What comes to mind when you hear the word ice cream? Do you feel the coldness in your mouth? Do you taste rich chocolate or creamy vanilla or fruity strawberry? What about the word fire? Do you hear the crackle? Feel the warmth on your face? Words like ice cream and fire are concrete nouns. Let’s explore this a little farther.
What is a Concrete Noun?
Objects and substances that can be experienced through our senses are referred to as concrete nouns. That means we can touch, feel, smell, taste or hear them.
Examples of Concrete Nouns
The vast majority of nouns are concrete nouns. Take all animals and people for example. You can touch, feel, see, and hear them. You can do the same for objects. We take in with our eyes all the sights of places we visit.
Flowers, panther, cinnamon, sunset, rain, cookies…these are just a few concrete nouns.
The yellow flowers flowed from a glass red vase.
Suddenly, a large roaring black panther appeared from behind the rock.
Mother’s kitchen always smells like cinnamon during the holidays.
The sunset unfurled ribbons of red, purple, and gold across the sky.
Walking home I was assaulted by rain droplets that fell like bullets from the sky.
Cookies baking in the oven means Grandma has come to visit.
Some concrete nouns are countable nouns. Countable nouns have both a singular and a plural form.
A brick. Two bricks.
A book. Three books.
A horse. Four horses.
Uncountable concrete nouns do not have a plural form. We can’t separate them into individual elements to count. Milk, air, sugar, salt, wood, rice, electricity and water are also uncountable nouns. Concrete nouns can be collective nouns, common nouns, and proper nouns as well.