Plain English. Marian Wharton
A … … of workers.
ABSTRACT NOUNS
62. When primitive man began to name the objects about him, doubtless he first named the things which he could see, hear, taste, smell and touch—the objects which he could perceive by the five senses. Then gradually he came to understand that these objects had certain qualities which he could consider apart from the object itself.
He hunted among the stones to find those which were suitable for making his arrow-heads. For this purpose he needed the hardest stone which he could find, so hardness became something which he could think of as something apart from the object itself.
He saw the men about him and found a name for them. Then he knew that some men were stronger than others, so strength was a quality which he could consider apart from the man himself.
These men performed certain actions; they ran, they climbed—so running and climbing became actions which he could think of as something apart from any individual.
He noted too that men lived in certain conditions; for example, some men were free, some were slaves, so he came to think of slavery and freedom as conditions which could be thought of as something apart from the individual.
So we draw away, or separate certain ideas; the quality from the thing which has it and the action from the thing which does it and the condition from the thing which is in it. These nouns which are used to describe these qualities, actions or conditions are called abstract nouns. Abstract is a word derived from the Latin abs, away from, and tractus, drawn, so it literally means drawn away from.
The nouns which are names of things which we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch or perceive by any of the five senses are called concrete nouns.
63. A concrete noun is the name of an object which may be perceived by one or more of the five senses.
An abstract noun is the name of a quality, a condition or an action.
64. You remember we found in the study of adjectives that we have a class of adjectives which are used to describe the qualities of objects, as for example—good, noble, honest, true, wise, etc. Since abstract nouns are the names of qualities, many of our abstract nouns are formed from adjectives. Study carefully the following list of adjectives and nouns. Note that the word is an adjective when it is used with a noun to describe certain qualities. It is a noun when it is used by itself to name that quality.
| Adjectives | Abstract Nouns | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | honest | honesty |
| 2. | pure | purity |
| 3. | true | truth |
| 4. | strong | strength |
| 5. | wise | wisdom |
| 6. | good | goodness |
| 7. | bold | boldness |
| 8. | just | justice |
| 9. | silent | silence |
| 10. | wide | width |
| 11. | patient | patience |
| 12. | stupid | stupidity |
65. You will notice that another use of abstract nouns is to name actions. The verb is the part of speech which expresses action, therefore many abstract nouns are formed from verbs. Notice the following list:
| Verbs | Abstract Nouns | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | learn | learning |
| 2. | invent | invention |
| 3. | choose | choice |
| 4. | defend | defense |
| 5. | try | trial |
| 6. | judge | judgment |
| 7. | read | reading |
| 8. | please | pleasure |
| 9. | elect | election |
| 10. | move | motion |
66. An abstract noun is also the name of a condition. These nouns are derived from the concrete noun which is the name of the person or thing which is in the condition.
| Concrete Nouns | Abstract Nouns | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | slave | slavery |
| 2. | friend | friendship |
| 3. | thief | theft |
| 4. | man | manhood |
| 5. | child | childhood |
| 6. | leader | leadership |
| 7. | hero | heroism |
| 8. | martyr | martyrdom |
Exercise 2