Common and Proper Nouns Worksheet - Free Printable

Let's solve this Thanksgiving-themed grammar worksheet step by step. The goal is to:

- Underline common nouns with red (general people, places, or things).
- Underline proper nouns with blue (specific names of people, places, or things — always capitalized).

We’ll go through each sentence and identify the nouns.

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🔹 Definitions Recap:

- Common noun: general name (e.g., *dog*, *school*, *food*).
- Proper noun: specific name (e.g., *Fido*, *Harvard*, *Sam*) — always capitalized.

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✔ Sentence-by-Sentence Analysis

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1. Grandma is coming to visit us for Thanksgiving this year.

- Grandma → Proper noun (specific person) → ✔ Blue
- Thanksgiving → Proper noun (specific holiday) → ✔ Blue
- year → Common noun → ✔ Red

> 🔴 Red: *year*
> 🔵 Blue: *Grandma*, *Thanksgiving*

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2. She's bringing my Aunt Elaine with her.

- Aunt Elaine → Proper noun (specific person) → ✔ Blue
- "Aunt" is a title, but when followed by a name, it’s part of the proper noun.
- her → pronoun, not a noun → ✘ skip

> 🔵 Blue: *Aunt Elaine*

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3. My favorite part about Thanksgiving is all the food for dinner!

- Thanksgiving → Proper noun → ✔ Blue
- food → Common noun → ✔ Red
- dinner → Common noun → ✔ Red

> 🔴 Red: *food*, *dinner*
> 🔵 Blue: *Thanksgiving*

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4. Mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie are delicious!

- potatoes → Common noun → ✔ Red
- pumpkin pie → Common noun (a type of food) → ✔ Red

> 🔴 Red: *potatoes*, *pumpkin pie*

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5. My cousins come to dinner sometimes too.

- cousins → Common noun (plural of cousin) → ✔ Red
- dinner → Common noun → ✔ Red

> 🔴 Red: *cousins*, *dinner*

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6. They live in another state, but they fly on an airplane to come visit.

- state → Common noun → ✔ Red
- airplane → Common noun → ✔ Red

> 🔴 Red: *state*, *airplane*

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7. Dad's job is to cook the turkey while Mom makes the pie.

- Dad → Proper noun (specific person) → ✔ Blue
- Mom → Proper noun (specific person) → ✔ Blue
- job → Common noun → ✔ Red
- turkey → Common noun → ✔ Red
- pie → Common noun → ✔ Red

> 🔴 Red: *job*, *turkey*, *pie*
> 🔵 Blue: *Dad*, *Mom*

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8. I'm supposed to help my brother Sam set the table.

- brother → Common noun → ✔ Red
- Sam → Proper noun (name of person) → ✔ Blue
- table → Common noun → ✔ Red

> 🔴 Red: *brother*, *table*
> 🔵 Blue: *Sam*

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9. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to go to my Uncle Bill's house for Thanksgiving instead.

- Uncle Bill → Proper noun (specific person) → ✔ Blue
- house → Common noun → ✔ Red
- Thanksgiving → Proper noun → ✔ Blue

> 🔴 Red: *house*
> 🔵 Blue: *Uncle Bill*, *Thanksgiving*

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10. In school, we learned about the Pilgrims sailing on a ship to America.

- school → Common noun → ✔ Red
- Pilgrims → Proper noun (specific group of people; historical term capitalized) → ✔ Blue
- ship → Common noun → ✔ Red
- America → Proper noun (country) → ✔ Blue

> 🔴 Red: *school*, *ship*
> 🔵 Blue: *Pilgrims*, *America*

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✔ Final Answer Summary (What to Underline)

| Sentence | Common Nouns (Red) | Proper Nouns (Blue) |
|--------|---------------------|----------------------|
| 1 | year | Grandma, Thanksgiving |
| 2 | — | Aunt Elaine |
| 3 | food, dinner | Thanksgiving |
| 4 | potatoes, pumpkin pie | — |
| 5 | cousins, dinner | — |
| 6 | state, airplane | — |
| 7 | job, turkey, pie | Dad, Mom |
| 8 | brother, table | Sam |
| 9 | house | Uncle Bill, Thanksgiving |
| 10 | school, ship | Pilgrims, America |

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🖍️ How to Use the Worksheet:

- Use red crayon to underline:
→ *year, food, dinner, potatoes, pumpkin pie, cousins, state, airplane, job, turkey, pie, brother, table, house, school, ship*
- Use blue crayon to underline:
→ *Grandma, Thanksgiving, Aunt Elaine, Dad, Mom, Sam, Uncle Bill, Pilgrims, America*

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✔ Tip: Remember that proper nouns are always capitalized, so look for capitalized words that name specific people, places, or things.

Let me know if you'd like a printable version or a visual guide!