1.5.2020 Nouns part 6.

May 01, 2020

Welcome back boys! Hope you'll are good !

We revise abstract nouns today as most of you may have found it difficult .

We begin with a brief recap .

Abstract nouns are a type of noun that you can't see or touch.
Abstract nouns may include an idea, a concept, a state of being, a quality or feeling that can't be experienced with our five senses... ( they describe something which we cannot see, hear, touch, taste or smell)

How do we recognise an abstract noun ?

I do agree children that it can be difficult / tricky to recognize an abstract noun because there are so many words that can function in different ways.

The video clip below takes us through the concept of concrete and abstract nouns. Please do watch it for a better understanding !

Now, let's look at a few examples below :-

1. I LOVE SCOOBY, MY PET DOG. in this sentence, the word, love , expresses an action , hence it is a verb

2. SEND MY LOVE TO GRANDPA. whereas ; in this sentence , the word, love, expresses ( names ) a feeling / emotion, hence it is a noun ; (an abstract noun ), as it names a feeling.

Now, let's take examples from our Grammar textbook , page no. 15 question no. E

Identify abstract nouns in the following sentences:-

1. Nur Jahan was famous for her beauty.

Here, Nur Jahan is the subject ( proper noun , name of a person) ; was ( being verb) famous is the adjective ; for ( preposition ) ; her possessive pronoun

beauty is the abstract noun as it is the name given to a quality

Suppose, I changed the sentence and rewrote it as:-

Nur Jahan was a beautiful and a well-known queen. OR

Nur Jahan was beautiful and well-known.

In both the sentences, beautiful , is describing Nur Jahan , hence , beautiful is an adjective ; not an abstract noun.

2. Sincerity is a great virtue.

Here, Sincerity, is the subject of the sentence, it is a noun ; an abstract noun , as it names a quality, living beings ( humans ) have . is being verb here; a article great adjective and it describes the noun, virtue. (virtue is the name given to a good quality in a person. )

But suppose , I changed the sentence and wrote:- My mum is virtuous and hard-working .

Then both virtuous and hard-working are describing words ( adjectives ) here, describing mummy.

3. India has made satisfactory industrial progress.

Here, India ( subject .. proper noun ) ; has made ( verb ); industrial progress is a noun ; and if you ask the question , what kind of progress ? You will get the answer as satisfactory ( means good enough)

It gets tricky, as the word, progress, can be used both as a noun as well as a verb , depending on the sentence construction!

Examples;- a) After the 2019 elections, our town has progressed. Here, has progressed is a verb ...progress is being used as a verb

b) The political party lost the elections but that did not stop its progress. Here, progress is being used as a noun … a naming word ( abstract noun ) to describe , movement.

So, my little ones, reading a sentence several times is extremely important . You cannot read a given sentence only once to understand / grasp the different parts of speech .

The grammar textbook exercises are tricky , so we will go slow. Please take note that tricky ones ( abstract nouns) will not be tested.

Now moving ahead, let's take a look at some common categories of abstract nouns:-

NAMING EMOTIONS / FEELINGS :-

love

peace

anger

hatred

sympathy

happiness

sadness

joyfulness