Grade 5 • Abstract Nouns • About 15 minutes
You will learn to: use the five-senses test to spot idea nouns • sort concrete from abstract • build these nouns from adjectives and verbs
Includes: a categorized list with example sentences • 2 practice activities • a full answer key
Curriculum: Builds on CCSS L.3.1c (use abstract nouns, e.g., childhood); extends the skill to word-building with endings like -ness and -ship.
Quick answer: Some nouns name things your senses can catch — an apple, a drum, rain. Others name feelings, qualities, and ideas that no sense can catch — happiness, courage, freedom. Those invisible nouns are called abstract nouns.
The Golden Rule
Run the five-senses test.
Ask: can I see it, hear it, smell it, taste it, or touch it? If no sense can catch it, the noun is abstract. If even one sense can catch it, the noun is concrete.
What Are Abstract Nouns?
An abstract noun names an idea, feeling, quality, or state that exists in the mind but cannot be picked up by the five senses. You cannot hold bravery in your hand or pour kindness into a cup — yet both words name something real, which is exactly what makes them nouns.
Abstract nouns pass the noun test from our pillar guide: they name something, and they can follow the or a — the truth, a dream, her childhood. (Run the full three tests in What Is a Noun? if you need a refresher.)
One point confuses many students: feelings count as abstract, even though you can feel them inside. The test is about the five senses — sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Your eyes cannot see anger, and your ears cannot hear joy itself (only the laughing it causes). What no outside sense can catch is abstract.
Concrete or Abstract? The Five-Senses Test
Every noun you meet is one or the other. Work through the test word by word:
- See it? Can it appear in a photograph?
- Hear it? Does it make a sound you could record?
- Smell or taste it? Does it reach your nose or tongue?
- Touch it? Could your hand bump into it?
One “yes” is enough — the noun is concrete. Four “no” answers — the noun is abstract.
1 — Concrete Noun
Names something a sense can catch.
apple, drum, rain, perfume
✅ see it • hear it • touch it
2 — Abstract Noun
Names something no sense can catch.
happiness, courage, freedom, childhood
❌ mind and heart only
Try the test on seven nouns:
| Noun | Can a sense catch it? | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| apple | Yes — see, touch, taste it | Concrete |
| music | Yes — hear it | Concrete |
| happiness | No — you see smiles, not the feeling itself | Abstract |
| rain | Yes — see and feel it | Concrete |
| courage | No — you see brave acts, not the quality itself | Abstract |
| perfume | Yes — smell it | Concrete |
| freedom | No — you see what it allows, not the idea itself | Abstract |
Notice the pattern in the middle rows: you often see the results of an abstract noun — smiles, brave acts, open gates — but never the noun itself. That gap is the surest sign you have found one.
FEELINGS
happiness, anger, love
QUALITIES
honesty, courage, kindness
IDEAS
freedom, peace, truth
STATES & STAGES
childhood, youth, sleep
Abstract Nouns List: Feelings, Qualities, Ideas, and States
Learn these in families. Each word below carries an example sentence, because an idea noun makes most sense inside a sentence where it does a job.
Feelings
| Word | Example |
|---|---|
| happiness | Pure happiness spread across her face. |
| anger | His anger faded after a long walk. |
| love | A mother’s love needs no reason. |
| fear | Fear of the dark kept him awake. |
| joy | The news filled the room with joy. |
Qualities
| Word | Example |
|---|---|
| honesty | Her honesty made everyone trust her. |
| kindness | One act of kindness can change a day. |
| courage | It took courage to speak first. |
| patience | Gardening teaches quiet patience. |
| wisdom | Grandfather’s wisdom settled the argument. |
Ideas
| Word | Example |
|---|---|
| freedom | The speech was about freedom for all. |
| peace | After the storm, a deep peace settled. |
| truth | Tell the truth, even when it is hard. |
| justice | The judge promised justice for the town. |
| beauty | The beauty of the valley stopped us mid-walk. |
States and stages
| Word | Example |
|---|---|
| childhood | Her childhood was spent by the sea. |
| success | Success came after years of practice. |
| health | Good health is worth more than gold. |
| sleep | After the long hike, sleep came fast. |
| luck | A little luck helped, but work won. |
Build Your Own: Turn Other Words into Idea Nouns
Here is a Grade 5 superpower: most abstract nouns are built from shorter words you already know. Learn the endings, and you can build — and recognize — hundreds of them.
| Ending | The change | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -ness | adjective → noun | kind → kindness, happy → happiness, sad → sadness |
| -ity | adjective → noun | active → activity, curious → curiosity |
| -ment | verb → noun | enjoy → enjoyment, excite → excitement |
| -tion / -sion | verb → noun | create → creation, decide → decision |
| -ship | noun → noun | friend → friendship, leader → leadership |
| -hood | noun → noun | child → childhood, neighbor → neighborhood |
| -dom | adjective / noun → noun | free → freedom, king → kingdom |
| -y / -ry | adjective → noun | honest → honesty, brave → bravery |
Two spelling warnings. First, happy changes its y to i before -ness: happiness, never “happyness.” Second, decide does not just add an ending — it changes shape: decision. When an ending feels doubtful, say the new word aloud; the one that sounds like real English is usually right.
