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English Quiz - Nouns (Proper) 01 (Questions)

Proper nouns denote a particular person, place or organisation and usually begin with a capital letter. You almost certainly come across many proper nouns every day. Your name, for instance, is a proper noun. The street you live on is a proper noun. The village, town or city where you live is a proper noun. The country you live in is a proper noun. The school you go to is named a proper noun. Your friends' names are proper nouns . . . . . you get the picture, right?

Why does it matter to be able to spot a proper noun? In English, these nouns are always capitalised, whereas other nouns are not (unlike in German, where all nouns are capitalised). Have you ever noticed when scanning a text that your eyes are drawn to the capitalised words? We associate these with important information. If you need to quickly answer who, when, and where, then those answers are likely to be proper nouns: Nasreen, Tuesday, June, Oxford Road, Manchester, for instance, or Jack, Barcelona, August, perhaps! Keep an eye out for those proper nouns!

To practise your knowledge of nouns, there are six other quizzes about nouns to play.

1. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
Cars and lorries roar through the streets of London.
[ ] Cars
[ ] London
[ ] lorries
[ ] streets
2. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
James put the pen and book on a table by a window.
[ ] book
[ ] James
[ ] pen
[ ] table
3. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
The Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury are all planets.
[ ] Earth, Mars, Venus, Mercury
[ ] Earth, Mars, Venus, planets
[ ] Earth, Venus, Mercury, planets
[ ] Mars, Venus, Mercury, planets
4. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
The ball bounced off a bat onto a table and hit Tom.
[ ] ball
[ ] bat
[ ] table
[ ] Tom
5. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
On a map, Asia and Europe are adjoining continents.
[ ] Asia, Europe
[ ] Europe, continents
[ ] map, continents
[ ] map, Europe
6. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
Mrs Rose has a ticket for the Royal Hall next week.
[ ] Mrs Rose, Royal Hall
[ ] Mrs Rose, ticket
[ ] Royal Hall, week
[ ] ticket, week
7. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
The driver of the train is Mr Hill; he has eight children.
[ ] children
[ ] driver
[ ] Mr Hill
[ ] train
8. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
The book's title is "Tennis" and the author is Jim Brown.
[ ] book's, Jim, Brown
[ ] book's, title, Jim
[ ] Tennis, Jim, Brown
[ ] title, Tennis, Jim
9. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
Alton is near the cities of Guildford and Winchester.
[ ] Alton, cities, Guildford
[ ] Alton, cities, Winchester
[ ] Alton, near, Winchester
[ ] Alton, Guildford, Winchester
10. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
The train stops in London, then in Bath and Bristol.
[ ] London, Bath, Bristol
[ ] train, Bath, Bristol
[ ] train, London, Bath
[ ] train, London, Bristol

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - What is a noun?

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English Quiz - Nouns (Proper) 01 (Answers)
1. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
Cars and lorries roar through the streets of London.
[ ] Cars
[x] London
[ ] lorries
[ ] streets
London is a place and is a proper noun
2. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
James put the pen and book on a table by a window.
[ ] book
[x] James
[ ] pen
[ ] table
James is a name, has a capital letter and is a proper noun
3. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
The Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury are all planets.
[x] Earth, Mars, Venus, Mercury
[ ] Earth, Mars, Venus, planets
[ ] Earth, Venus, Mercury, planets
[ ] Mars, Venus, Mercury, planets
Names of places, even planets, are proper nouns
4. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
The ball bounced off a bat onto a table and hit Tom.
[ ] ball
[ ] bat
[ ] table
[x] Tom
A capital letter is a good clue that you've found a proper noun (except at the beginnings of sentences, which always start with capital letters...)
5. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
On a map, Asia and Europe are adjoining continents.
[x] Asia, Europe
[ ] Europe, continents
[ ] map, continents
[ ] map, Europe
Europe and Asia are the names of places
6. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
Mrs Rose has a ticket for the Royal Hall next week.
[x] Mrs Rose, Royal Hall
[ ] Mrs Rose, ticket
[ ] Royal Hall, week
[ ] ticket, week
Use capital letters for people and places. Mrs and Rose are the two parts of a name, just as Royal and Hall
7. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
The driver of the train is Mr Hill; he has eight children.
[ ] children
[ ] driver
[x] Mr Hill
[ ] train
Mr and Hill are the two parts of a name; both should be capitalised
8. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
The book's title is "Tennis" and the author is Jim Brown.
[ ] book's, Jim, Brown
[ ] book's, title, Jim
[x] Tennis, Jim, Brown
[ ] title, Tennis, Jim
Book, film and song titles are proper nouns
9. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
Alton is near the cities of Guildford and Winchester.
[ ] Alton, cities, Guildford
[ ] Alton, cities, Winchester
[ ] Alton, near, Winchester
[x] Alton, Guildford, Winchester
All three are places and so are proper nouns
10. Choose the proper noun(s) from the following sentence.
The train stops in London, then in Bath and Bristol.
[x] London, Bath, Bristol
[ ] train, Bath, Bristol
[ ] train, London, Bath
[ ] train, London, Bristol
Names of cities and towns are proper nouns