Definition:
A noun that can be preceded by the definite article and that represents one or all of the members of a class. As a general rule, a common noun does not begin with a capital letter unless it appears at the start of a sentence. Common nouns can be subcategorized as count nouns and mass nouns. Semantically, common nouns can be classified as abstract nouns and concrete nouns. Contrast with proper noun.
Examples and Observations:
- "Often it does seem a pity that Noah and his party did not miss the boat."
(Mark Twain) - "America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy."
(John Updike) - "Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."
(Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by J.K. Rowling, 2000) - "Canada is a country whose main exports are hockey players and cold fronts. Our main imports are baseball players and acid rain."
(Pierre Trudeau) - "I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam; I looked into the soul of the boy sitting next to me."
(Woody Allen) - "Europeans, like some Americans, drive on the right side of the road, except in England, where they drive on both sides of the road; Italy, where they drive on the sidewalk; and France, where if necessary they will follow you right into the hotel lobby."
(Dave Barry) - "Common nouns can be modified by a variety of other parts of speech and types of phrase, including articles, demonstratives, possessives, adjectives, prepositional phrases, and relative clauses. The examples below show some of the possibilities:
- these two short planks
- Frank's tubby red-haired wife
- a bath with Rosie
- a tune that anyone can whistle
(James R. Hurford, Grammar. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1994)
