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Proper Nouns
Proper nouns refer to particular persons, places, and things by name. They are always capitalized.
Category
Geographical names
Religions and nationalities
Historical or artistic periods and events
Days, months, or holidays
Brand or company names
Titles of publications or published work
People (including their titles)
Couse titles (but not fields of study)
Examples
France, the Atlantic Ocean, Chicago, the Amazon
River, the Rocky Mountains
Catholicism, Buddhists, Chinese, Islam, Muslims, North
Americans, Christianity
World War II, Impressionism, the Middle Ages, the Civil
War, the Renaissance
Labor Day, Thursday, April, New Year’s Eve, the
Fourth of July, Easter
Pepsi-Cola, Sony, the Bank of America, America
Express, Quaker Oats, Cadillac
New York Times (newspaper), War and Peace (novel),
“Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” (poem)
Mr. and Mrs. Bob Jones, Lord Byron, President
Lincoln, King James, Senator Black
He is taking Philosophy 101.
He is studying philosophy.
Articles and Proper Nouns
The general rule of thumb is that you use zero article with singular proper nouns, and “the” with plural ones. For example,
France vs. the United States; Mount Everest vs. the Himalayas; Cuba vs. the Bahamas, etc. However, there are many
exceptions. Here are some sub-rules that may be helpful:
Rules
Examples
Any name with a prepositional phrase containing “of” will take
the Republic of….
take “the”
the University of Michigan (vs. Harvard University)
the Gulf of…
the Straits of…
the Isle of Wight (vs. Paradise Island)
the Fourth of July (vs. Thanksgiving)
Oceans, seas, and rivers take “the”
Lakes and streets take zero article
General regions take “the”
Nouns of nationality use no article when referring to a
language
Nouns of nationality take “the” when referring to a
people group
I live near the Atlantic Ocean, the Hudson River.
I live on Lake Ontario, Mulberry Street, Route 64, Fifth
Avenue.
Exceptions: the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the Bronx River
Parkway
the South, the Riviera, the East Side, the Artic, the
Western Hemisphere
Chinese is a difficult language.
The Chinese are an industrious people.
Note: The Chinese language is difficult. (Here
“Chinese” is acting as an adjective.)
Last updated 6/18/2014
© The George Mason University Writing Center 2014