Is commonest a proper word

Asked by: Ms. Esther Lang I

Score: 4.3/5
(50 votes)

Don’t worry, commonest is the word and many dictionaries define it. commonest (adj) — Occurring, found, or done often; prevalent. However, if you find it on Ngram, most common is more popular than commonest especially in recent years.

Is it correct to say commonest?

The comparative and superlative forms of common are usually more common and most common. Commonest is sometimes used instead of most common in front of a noun.

Do we say most common or commonest?

According to Swan (my grammar bible), common can equally be used with -er and -est as well as more and most. And it’s most common to say ‘most common’ (3,150,000). ‘Commonest’ only has 101,000. Comparatives and superlatives for words of three or more syllables invariably use more and most.

Is commonest a word UK?

Indeed, the word commonest has led a fairly different life in British English. … survey was published in 1970 by Oxford University Press, close to the height of this word’s usage in British English. It makes sense, then, that it was used in the same way that I would use most common.

What is the superlative for the word common?

Adjective. common (comparative commoner or more common, superlative commonest or most common)

33 related questions found

A noun is a word that refers to a person, place, thing, or idea. We use nouns to refer to general things like friends or pizza and specific things like Leonardo Da Vinci or Canada. We use a lot of different nouns like these to describe everything around us, but all of the nouns we use can be separated into just two different types: common nouns and proper nouns.

Common noun vs. proper noun

The difference between a common noun and a proper noun is what type of thing they are referring to. Common nouns refer to generic things while proper nouns refer to specific things. For example, the noun country is a common noun because it refers to a general, non-specific place. On the other hand, the noun Spain is a proper noun because it refers to a specific country located in Europe (another proper noun). Grammatically, there is one main difference between common and proper nouns: proper nouns are always capitalized whereas common nouns are only capitalized in very specific situations.

Common nouns

As has been said, common nouns refer to generic people, places, and things. You’ll more easily understand what we mean by this with some examples.

Examples of common nouns

Common nouns can refer to people, places, things, and ideas.

• People: man, woman, child, cop, criminal, butcher, baker, neighbor, friend, enemy, person, stranger, judge, jury, executioner, knights, bishops, kings, queens
• Places: city, town, country, neighborhoods, islands, beaches, province, state, outside, upstairs, basement, hallway, lobby, rooms, alleys, campsites
• Things: guitar, drums, apples, oranges, snow, rain, ice, fire, dirt, cars, trucks, knee, elbows, food, water, sky, stars, day, weeks, month, years
• Ideas, emotions, concepts: happiness, sadness, fear, courage, questions, answers, government, chaos, hunger, confusion, doubt, loneliness, friendship, science

Want a closer look at common nouns? Set your sights on this handy article about them!

Proper nouns

Proper nouns can also refer to people, places, things, and ideas. However, proper nouns refer to more specific people and things.

Examples of proper nouns

As you read each of these proper nouns, you can test your understanding of common nouns. Can you think of a common noun that could also refer to each item referred to by a proper noun?

• People: Harriet Tubman, King Richard the Lionheart, Miles Davis, Emily Dickinson, Helen of Troy, Superman, Lady Gaga, Captain Crunch
• Places: New York City, Moscow, Cairo, Portugal, Zimbabwe, Peru, Europe, Asia, Australia, Main Street, Rocky Mountains, Colorado River, Sahara Desert
• Things: Jupiter, Google, Twitter, Kawasaki Ninja, Playstation 5, Star Wars, Band-aids, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Apollo 13, Great Wall of China
• Ideas and Concepts: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Romanticism, Cubism, Industrial Revolution, Dark Ages, Monday, November

How do you use common and proper nouns?

Grammatically, the biggest difference between common and proper nouns has to do with capitalization. Proper nouns are always capitalized no matter where they appear in a sentence. One exception to this rule is brand names that use lowercase letters for stylistic reasons: the word iPad is a proper noun even though the first letter is lowercase.

