3 Answers

As a general rule, a common noun does not begin with a capital letter....i.e. car, house, hat, weather, etc.  Usually it can be preceded by "the" or "a".

14 years ago. Rating: 5
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person, place, thing, idea that is not name specific 
Person:      child, doctor, football player  (common...no one in particular)
Person:   Bobby, Dr. Langdon, Joe Montana (Proper, specific person)
Place:  city, landmark, country (common...nowhere specific)
Place:  Chicago,  Empire State Building, Armenia (Proper, specific place)
Thing: shoes, pencil, toast (common, nothing specific)
Thing:  Skechers, PaperMate, French (proper, specific thing)
Ideas....I'm not so good at these. Maybe someone else has some examples.  CHECK DOOLITTLE'S COMMENT AT DUCKA'S ANSWER.

In addition to Ducka's "the" and "a", I would add "an".  the lamp, a soldier, an apple
 

14 years ago. Rating: 5
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house,car and ball.

14 years ago. Rating: 4
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