Different Kinds of Nouns

    There are four different kinds of nouns: proper,common, compound, and collective.

Proper vs.Common

   Proper nouns mean you are referring to a specific person,place,or thing.Common just means any person,place,or thing. Huh? Basically all you have to do is look at the first letter - if it is capitalized (like your first name), it is proper. If I talk about my friend, Sarah, I am referring to a specific person. If I am just talking about my friend (generic - no name), it is common. Bottom line,if it is capitalized, it is proper and if it is not,it is common. ALWAYS! Don't make it more complicated than it is.

Compound and Collective

   Unlike proper and common, not all nouns are compound and collective. Compound nouns occur when two or more nouns are combined to form a new thing.
Example: door + knob = doorknob
               middle + school = middle school
              bull's + eye = bull's-eye
As you can see, compound nouns can be one word, two separate words, or hyphenated.

    Collective nouns occur when you are talking about a group of people or things. When you are talking about your math class, it is easier to refer to those people as CLASS than listing all of their names.
Other examples: team, committee, flock, herd, audience, group, choir.