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Prof. Diverís Vega, English Specialist

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Confusion: Proper Nouns vs. Common Nouns

Understanding when to capitalize words in English is crucial to writing clearly and professionally. However, many learners, particularly native Spanish speakers, struggle with this concept due to significant differences in capitalization rules between the two languages. These differences can lead to common mistakes, such as failing to capitalize proper nouns or overcapitalizing common nouns.

In today’s post, we will explore the difference between proper and common nouns, highlight key contrasts between English and Spanish capitalization rules, and provide practical examples to improve your writing.

What Are Proper Nouns?

Proper nouns are specific names of people, places, or things. These words should always be capitalized in English, regardless of their position in a sentence. For example:

• People: María, John, Dr. Smith
• Places: Puerto Rico, San Juan, Eiffel Tower
• Organizations: University of Puerto Rico, NASA
• Titles: Professor Rodríguez, President Biden

Proper nouns help identify something unique. For instance, Puerto Rico is a specific island, while island is a general term and not capitalized.

What Are Common Nouns?

Common nouns refer to general people, places, things, or ideas. These are not capitalized unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence. Examples include:

• People: teacher, student, doctor
• Places: park, city, school
• Things: car, book, phone
• Ideas: love, happiness, freedom

For example:

• Common noun: The city is beautiful.
• Proper noun: San Juan is beautiful.

How This Differs from Spanish

Capitalization rules in Spanish are more restrictive than in English. Here are some of the key differences:

1. Days of the Week and Months of the Year:
   • In Spanish, these are lowercase unless they begin a sentence.
   • Spanish: Voy al cine el lunes.
   • English: I’m going to the movies on Monday.
     
2. Nationalities and Languages:
   • Nationalities and languages are lowercase in Spanish but capitalized in English.
   • Spanish: Soy puertorriqueño y hablo español.
   • English: I am Puerto Rican, and I speak Spanish.
     
3. Titles Before Names:
   • Titles like señor, doctora, or presidente are lowercase in Spanish unless used formally. In English, titles are always capitalized.
   • Spanish: La doctora García
   • English: Dr. García
     
4. Titles of Books, Movies, and Works of Art:
   • In Spanish, only the first word and proper nouns in a title are capitalized. In English, most significant words in a title are capitalized.
   • Spanish: «Cien años de soledad»
   • English: «One Hundred Years of Solitude»

Common Errors

1. Overcapitalizing Common Nouns:
   • ❌ I need to finish my Homework.
   • ✅ I need to finish my homework.
2. Not Capitalizing Proper Nouns:
   • ❌ I visited paris last summer.
   • ✅ I visited Paris last summer.
3. Misusing Titles:
   • ❌ The president of the university will speak today.
   • ✅ The President of the university will speak today.

Examples to Practice

1. Identify the words that should be capitalized:
   • Original: i will visit puerto rico in june.
   • Corrected: I will visit Puerto Rico in June.
2. Translate and capitalize correctly:
   • Spanish: Hablo español todos los días.
   • English: I speak Spanish every day.
3. Fix the capitalization in titles:
   • Original: I saw the movie “the godfather.”
   • Corrected: I saw the movie “The Godfather.”

By understanding these rules—and how they differ from Spanish—you will avoid common capitalization mistakes and write more confidently in English. Keep practicing, and you will see improvement in no time!