Abstract nouns
Understand and use abstract nouns to name ideas, qualities, and states that cannot be perceived by the senses
What a learner can do afterwards
- Sort words like 'freedom', 'table', 'courage', 'pencil', 'childhood' into abstract and concrete noun categories
- Complete sentences using appropriate abstract nouns: 'Her _____ (brave → bravery) inspired the whole team'
- Identify abstract nouns in supplied sentences and select noun forms or sentence meanings that fit the stated context
1 · Read
First check that a word is a noun: it names someone or something. A concrete noun names something noticed through sight, hearing, touch, smell or taste. An abstract noun names an idea, feeling, quality, relationship or state itself. Not seeing something is not enough to call its name abstract. A sound can be heard.
Concrete nouns name people or physical things noticed through the senses. Abstract nouns name meanings such as qualities, relationships and feelings themselves. Courage names being brave; friendship names the relationship between friends. Patience means being able to wait or keep trying calmly. Happiness, sadness, joy, anger and love name feelings. Visible actions or expressions may show these meanings without being the meanings themselves.
Related words can do different jobs. Brave describes; bravery names that quality. Learn these noun forms too: honest/honesty, free/freedom and proud/pride. For example, 'We admired her honesty' uses a noun to name a quality. Check which form the whole sentence needs. Do not assume that a spelling has the same job every time.
Many quality nouns use -ness: kind/kindness, dark/darkness and sad/sadness. Happy becomes happiness by changing y to i before adding -ness. These are spelling patterns to learn, not a rule for every adjective. A question may ask for a particular ending; follow that instruction as well as checking the meaning.
Use the stated context when choosing a sentence meaning. An everyday account treats kindness as a quality, not an object to eat. Stories can use figurative language: 'Worry filled his heart' means he felt much worry, not that worry entered an organ. A figurative sentence can still contain an abstract noun.
First find naming words, then check every noun's meaning. Concrete nouns name people, objects or other things noticed by any of the five senses. Courage and bravery name qualities; joy and excitement name feelings. These are abstract nouns. Verbs and adjectives are not nouns in those uses. In 'I felt calm,' felt is a linking verb expressing a state, and calm is an adjective.
To sort nouns, check every member. Concrete nouns name people, places, objects or sounds noticed through the senses. Abstract nouns name meanings themselves: happiness and anger are feelings, courage is a quality, truth and freedom are ideas, and childhood is a state. One concrete noun stops a group from being all abstract. One abstract noun stops it from being all concrete.
Identify the noun first. Concrete meanings can be noticed through any sense. Abstract nouns name ideas, feelings, qualities, relationships or states themselves.
The lesson and replacement questions were written for this dataset.
Three readings are adapted from Khan Academy articles about nouns. A sign and what it shows and Read the whole sentence were written for this dataset.
More to read
Concrete and abstract nouns
A concrete noun names something you can notice with your five senses. You can see a table, hear a song, or touch a bear (though touching a real bear is not a good idea!). All of these are concrete nouns because you can experience them with your senses.
An abstract noun names an idea, feeling, or quality that you cannot see, hear, touch, smell, or taste. You cannot touch courage, and you cannot taste freedom. Words like happiness, honesty, and friendship are all abstract nouns.
When you sort words into two groups, ask yourself: can I use one of my five senses to notice this? If yes, it's concrete. If no, it's abstract.
Glossary: Nouns
Abstract noun: a noun that names a feeling, idea, or quality you cannot see, touch, hear, smell, or taste. Examples: happiness, freedom, courage, love.
Common noun: a noun that names any general person, place, thing, or idea. Examples: bear, octopus, state, book.
Concrete noun: a noun that names something you can see, touch, hear, smell, or taste. Examples: scent, pirate, music.
Noun: a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Examples: kindness, table, city.
Concrete and abstract nouns
A concrete noun names something you can notice through sight, hearing, touch, smell or taste. A whiteboard can be seen and an alarm can be heard. These are concrete meanings. There is no need to handle an animal to check a noun's category.
An abstract noun names an idea, feeling, quality, relationship or state itself. Courage, kindness and joy are examples. Actions can show courage or kindness, but the actions are different from the qualities they show.
A sign and what it shows
A person might share an umbrella with a friend. You can watch the sharing happen. The act may show kindness, but kindness is the quality you recognise in it.
This difference helps when sorting nouns. Umbrella names an object. Kindness names a quality. Both meanings can matter in the same account; concrete and abstract are not labels for real and unreal.
Read the sentence and ask what each noun names there.
Read the whole sentence
Read 'Our hope lasted.' Hope names what lasted, so it is a noun. Now read 'We hope for sunshine.' Hope works as a verb there. The spelling stayed the same, but the job changed.
When looking for an abstract noun, begin with the job in the sentence. Then check the noun's meaning. In 'Our hope lasted,' hope names a state of mind rather than an object or sound.
A word list alone may leave out the context needed to decide.
2 · Watch
En anglaisTake it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.