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The Great McGonagall Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

The battle between Abstract and Concrete Nouns continues…

Hello everyone

I wonder if anyone can help me with my abstract and concrete nouns. I understand the difference between these two types of noun; however, I’ve found some nouns can be both abstract and concrete regardless of their context. Here’s an example of a few nouns where I’ve found this:

A film (as in a motion picture)

Now, if I was to test whether this noun is a concrete one, I would use the ‘5 Senses Test’. What this test tells me is that since I can ‘see’ a film and ‘hear’ a film, then the noun ‘film’ is concrete. Despite this, however, I would say that ‘film’ is more of an abstract noun as it has no material existence. What I ‘see’ when I watch a film is not the film itself, rather its actors and sets. Neither do I ‘hear’ a film, again it is the actors’ dialogue and the score that pricks up my ears.

The same argument can be said for other concrete nouns such as ‘meeting’, ‘words’ and ‘noise’, all of which can be classed as abstract nouns. Do we ‘see’ and ‘hear’ the meeting itself, or the people attending it? Do we ‘see’ words, or the letters on a page which we interpret as words and meaning? Again, do we ‘hear’ noise, or a collection of ‘sounds’ – which is a concrete noun – that we interpret as ‘noise’?

I would love to hear what you all think on this, as I’ve been rattling my brain over it for days. All help and ideas are welcome.
  

Top answer

The more we examine the difference between concrete and abstract nouns, the more artificial the whole thing becomes. Does it really matter? We need to use the language, not label it.

— Fivejedjon

  • The more we examine the difference between concrete and abstract nouns, the more artificial the whole thing becomes.
  • Does it really matter?
  • We need to use the language, not label it.
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9 Answers
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The more we examine the difference between concrete and abstract nouns, the more artificial the whole thing becomes. Does it really matter? We need to use the language, not label it.
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Hello McGonagall;

This is film:

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OK, but how about 'air'? 'Love' is, in my opinion, pretty abstract, and 'brick' is clearly concrete. But 'air'?
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Air is certainly concrete. It has mass, thus weight. It has temperature. It can hold up balloons and jet planes.
Moving air can do this:

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Hmm. I'm inclined to disagree with you on that one Alphecca. What you've described is celluloid, a physical form of film, which is indeed a concrete noun. However, 'film', as in motion picture, means a story or event that is recorded by a camera as a series of moving images and shown in cinemas or on television. 'Film' in this sense I would argue is abstract, as you aren't watching the 'film' itse
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The Great McGonagall'Film' in this sense I would argue is abstract, as you aren't watching the 'film' itself - i.e. the celluloid - what your'e seeing and hearing are a series of moving images that you're interpreting as a film or movie.
A film, even in your sense, is not abstract to my thinking. It is something that you saw and heard, and could do so again. I
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The Great McGonagallhelp me with my abstract and concrete nouns
See .

CJ
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Hi CJ

Thanks for sharing this, I've found it's more than answered my question. I don't suppose you've anything similar for how to tell a dynamic verb from a stative one?

Best wishes.
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The Great McGonagallI don't suppose you've anything similar for how to tell a dynamic verb from a stative one?
I wish.

Here's something that works most of the time, but I don't guarantee it always works.

If the verb represents a situation that has no moving parts, it's stative; otherwise, it's dynamic.

This bottle contains water
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