![]() (from "On Turning Ten" by American Poet Laureate Billy Collins and my bicycle never leaned against the garage as it does today, all the dark blue speed drained out of it. For poets, the challenge is often to capture these abstract feelings using concrete nouns. Many creative writers (particularly poets), consider abstract nouns "the enemy." Even though abstract nouns cover many of the topics that poets like to address (e.g., love, loss, sadness, loneliness), poets know that using these words or their derivatives (e.g., I was in love he was sad she was lonely) tells their readers very little about their subjects. Here are some more examples of abstract nouns:Īnger, anxiety, beauty, beliefs, bravery, brilliance, chaos, charity, childhood, comfort, communication, compassion, courage, culture, curiosity, deceit, dedication, democracy, determination, energy, failure, faith, fear, freedom, friendship, generosity, gossip, happiness, hate, honesty, hope, imagination, information, integrity, intelligence, joy, justice, justice, kindness, knowledge, liberty, life, love, loyalty, luxury, misery, motivation, opportunity, pain, patience, peace, perseverance, pleasure, pride, relaxation, sacrifice, satisfaction, skill, strength, success, sympathy, talent, thought, trust, truth, warmth, and wisdom (In this context, "dream" does not mean "hope." Here, "dream" could be classified as a concrete noun, especially if you think a dream is perceived via your senses.) When I was a little kid, I used to have a vivid recurring dream about Captain Hook.(In this context, "dream" is an abstract noun with a meaning similar to "hope.") Working for Disney was a childhood dream come true.Be aware that the distinction between abstract noun and concrete noun is sometimes blurry.Īlso, be aware that classifying a noun as abstract or concrete may depend on context or even the classifier's definition of perceivable. We would agree that "laughter" is a concrete noun, but what about "love," "work," and "result"? It is fairly easy to make cases for these being concrete nouns, but they are classified as abstract nouns. For example, "laughter" is often cited as an abstract noun, but "laughter" can be heard, which would make it a concrete noun. It is not always easy to differentiate between an abstract noun and a concrete noun, and it is not unusual for students to argue over whether a noun is abstract or concrete. Here is a table with some abstract and concrete nouns:Ībstract or Concrete? It Could Be Ambiguous. Here are some more examples of abstract nouns categorized under conceptual headings:Īnxiety, fear, pleasure, stress, sympathyĬourage, patience, determination, generosity, honestyĬharity, deceit, opportunity, comfort, democracyīirthday, childhood, marriage, career, deathĪbstract Nouns Contrast with Concrete NounsĪbstract nouns contrast with concrete noun, which denote tangible things, i.e., things that can be perceived with one of the five senses. consideration, parenthood, belief, anger.It is sometimes helpful to think of an abstract noun as a word that names something that you cannot see, hear, touch, smell, or taste (i.e., something you cannot perceive with one of your five senses). In other words, an abstract noun does not refer to a physical object. An abstract noun is a noun that refers to an intangible concept such as an emotion, a feeling, a quality, or an idea.
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