Proper Nouns: Names of People, Pets, and Things — Grade 3
Grade 3 students practice identifying and correcting proper noun capitalization for names of people, pets, and things across three exercise types.
This worksheet gives Grade 3 students focused practice with one of the most important capitalization rules in English: proper nouns always begin with a capital letter. When a word names a specific person, such as a classmate, or a specific pet or named object, that word is a proper noun and needs a capital. Common nouns — words like dog, cat, or planet that name any member of a group — stay lowercase. The sheet moves through three exercise types: first, students circle proper nouns in sentences; next, they complete sentences with a correctly capitalized name; finally, they rewrite sentences that contain capitalization errors. Working through all three sections in order helps students move from recognizing the rule to applying it in their own writing.
Proper Nouns: Names of People, Pets, and Things — Grade 3
In this worksheet, you will practice capitalizing names of particular people, pets, and things. Each section has its own directions to follow.
Remember
- A proper noun is the name of a particular person. Always start it with a capital letter. For example: Kenji, Zara.
- A proper noun is also the name of a particular pet or a named thing, like a planet. For example: Dot, Mars.
- A common noun names any person, pet, or thing in general, like cat, dog, or planet — keep those lowercase.
Part A — Circle the Proper Nouns
Circle each word in the sentence that should begin with a capital letter because it names a particular person, pet, or thing.
- 1.
My classmate kenji always brings apples to share at school.
- 2.
We saw a parrot named rio at the nature center last week.
- 3.
Our school soccer team is called the hawks this year.
- 4.
My friend priya named her toy robot sparky and takes it everywhere.
Part B — Fill in the Blank
Write the name shown at the start of each question in the blank, using a capital letter.
- 5.
felix: My neighbor's dog ____ runs all the way to the park.
- 6.
luna: My sister wants to name her new hamster ____.
- 7.
neptune: Our teacher told us that ____ is the farthest planet from the sun.
- 8.
zara: The girl who sits beside me in class is called ____.
Part C — Rewrite the Sentence
Rewrite each sentence on the line below it, correcting any word that should start with a capital letter.
- 9.
I went to the park with my friend carlos after school.
- 10.
My aunt's cat dot follows her around the whole house.
- 11.
My dad told me that mars looks red in the night sky.
- 12.
The students on team silver won the spelling bee last week.
Answer key
Part A — Circle the Proper Nouns
- 1.kenji
- 2.rio
- 3.hawks
- 4.priya, sparky
Part B — Fill in the Blank
- 5.Felix
- 6.Luna
- 7.Neptune
- 8.Zara
Part C — Rewrite the Sentence
- 9.I went to the park with my friend Carlos after school.
- 10.My aunt's cat Dot follows her around the whole house.
- 11.My dad told me that Mars looks red in the night sky.
- 12.The students on Team Silver won the spelling bee last week.
What this worksheet teaches
- Identify proper nouns that name specific people, pets, and things in a sentence.
- Write proper nouns with correct capital letters when completing sentence blanks.
- Rewrite sentences correctly by capitalizing the names of people, pets, and things.
What is on the page
In Part C — Rewrite the Sentence, “I went to the park with my friend carlos after school.” is corrected in the key to “I went to the park with my friend Carlos after school.”
The language it drills
“My friend priya named her toy robot sparky and takes it everywhere.” carries two answers: “priya” and “sparky”.
Notes for the grown-up
- Students often forget to capitalize a proper noun when it appears in the middle of a sentence, not at the start.
- Ask the student to point to the specific name and say whether it names one particular person, pet, or thing — then check the capital.
- A student is ready to move on when they can explain why a word needs a capital without being prompted.
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