Question

Identify the common noun from the below sentence-
James, my friend, is an expert surgeon.

a) James, surgeon
b) James, friend
c) Friend, expert
d) Friend, surgeon

Answer 1

Hint: Common nouns indicate the generalized name of a person, place, thing or animals. Example- boy, garden, cat, etc.

Complete answer:

As given in the hint, common nouns can be used to name any person, place, animal or a thing.
Example- The boy ran in the park with his dog. Here, ‘boy and dog’ are common nouns as they do not specify a particular person or animal.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
a) James, surgeon- James is a proper noun as it talks about a particular person, while surgeon is a common noun. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
b) James, friend- James is a proper noun as it specifies a particular person, while the friend is a common noun. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
c) Friend, expert- Friend is a common noun, while the expert is an adjective as it describes the noun ‘James’. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
d) Friend, surgeon- Both friend and surgeon are common nouns as they do not specify a particular person, also ‘friend’ and ‘surgeon’ have not been written in capital letters in the given sentence. Hence, it is the correct option.
The correct answer is Option ‘d’.

Note: Common nouns are never used in capital letters unless they are positioned at the beginning of a sentence.