A noun is a word that stands for a person, place, thing, or idea. Some examples of English nouns are: child, office, cat, car, democracy. Plural nouns indicate more than one of something, e.g. children, offices, cars. Proper nouns indicate a specific, named entity. Examples of proper nouns are: Xerox, Joseph, Mary, Coca-Cola, or Senator Brown. Proper nouns begin with a capital letter.