A noun is a word that refers to a person, place, thing, or idea. The word "noun" comes from the Latin for "name." A good way to think of a noun is as a word we use to name something, whether that thing exists in the physical world or in our mind.
The first kind of noun—the physical kind—is known as a concrete noun. Concrete nouns refer to those things we can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Door, bottle, table, building, ear, carpet, tree—these are all concrete nouns. In the following sentences, the concrete nouns are in boldface.
Abstract nouns, on the other hand, refer to things we cannot apprehend by our five senses. Love, honor, assignment, criticism, attitude, possibility, and life are all abstract nouns
Often, an abstract noun will These words may end with "-tion"—for example, action, celebration, deliberation, hydration are all abstract nouns. Other common endings for abstract nouns include "-ment" (agreement, placement,
It will become easier to under when we discuss how they are used in sentences, as subjects and objects.
There are some nouns that may fit into both categories, depending on how they are used. Is "friend" "I wish I had a friend" it is abstract, where in "I want you to meet my friend," it is concrete. Is "song" abstract or concrete? This line of thinking can get into some pretty deep territory, and isn’t really necessary for our purposes. Just remember, if on or more of your five senses can comprehend it, it is a concrete noun.
Nouns can also be classified as common or proper. All the nouns highlighted above are common nouns. They are begin with a lower-case letter (when they don’t begin a sentence). Proper nouns, on the other hand, typically begin with a capital letter
Names of people, places, and institutions are proper nouns. See the examples below.