1
The teacher collected the essays.
8 Common Noun Examples
Use these examples to study structure, specificity, tone, and variation. They are demonstrations—not claims about a real person or organization unless the example itself makes that explicit.
Before you copy
What to notice in the examples
A well-edited sentence distinguishes general category words from proper names, keeping ordinary nouns lowercase while preserving capitals only where a sentence, title, or official name requires them.
- Identify the general category being named.
- Keep the common noun lowercase in ordinary sentence position.
- Capitalize only when another rule independently requires it.
2
Our city added two bicycle lanes.
3
She borrowed a novel from the library.
4
A university can set its own application deadlines.
5
The river flooded after three days of rain.
6
Every company needs a clear refund policy.
7
The committee will review the proposal tomorrow.
8
His laptop stopped charging during the meeting.
Keep the underlying decision or pattern, then replace the subject, evidence, relationship, constraints, and tone with details that belong to your situation. If your final line still works after swapping only one noun, it may be too close to the example.