Concrete and Abstract Nouns Educational Resources

Abstract nouns are not concrete things. They are not as easy to detect and understand by young learners, because they are not something that can be seen, heard, touched, smelled, or tasted. Common categories for abstract nouns include emotions, feelings, ideals, ideas, qualities, states, and events. To help students learn more about how to identify and use abstract nouns, use the Education.com worksheets below.

The common distinction between a concrete and abstract noun is that a concrete noun can be experienced through one of the five senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell, or taste.

Students may find abstract nouns confusing at first, but as with many concepts in English, practice and repetition will help commit them to memory. Just as with irregular verbs, grouping abstract nouns into categories is a useful practice. The following are several abstract nouns grouped by category, but this is certainly not an exhaustive list:

Emotions	Ideas	Qualities	States
Happiness	Curiosity	Positive	Openness
Love	Wisdom	Generosity	Peace
Hate	Beliefs	Determination	Misery
Sadness	Sacrifice	Trust	Nervousness

It is worth instructing students that especially feelings and emotions-related abstract nouns can crossover between both categories.

One shortcut to give students to help quickly identify abstract nouns: concrete nouns can be modified to form an abstract noun. An easy way to spot an abstract noun is to recognize suffixes such as: -tion, -ism, -ity, -ance, -ship, -ability, -acy, and more.

By adding a suffix, and sometimes changing the root a little, students can create common abstract nouns out of common concrete nouns. Examples include:

• -ism: patriot → patriotism
• -ship: friend → friendship
• -acy: democrat → democracy

The Education.com worksheets and exercises above are designed to shine a light on abstract nouns, bringing greater understanding to your students. With practice, students will understand that they already know many abstract nouns by their concrete form.