How do you explain a concrete noun to a child?

A concrete noun is a word that names something you can notice with your five senses. If a child can see it, hear it, smell it, taste it, or touch it, the word for it is a concrete noun, such as "cookie," "drum," or "park."

What is the difference between a concrete noun and an abstract noun?

A concrete noun names something physical that can be sensed, like "desk" or "rain." An abstract noun names something you cannot sense directly, such as a feeling, quality, or idea, like "joy," "bravery," or "freedom."

Can a concrete noun be more than one word?

Yes. A concrete noun can be a single word, like "dog," or a noun phrase with more than one word, like "ice cream cone" or "school bus." As long as the words together name something you can detect with your senses, the whole phrase is a concrete noun.

Are names of people and places concrete nouns?

Yes. Names of specific people and places, such as "Jordan" or "Central Park," are proper nouns, and they are also concrete nouns because you can see and visit them. Common nouns for people and places, like "teacher" or "city," are concrete too.

What Is a Concrete Noun? Definition and Examples

Concrete noun explained for kids

A concrete noun is a word that names something you can notice with your body. If you can see it, hear it, smell it, taste it, or touch it, the name for it is a concrete noun. Words like "dog," "pizza," and "school" are concrete nouns. Words like "happiness" are not concrete nouns, because you cannot see or touch them!

Concrete noun examples

Example 1 (younger grades):

In the sentence "The cat sat on the chair," the concrete nouns are:

cat (you can see and touch a cat)
chair (you can see and sit on a chair)

Both words name real, physical things.

Example 2 (upper elementary):

In the sentence "During recess, the students kicked a red ball across the field," the concrete nouns are:

students (people you can see and hear)
ball (an object you can see and touch)
field (a place you can see and walk on)

Each concrete noun names something that can be experienced with one or more of the five senses. Notice that "recess" is also a noun, but it names a time in the school day rather than something you can see or touch, so it is not a concrete noun.

How concrete nouns fit into grammar

Concrete nouns are one main type of noun, the part of speech that names people, places, things, and ideas. The other main type is an abstract noun, which names something you cannot detect with your senses, such as "friendship" or "honesty."

As your child moves through grades 3 to 5, they will be expected to recognize concrete nouns in sentences and use them to make their writing more specific and detailed. Strong concrete nouns help readers picture what is happening, which improves both narrative writing and informative writing.

Concrete nouns can be singular ("apple") or plural ("apples"), and they can be common nouns ("city") or proper nouns ("Paris"). Understanding that many different kinds of nouns can be concrete helps your child sort words more accurately and avoid mixing up noun types with other grammar ideas, such as verb tense or sentence type.

Common mistakes with concrete nouns

Mistake 1: Thinking any "thing" word is concrete. A child might say "love" is a concrete noun because it is a "thing." Correction: concrete nouns must be sensed with the body; "love" is an abstract noun because you cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch it directly.
Mistake 2: Calling all concrete nouns "things" and forgetting people and places. A child might only pick "pencil" as a concrete noun in "The teacher put the pencil on the desk" and miss "teacher" and "desk." Correction: people and places are also concrete nouns when you can experience them with your senses.
Mistake 3: Confusing describing words with concrete nouns. A child might circle "red" instead of "ball" in "the red ball" as the concrete noun. Correction: "red" is an adjective that describes the noun; the concrete noun is the word that names the object itself, "ball."

Concrete nouns in everyday life

Concrete nouns are everywhere in daily life: the "cereal" in a bowl at breakfast, the "bus" on the street, the "notebook" in a backpack, and the "tree" in the yard. Pointing out these words as concrete nouns while you talk, read, or ride in the car can help your child connect grammar to the real world.

Related grammar ideas to explore

As your child learns about concrete nouns, it can also help to see how they work inside larger grammar ideas, such as a clause, or how they appear in different sentence types, such as an exclamatory sentence. Later, your child may notice how concrete nouns can be turned into other forms, such as a gerund when a verb ends in -ing and acts like a noun.

What is a concrete noun?