3rd grade common and proper nouns worksheets
Common nouns name a general kind (river, holiday, teacher); proper nouns name a specific one and are capitalized (Lake Michigan, Thanksgiving). Third graders sort trickier pairs and explain why each word does or doesn't get a capital.
Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.2.2.a.
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The kind of words you'll sort
Write each word from the bank in the correct column. Give every proper noun its capital letter when you write it.
Maplewood SchoolMeimuseumbridgepondLiamfriendFrance
Columns: Common nouns and Proper nouns. "pond" belongs under common nouns; "Liam" belongs under proper nouns.
Every print pulls a fresh set of word lists at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling never gets the same sheet.
What's on each sheet
- Sorting. Write each word from the bank in the correct column. Give every proper noun its capital letter when you write it. 14 words per page.
Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.
How to teach this
Push on the boundary cases: day/Monday, month/July, lake/Lake Michigan, school/Maplewood School. Multi-word proper nouns deserve attention since students often capitalize only the first word. When a student missorts, ask "could there be more than one of these?" More than one means common.
Watch for: A word isn't proper just because it starts a sentence with a capital. The capital has to belong to the word itself. Days, months, and holidays are proper nouns. School subjects like math are not.
Common questions about common and proper nouns
- Are days of the week proper nouns?
- Yes. Monday, Tuesday, and the months and holidays all name one specific thing on the calendar, so they're proper nouns with capitals. The common-noun cousins (day, month, holiday) stay lowercase. Sorting those pairs side by side is the fastest way to teach it.
- What about multi-word names like Lake Michigan?
- The whole name is one proper noun, and each important word gets a capital: Lake Michigan, Grand Canyon, Maplewood School. Third graders who've learned single-word proper nouns often stumble here, so our 3rd grade lists include multi-word names on purpose.
Related worksheets
- 1st grade common and proper nouns A step easier, same skill
- 2nd grade common and proper nouns A step easier, same skill
- 3rd grade adverbs of how, when, and where Same grade, nearby skill
- 3rd grade articles (a, an, the) Same grade, nearby skill
- 3rd grade collective nouns Same grade, nearby skill
- Common and proper nouns, all grades The full progression
- All 3rd grade English worksheets Every skill at this level
- All 3rd grade worksheets Everything at this level
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Aligned to Common Core L.2.2.a. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 137, updated August 2026.
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