Nouns: Common and Proper — Important Questions

Anu

Step 1: Read the sentence carefully: 'Anu entered the room.' Step 2: We need to find the proper noun – the name of a specific, particular person, place, or thing. Step 3: 'Anu' is the name of a specific girl. It refers to one particular person. Step 4: 'room' is a common noun – it is a general word for any room. Step 5: 'entered' is a verb (action word) and 'the' is an article. So the proper noun is 'Anu'.

He lives in Mumbai.

Step 1: We need to find the sentence that uses a proper noun – a name of a specific person, place, or thing. Step 2: 'I live in a country' – 'country' is a common noun. No proper noun is used here. Step 3: 'She reads a book' – 'book' is a common noun. No proper noun is used here. Step 4: 'He lives in Mumbai' – 'Mumbai' is the name of a specific city in India. It is a proper noun and is written with a capital 'M'. Step 5: 'A boy came to school' – both 'boy' and 'school' are common nouns. So the correct answer is 'He lives in Mumbai.'

Yamuna

Step 1: 'River' is a common noun – a general name for any river. Step 2: A proper noun would be the name of a SPECIFIC river. Step 3: 'Yamuna' is the name of a specific river in India. It is written with a capital 'Y'. Step 4: 'Water', 'lake', and 'ocean' are all different common nouns – they are not names of specific rivers. Step 5: So 'Yamuna' is the correct proper noun for 'river'.

cricketer

Step 1: A common noun is a general name that can refer to many people or things of the same kind. Step 2: 'cricketer' is a general word – it can refer to any cricketer in the world. It does not name one specific person. Step 3: 'Virat Kohli' is the name of a specific, famous cricketer – it is a proper noun. Step 4: 'January' is the name of a specific month – it is a proper noun. Step 5: 'Taj Mahal' is the name of a specific building – it is a proper noun. So 'cricketer' is the common noun.