There are many things in the world that do not have any physical form and you cannot feel them through your five senses. For example, “Clever”. It has no physical form and you cannot even feel it through your five senses. But this is the name of human quality. This is called an abstract noun. In this post, you can read all about abstract nouns such as meaning, definition, formation, and examples of abstract nouns.
What is Abstract Noun?
An abstract noun is a noun that refers to the name of things that do not have a physical form and you cannot feel through your 5 senses.
Some points to understand the meaning of the abstract noun:
- The abstract noun has no physical form: It refers to intangible things such as ideas, concepts, or emotions.
- You cannot feel them with your 5 senses: As you have read in Concrete Nouns that those you can feel with your five senses are called Concrete Nouns. Five senses i.e. seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, or touching. But there are many things that you cannot feel with these five senses. Such as destiny. You can’t touch it, you can’t see it, you can’t taste it, you can’t hear it, and you can’t even smell it. But it is the name of a belief that we think will happen in the future. So, destiny is an abstract noun.
- Abstract nouns refer to the names of the things only: According to the definition of a noun, a noun is a name that refers to the name of a person, animal, place, or thing. But you can feel the person, animal, or place with your 5 senses. Therefore these cannot be abstract nouns. But many such names come under things that do not exist. Just like any idea, concept, or emotion. That’s why abstract nouns are just the names of things.
Abstract Noun Examples
As we read above, an abstract noun does not have any physical form and it is the name of any ideas, concepts, or emotions. So here we will see examples of ideas, concepts, and emotions that will help to understand abstract nouns.
Ideas: Inspiration, death, life, trust, friendship, wisdom, knowledge, thought, sacrifice, failure, success, honor, information, humor, independence, communication, pleasure, etc.
Philosophical Concepts: Atman, avatar, beauty, boredom, choice, experience, dharma, duty, fact, friendship, happiness, identity, infinity, intention, karma, logic, love, moksha, mercy, name, peace, principle, etc.
Feelings or emotions: sadness, joy, disgust, surprise, trust, boredom, calmness, confusion, excitement, fear, horror, interest, joy, romance, sadness, satisfaction, surprise, anger, etc.
Beliefs: Dharma, moksha, God, atman, avatar, duty, life, death, truth, etc.
Formation of Abstract Nouns
There are many abstract nouns that can be formed from verbs, adjectives, and concrete nouns by adding suffixes to root words. For example, reflect is a verb, if you add the suffix “ion” it becomes “reflection” and is an abstract noun. Similarly, calm is an adjective, if you add “ness” it becomes “calmness”.
There are some words that change completely when they become abstract nouns. The abstract noun calmness is the mix of “calm” + “ness” but the abstract noun “choice” is from the verb “choose”.
Here are some examples of abstract nouns that are created from words by changing the words completely.
| Abstract Nouns | Words |
|---|---|
| thought | think |
| sight | see |
| strength | strong |
| decision | decide |
| union | unite |
| motion | move |
| life | live |
Let’s see some examples and understand how an abstract noun is formed from a verb, adjective, and concrete noun.
Formation of Abstract Nouns from Verbs
- expectation = expect + ation
- information = inform + ation
- laughter = laugh + ter
- assignment = assign + ment
- invention = invent + ion
- determination = determin + ation
- action = act + ion
- appearance = appear + ance
- protection = protect + ion
- movement = move + ment
- punishment = punish + ment
- acceptance = accept + ance
- amusement = amuse + ment
- attraction = attract + ion
- blessing = bless + ing
- cleanliness = clean + liness
- collection = collect + ion
Formation of Abstract Nouns from Adjectives
| Adjectives | Abstract Nouns |
|---|---|
| Abundant | Abundance |
| Adventurous | Adventure |
| Anxious | Anxiety |
| Beautiful | Beauty |
| Brave | Bravery |
| Calm | Calmness |
| Curious | Curiosity |
| Comfortable | Comfort |
| Courageous | Courage |
| Different | Difference |
| Excellent | Excellence |
| Great | Greatness |
| Innocent | Innocence |
| Important | Importance |
| Nervous | Nervousness |
| Proud | Pride |
| Real | Reality |
Formation of Abstract Nouns from Concrete Nouns
| Concrete Nouns | Abstract Nouns |
|---|---|
| leader | leadership |
| neighbor | neighborhood |
| scholar | scholarship |
| man | manhood |
| child | childhood |
| friend | friendship |
| father | fatherhood |
| owner | ownership |
| member | membership |
| man | mankind |
| hero | heroism |
| scholar | scholarship |
Examples of Abstract Nouns in Sentences
- I have ownership of this vehicle.
- Friendship is one of those things which give value to survival.
- Life is a reality to be experienced.
- The importance of education is highest for everyone.
- Excellence can be achieved by continuous work.
- Courage is the most important of all.
- There is beauty in everyone’s heart in this world.
- Courage is key to your protection.
- Your decision makes everything perfect.
- Everyone’s life is not the same.
- Your thought defines personality.
- You have some duties towards your society.
- Experience is the best teacher for us.
- You can achieve success through hard work.
- You can learn from your failure, not from your success.
- The truth is never simple for anyone.
