Thanksgiving Common vs. Proper Nouns worksheet | Squarehead Teachers - Free Printable

Since I can't physically underline words with red or blue crayon, I'll identify each noun in the sentences and label them as Common Noun (to be underlined in red) or Proper Noun (to be underlined in blue), following the instructions.

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📝 Key Reminder:

- Common Noun: General person, place, thing, or idea → *not capitalized unless at start of sentence*.
- Proper Noun: Specific person, place, thing, or event → *always capitalized*.

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✔ Solutions by Sentence:

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

- Grandma → *Proper Noun* (specific family member, capitalized — often treated as proper when used like a name)
- Thanksgiving → *Proper Noun* (specific holiday, always capitalized)
- year → *Common Noun*

✔ Underline:
- Red (common): year
- Blue (proper): Grandma, Thanksgiving

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

- Aunt Elaine → *Proper Noun* (specific person, full name including title)
- *(Note: “Aunt” here is part of the name “Aunt Elaine,” so it’s treated as proper)*

✔ Underline:
- Blue (proper): Aunt Elaine

*(No common nouns to underline in this sentence — “she” and “her” are pronouns, not nouns)*

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

- Thanksgiving → *Proper Noun*
- food → *Common Noun*
- dinner → *Common Noun*

✔ Underline:
- Red (common): food, dinner
- Blue (proper): Thanksgiving

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4. Mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie are delicious!

- potatoes → *Common Noun*
- pumpkin pie → *Common Noun* (general food item, not a specific brand or named dish)

✔ Underline:
- Red (common): potatoes, pumpkin pie

*(“Mashed” is an adjective; “pie” is part of “pumpkin pie” — still common)*

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5. My cousins come to dinner sometimes too.

- cousins → *Common Noun*
- dinner → *Common Noun*

✔ Underline:
- Red (common): cousins, dinner

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

- state → *Common Noun*
- airplane → *Common Noun*

✔ Underline:
- Red (common): state, airplane

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

- Dad → *Proper Noun* (used as a name for a specific person)
- Mom → *Proper Noun* (same reason)
- job → *Common Noun*
- turkey → *Common Noun* (type of bird/food)
- pie → *Common Noun*

✔ Underline:
- Red (common): job, turkey, pie
- Blue (proper): Dad, Mom

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

- brother → *Common Noun* (general term)
- Sam → *Proper Noun* (specific person’s name)
- table → *Common Noun*

✔ Underline:
- Red (common): brother, table
- Blue (proper): 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)
- house → *Common Noun*
- Thanksgiving → *Proper Noun*

✔ Underline:
- Red (common): house
- Blue (proper): Uncle Bill, Thanksgiving

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

- school → *Common Noun*
- Pilgrims → *Proper Noun* (specific historical group)
- ship → *Common Noun*
- America → *Proper Noun* (specific country)

✔ Underline:
- Red (common): school, ship
- Blue (proper): Pilgrims, America

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## 🎯 Final Summary (for coloring):

| 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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📌 Tip for Students: When in doubt, ask: “Is this naming something general (like ‘dog’, ‘city’) or something specific (like ‘Rover’, ‘New York’)?” If specific → proper → blue. If general → common → red.

Happy Thanksgiving and happy learning! 🦃🍂