learn that common nouns name any person, place or thing, while proper nouns name a special one and start with a capital letter. Common Core L.1.1b, L.1.2a and L.2.2a.

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Printable worksheets for this skill

Free PDFs with answer keys, aligned to Common Core and the BC curriculum.

🍁 Common and Proper Nouns worksheets, Grades 1 to 2

Video transcript

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Hi, I'm Luna from DoodleBeez. Today we are sorting nouns. A noun is a word that names a person, a place or a thing. Some nouns are common and some are proper. Let's find out the difference!

A common noun names any person, place or thing. Girl, city, dog and school are common nouns. They are general words, so they start with a small letter unless they begin a sentence.

A proper noun names one special person, place or thing. Mia is the name of one girl. Chicago is the name of one city. Rex is the name of one dog. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter.

Common and proper nouns can be partners. Girl goes with Mia. City goes with Chicago. Dog goes with Rex. The common noun tells what it is, and the proper noun tells its name.

Days of the week, months and holidays are proper nouns too. Monday, July and Thanksgiving all start with capital letters. But the words day, month and holiday are common nouns.

Here is a quick test. Ask yourself, is this the name of one special person, place or thing? If yes, it is proper and gets a capital. If it could be any one, it is common.

Now it's your turn. Sort these two nouns. River and Mississippi River. Which one is common and which one is proper? Pause and try. River is common. Mississippi River names one special river, so it is proper.

Great job! Common nouns name any person, place or thing. Proper nouns name a special one and start with a capital letter. Practice common and proper nouns in the English Lab at doodlebeez.com. See you next time!

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For grown ups

The video plays from YouTube in its privacy enhanced mode, only after your child taps play. Pause at the Your turn part and let your child answer out loud, then try the practice game or print a worksheet.