Common nouns, on the other hand, are only capitalized at the beginning of sentences or when used in the title or name of something. For example, the word captain is a common noun and will be lowercase in most sentences. However, it has a capital letter when it is used in a title such as in the name Captain Hook.

Both common and proper nouns are used in most of our sentences. For the most part, it is pretty easy to use them, but you should be careful to always capitalize proper nouns and to only capitalize a common noun when it is appropriate to do so.

Visit the full discussion on proper nouns at our article dedicated to them here.

Tips for differentiating common vs. proper nouns

If you are trying to determine if a word is a common or proper noun, look at the capitalization. Is the noun capitalized in the middle of a sentence? If so, you most likely have a proper noun. Things are trickier if the noun is the first word in the sentence. In that case, ask yourself if the noun is referring to a specific person or thing. If it is, you have a proper noun again. If it isn’t, you are instead looking at a common noun. A good rule of thumb is that all names and titles are proper nouns and will always be capitalized.

Let’s test to see if you have mastered common and proper nouns. Read the following sentences and see if you can figure out if the nouns are common or proper nouns.

• We went to school yesterday.
• We learned about the history of France.
• Jennifer is my older sister.
• She likes to read novels by Stephen King.

Finally, look at these example sentences and see if you can find the three mistakes involving common and proper nouns. (You can find the answers at the end of this article.)

1. My favorite American president is theodore roosevelt.
2. I like all kinds of animals. dogs are the cutest of them all.
3. When we went to Arizona, I took tons of pictures of the Grand canyon.

No more grammar errors

We’ve got a noun for you: genius! And that’s what you’ll be when you check your writing on Thesaurus.com’s Grammar Coach™. This uncommon tool can definitely spot the difference between your proper and common nouns—and more! Grammar Coach™ uses machine learning technology uniquely designed to catch grammar and spelling errors. Its Synonym Swap will find the best nouns, adjectives, and more to help say what you really mean, guiding you toward clearer, stronger, writing.

Whether you’re writing about a person, place, or thing, perfect grammar has never been easier!

Answers: Theodore Roosevelt, Dogs, Grand Canyon

If you want more of a challenge, head over to our quiz on common vs. proper nouns.

It’s time to learn about proper nouns and common nouns. Are you ready? Great!

You probably already know what a noun is, but I’m still going to give you a little refresher. Nouns are words that name people, places, things, or ideas. There are many different types of nouns, and in this lesson, we’ll go over two of them: common and proper. 

Learning about common nouns will help you understand proper nouns, so let’s focus on common nouns first, and then we’ll see what the relationship is between them. 

Common Nouns

Common nouns name people, places, things or ideas that are generic.

woman, city, dog

Notice that we don’t know exactly which woman, city, or dog we’re referring to. 

Since these nouns aren’t naming anything specific, they don’t need to start with a capital letter unless they begin a sentence.

Proper Nouns

These are nouns that name specific people, places, things, or ideas.

Maya, Paris, Rover

Do you see how these are different? Maya is naming a specific woman, Paris is naming a specific city, and Rover is naming a specific dog. 

Since these nouns are naming specific things, they always begin with a capital letter. Sometimes, they contain two or more important words.

Maya Angelou, Central Park Zoo, Pacific Ocean

If this is the case, both important words are capitalized, and the whole thing is still considered to be one noun even though it’s made up of more than one word. These are called compound nouns. How about that?

Their Relationship

Every proper noun has a common noun equivalent.

However, not every common noun has a proper noun equivalent.

What Can They Do?

Both of these kinds of nouns can perform many jobs in sentences. Below, you’ll find five noun jobs. (All of the nouns in these example sentences are common.) 

These examples also include sentence diagrams. Sentence diagrams are pictures of sentences that basically make the grammar in the sentence visual. That sounds kind of strange, but it’s true. Figuring out a sentence’s diagrams is like solving a puzzle. Diagrams are a great way to learn grammar!

1. Subject The students happily studied grammar.

2. Direct Object The students happily studied grammar.

3. Indirect Object They taught their friends grammar.

4. Object of the Preposition Their friends smiled with glee.

5. Predicate Nominative They were grammar champions!