Practice
Concrete nouns: rules and examples
You can see a bicycle, hear a bell, taste soup, smell coffee, or touch a wooden table. The words bicycle, bell, soup, coffee, and table are concrete nouns because they name things you can experience with your senses.
Identify concrete nouns in a sentence, distinguish them from abstract nouns, and use concrete nouns clearly in your own examples.
Read and practice
Read the examples and try the written questions in this guide. Listening recordings are not available for this lesson yet.
Try the written questions
concrete noun /ˈkɑnkriːt naʊn/
The short answer
Use a concrete noun for something you can experience with one or more senses. A chair, music, perfume, bread, and wind are concrete nouns. Ideas and qualities such as honesty, fear, and freedom are abstract nouns.
The smell of fresh bread filled the kitchen.
Why it works: Bread is concrete because you can see, touch, smell, and taste it. Kitchen is also concrete because it names a physical place.
5 more examples
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The puppy chased a yellow ball across the yard.
Each highlighted noun names something physical that a person can see or touch.
Not this:The puppy brought
joyto the family. What changes: Joy is an abstract noun because it names a feeling, not a physical thing. -
Rain tapped on the windows during the meeting.
Rain can be seen, heard, and felt. Windows are physical objects.
Not this:
Patiencehelped us finish the meeting calmly. What changes: Patience names a quality. You can notice its effects, but you cannot touch or see patience itself. -
Maya put the keys beside her notebook.
Keys and a notebook are objects that can be handled.
Not this:Maya needed
confidencebefore the presentation. What changes: Confidence is an abstract noun because it names a state of mind. -
The drummer played a slow rhythm.
A drummer is a person you can see, and a rhythm is something you can hear.
Not this:The audience showed
appreciationafter the song. What changes: Appreciation is an idea or feeling rather than a sensory thing. -
Steam rose from the cup of tea.
These nouns name things that can be seen, touched carefully, smelled, or tasted.
Not this:The tea gave her
comforton a cold day. What changes: Comfort names a feeling or state, so it is abstract.
Read the full guide
Ask a simple question when you meet a noun: can a person experience the thing through the senses? If the answer is yes, the noun is usually concrete. If the word names an idea, feeling, quality, or state instead, it is usually abstract.
Check what the noun names
A noun is concrete when it names something a person can experience through the senses. It may be a person, animal, place, object, food, material, sound, smell, or natural event. The noun does not need to be alive or easy to hold. Thunder is concrete because you can hear it.
The thunder woke the baby.
The storm caused worry. Thunder is concrete because you can hear it. Worry is abstract because it names a feeling.
Which noun is concrete in this sentence: The storm caused worry?
Storm is concrete. A person can see and hear a storm. Worry names a feeling.
Compare concrete and abstract nouns
Abstract nouns name things such as ideas, feelings, qualities, and states. They are real parts of life, but they do not name an object or sensory event. Love, knowledge, courage, and sadness are abstract nouns. A photograph, a teacher, and laughter are concrete nouns because people can experience them directly.
Her laughter filled the hallway.
Her happiness was clear to everyone. Laughter is a sound that people can hear, while happiness names a feeling.
Is knowledge concrete or abstract?
Knowledge is abstract. You can learn through books and lessons, but knowledge itself is an idea.
A noun can have more than one label
Concrete and abstract describe meaning. Other noun labels describe a different feature. Doctor is a concrete, common, countable noun. Dr. Patel is a concrete, proper noun. Water is a concrete mass noun because we usually do not count it as separate units without a measure word such as a glass of water.
Two doctors waited near the entrance.
Water covered the floor. Water is concrete, but it is usually treated as a mass noun rather than a countable noun.
Can a proper noun also be concrete?
Yes. A proper noun such as London or Maria can be concrete because it names a place or person that can be experienced.
Use sensory nouns for useful detail
A concrete noun can make a sentence more precise when it names the detail that explains the situation. Compare a general noun such as thing with a specific noun such as receipt, suitcase, or screwdriver. The specific word helps only if it is true and relevant. Clear writing does not need a long list of objects.
I left the receipt in the blue folder.
I left the thing there. The word thing does not tell the reader what was left or where to look.
Which word gives a reader more useful information: item or receipt?
Receipt is more specific when you mean a record of a purchase. It names the object directly.
Remember that senses include sound and smell
Do not use only the question Can I touch it? A concrete noun can name something you hear, smell, taste, or feel. Music, perfume, salt, heat, and wind are concrete nouns. This helps explain why a noun may be concrete even when it is not a solid object.
The scent of oranges stayed in the room.
The memory of summer stayed with her. A scent can be smelled. A memory is an idea about the past.
Why is music a concrete noun?
Music is concrete because listeners can hear it. A concrete noun may connect with any sense.
Before you go
Remember this
Concrete nouns name people, places, objects, materials, and sensory things. Check whether you can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch the thing named. If the noun names an idea, quality, feeling, or state, it is more likely to be abstract. Use concrete nouns when they help the reader understand the real details of your sentence.
Practice with the written examples
You can practice with the written questions in the Learn tab. Each answer includes an explanation.
Try the written questionsListening test not available yet
This lesson does not have the recordings needed for a listening test. Use the written questions in the guide to check your understanding.
Try the written questionsQuestions about "Concrete nouns: rules and examples"
What is a concrete noun?
A concrete noun names a person, place, thing, material, or sensory event that you can experience directly. A chair, rain, music, bread, and perfume are concrete nouns. You may experience a concrete noun by seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, or tasting it.
The puppy chased a yellow ball across the yard.
What is the difference between a concrete noun and an abstract noun?
A concrete noun names something connected to the senses, while an abstract noun names an idea, quality, feeling, or state. For example, a bridge is concrete because it is a physical structure. Pride is abstract because it names a feeling rather than an object.
The puppy brought joy to the family.
Is music a concrete noun?
Yes. Music is a concrete noun because listeners can hear it. Concrete nouns are not limited to objects you can hold. Sounds, smells, heat, wind, and tastes can also be concrete because people experience them through the senses.
Rain tapped on the windows during the meeting.
Can a person be a concrete noun?
Yes. A person is a concrete noun because a person is physical and can be seen and heard. Teacher, neighbor, musician, and child are concrete nouns. A person's name, such as Maria, is also concrete, even though it is a proper noun.
Patience helped us finish the meeting calmly.
Can one noun be concrete and countable?
Yes. Concrete and countable describe different features. Apple is concrete because it is physical, and it is countable because you can say one apple or two apples. Water is also concrete, but it is usually a mass noun, so we say some water or a glass of water.
Maya put the keys beside her notebook.