Love, happiness, feelings, emotions trust, pleasure, etc. What are these nouns you can’t perceive by the five human senses? Abstract Nouns! These represent intangible entities, that human senses can’t sense. For Example, time, love, happiness, sadness, anxiety, pleasure, discomfort, etc. These differ from concrete nouns that can be perceived with human senses, like table, chair, pen, book, etc.
What are Abstract Nouns?
Let’s explore Abstract Nouns Definition and Examples.
Abstract nouns Definition:
These represent intangible entities, ideas you can’t sense with five senses. We can’t interact with these concepts in the physical world with our five senses. For example, can you sense love or happiness with your senses? No! You can’t touch, see, hear, smell, or taste these concepts, although these concepts are present in the real world.
Abstract Nouns Examples:
Here are some examples of Abstract Nouns.
- Love
- Happiness
- Nervousness
- independence
- Excitement
- life
- death
- information
- trust
Example Sentences of Abstract Nouns:
- She is in love with her family.
- It takes courage to stand for your rights.
- She is celebrating freedom after seven years of intimidation.
- He is known for his wisdom.
- Hard work is the key to success.
Types of abstract Noun:
Abstract nouns are of three categories:
1- Ideas: It represents concepts, such as “democracy,” “freedom,” “wisdom,” and “knowledge.”
2- Qualities: These represent qualities, like “courage,” “beauty,” “strength,” and “patience.” These describe a person or thing in detail.
3- Feelings: These refer to emotions or feelings. For example: “joy,” “sadness,” “happiness,” “pleasure,” and “love.” These describe how we feel.
Converting Verb to Abstract Noun:
Verbs can be converted to Abstract Nouns. Examples are:
| Verbs | Abstract Noun |
| Enjoy | enjoyment |
| Inform | information |
| Block | blockade |
| Conscious | Consciousness |
| Determine | determination |
| Perceive | perception |
| Describe | description |
| Appoint | appointment |
| Decide | decision |
| Assign | assignment |
| Determine | determination |
| Resist | Resistance |
Converting Adjective to Abstract Noun:
Adjectives can be converted to Abstract Nouns as:
| Adjective | Abstract noun |
| Brave | bravery |
| Weak | weakness |
| Truth | truthful |
| Free | freedom |
| Silent | silence |
| Happy | happiness |
| Probable | probability |
| Mad | madness |
| Responsible | responsibility |
| Able | ability |
| Sad | sadness |
| Possible | possibility |
| Honest | honesty |
Abstract Nouns list:
| Ideas | Events | Concepts | States | Qualities | Feelings &Emotions |
| Belief | Adventure | Beauty | Ambiguity | Wisdom | Anger |
| Beliefs | Awakening | Charity | Being | Beauty | Despair |
| Communication | Birthday | Comfort | Calm | Brilliance | Happiness |
| Creativity | Campaign | Culture | Certainty | Compassion | Hate |
| Culture | Career | Deceit | Chaos | Courage | Indifference |
| Curiosity | Celebration | Energy | Clarity | Dedication | Joy |
| Democracy | Ceremony | Equality | Comfort | Determination | Grief |
| Education | Childhood | Failure | Community | Enthusiasm | Love |
| Equality | Commemoration | Faith | Confusion | Generosity | Sadness |
| Freedom | Competition | Faith | Depression | Grace | Sorrow |
| Friendship | Conflict | Freedom | Despair | Honesty | Fear |
| Imagination | Crisis | Friendship | Discomfort | Humility | Hope |
| Integrity | Death | Justice | Dissatisfaction | Joyfulness | Surprise |
| Interest | Demonstration | Liberty | Euphoria | Kindness | Shame |
| Justice | Disaster | Motivation | Failure | Loyalty | Guilt |
| Knowledge | Discovery | Opportunity | Freedom | Optimism | Envy |
| Philosophy | Enlightenment | Peace | Harmony | Patience | Jealousy |
| Progress | Evolution | Perseverance | Hope | Respect | Pain |
| Religion | Exhibition | Success | Instability | Strength | Comfort |
| Sacrifice | Exploration | Truth | Isolation | Trust | Pride |
Formation of abstract nouns
These are formed by adding the suffixes. Here are examples. There are several ways to form abstract nouns from verbs, nouns, and adjectives.
| Base words | -al | Abstract Noun |
| nation | -al | National |
| Deny | -al | Denial |
| Propose | -al | Proposal |
| Bestow | -al | Bestowal |
| Base Word | Suffix | Abstract Noun |
|---|---|---|
| indicate | -ion | Indication |
| relate | -ion | Relation |
| act | -ion | Action |
| create | -ion | Creation |
By Adding the suffix “-ance:”
| Root words | -ance | Abstract Noun |
| Appear | -ance | Appearance |
| Resist | -ance | Resistance |
| Perform | -ance | Performance |
| Ally | -ance | Alliance |
By Adding the suffix “-ism:”
| Base Word | Suffix | Abstract Noun |
|---|---|---|
| parallel | -ism | Parallelism |
| Social | -ism | Socialism |
| Lyric | -ism | Lyricism |
| Capital | -ism | Capitalism |
By Adding the suffix “-ation:”
| Root words | -ation | Abstract Noun |
| Relax | -ation | Relaxation |
| Flirt | -ation | Flirtation |
| Color | -ation | Coloration |
| Realize | -ation | Realization |
By Adding the suffix “-ence:”
| Base Word | Suffix | Abstract Noun |
|---|---|---|
| subsist | -ence | Subsistence |
| exist | -ence | Existence |
| depend | -ence | Eependence |
| refer | -ence | Reference |
| Base Word | Suffix | Abstract Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Nation | -hood | Nationhood |
| Child | -hood | Childhood |
| Mother | -hood | Motherhood |
| False | -hood | Falsehood |
By Adding the suffix “-ity:”
| Base Word | Suffix | Abstract Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Christian | -ity | Christianity |
| generous | -ity | generosity |
| dense | -ity | density |
| historic | -ity | historicity |
By Adding the suffix “-ment:”
| Base Word | Suffix | Abstract Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Judge | -ment | Judgment |
| Amaze | -ment | Amazement |
| Base | -ment | Basement |
| Pave | -ment | Pavement |
By Adding the suffix “-ness:”
| Base Word | Suffix | Abstract Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | -ness | Kindness |
| Reality | -ness | Realness |
| Happy | -ness | Happiness |
| Depend | -ness | Dependence |
By Adding the suffix “-ship:”
| Base Word | Suffix | Abstract Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Friend | -ship | Friendship |
| Leader | -ship | Leadership |
| Scholar | -ship | Scholarship |
| Relation | -ship | Relationship |
Abstract Nouns Exercise:
Here is an Abstract Nouns Quiz for better understanding.
1- His happiness peaked when she won a gold medal.
A) His
B) Happiness
C) Gold
D) Medal
Answer: B) Happiness
2- Courage to take the right step leads to success.
A) Courage
B) Right
C) Step
D) Necessary
Answer: A) Courage
3- She is dancing with joy.
A) She
B) Dancing
C) Joy
D) is
Answer: B) Joy
4- Determination and hard work leads to success.
A) And
B) Leads
C) Determination
D) To
Answer: C) Determination
5- She works with honesty and passion.
A) works
B) Honesty
C) with
D) and
Answer: B) Honesty
6- His kindness and love won everyone’s hearts.”
A) Kindness
B) love
C) Hearts
D) Both A and B
Answer: D) Both A and B
Abstract noun, definition, examples, types, formation, and list