This building skill matters beyond one worksheet. Strong Grade 5 writing runs on these nouns: the decision, her bravery, their friendship — naming the idea itself lets a writer talk about it, weigh it, and argue about it.
For Teachers: A Five-Minute Way In
Start with two hands. Hold up an apple: “Catch it with a sense — easy.” Then hold up your empty hand: “Now hand me some courage.” The laugh lands the whole lesson — some nouns cannot be handed over.
Then run the test aloud. Read ten nouns and let students vote with thumbs: up for concrete (a sense catches it), down for abstract. Music and shadow start the best arguments — both are concrete, because ears catch one and eyes catch the other.
Finish with building. Give each student an adjective card (kind, brave, honest, happy) and have them build the noun before writing one sentence with it. Building first makes the list section stick.
Try It Now: Sort It — Concrete or Abstract?
Run the five-senses test on each bold noun. Write Concrete or Abstract.
- The table wobbled under the books.
- Her kindness surprised the new girl.
- Thunder rolled over the hills.
- He ate the whole sandwich.
- They marched for freedom.
- A sweet perfume filled the shop.
- His bicycle has a flat tire.
- Her childhood home still stands.
- A shadow moved across the wall.
- Anger rose in his voice.
Make It Abstract
Turn each word into the noun that names the idea itself. The ending table above is your toolbox.
- happy → ______
- friend → ______
- brave → ______
- child → ______
- decide → ______
- enjoy → ______
Now finish this sentence with one of your new nouns: “The story is really about ______.” There is no single right answer — any idea noun that fits the story works.
Wrong vs Right: 3 Mistakes Students Make
Mistake 1 — Calling the adjective a noun
❌ Wrong: “Her happy is easy to see.” (happy is an adjective — it describes.)
✅ Right: “Her happiness is easy to see.” The noun form names the feeling itself.
Mistake 2 — Sorting music as an idea noun
❌ Wrong: “You can’t touch music, so it is abstract.”
✅ Right: Music is concrete — your ears catch it. The test needs only one sense to say yes.
Mistake 3 — Capitalizing idea nouns like names
❌ Wrong: “We believe in Freedom and Truth.”
✅ Right: “We believe in freedom and truth.” These nouns are common nouns, so they stay small mid-sentence — the same rule as Common Noun and Proper Noun teaches. Only a real name earns a capital.
Answer Key
Check Answers — Answer Key (for grown-ups)
Sort It: Concrete or Abstract?
- Concrete — you can see and touch a table.
- Abstract — no sense catches kindness itself.
- Concrete — ears catch thunder.
- Concrete — see, touch, taste.
- Abstract — freedom is an idea.
- Concrete — the nose catches perfume.
- Concrete — see and touch it.
- Abstract — childhood is a stage of life, not a thing to hold.
- Concrete — eyes catch a shadow; if you can photograph it, it is concrete.
- Abstract — you hear the voice, not the anger itself.
Make It Abstract
- happy → happiness (y changes to i).
- friend → friendship.
- brave → bravery.
- child → childhood.
- decide → decision (the word changes shape).
- enjoy → enjoyment.
Check Yourself: I Can…
After you check your answers, tick each box that is true for you:
- ☐ I can run the five-senses test on any noun.
- ☐ I can sort nouns into concrete and abstract.
- ☐ I can build idea nouns with endings like -ness, -ship, and -hood.
- ☐ I can explain why music and shadows are concrete.
How did it feel? 😀 I did it! 🙂 Almost — one more try. 🌱 I need more practice.
An idea noun I will use in my writing: ___
Remember: Senses Catch Concrete, Mind Catches Abstract
One sense says yes → concrete. Every sense says no → abstract.
- Concrete: apple, music, rain, perfume
- Abstract: happiness, courage, freedom, childhood
Stuck? You can see what these nouns cause — smiles, brave acts — but never the nouns themselves.
Lesson Path: Keep Learning
Step 1 — Learn it: What Is a Noun? — the definition and the three noun tests
Step 2 — Grow it: this guide — the nouns no sense can catch (you are here)
Step 3 — See the family: Types of Nouns — where idea nouns sit among all 10 types
Frequently Asked Questions
They are nouns that name ideas, feelings, qualities, and states your five senses cannot catch — happiness, courage, freedom, childhood. You experience them in your mind and heart, but you cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch them.
Run the five-senses test. If you could photograph it, record it, smell it, taste it, or bump into it, the noun is concrete. If every sense says no, it is abstract. Watching for results helps too: smiles are visible; the happiness behind them is not.
Yes. Love names a feeling no sense can catch — you can see loving actions, but not love itself. That makes it a classic abstract noun, and a common noun too, so it stays in small letters mid-sentence.
Sometimes. Joys, fears, and kindnesses (small acts of kindness) all work as plurals. Others, like honesty and information, almost never take a plural. When in doubt, test the sentence aloud — if “many ___” sounds natural, the plural is fine.
A concrete noun — a noun your senses can catch: apple, thunder, perfume, bicycle. Every noun is one or the other, and the five-senses test tells you which.
Concrete. It feels invisible, but your ears catch it, and one “yes” from any sense settles the question. The same goes for thunder, heat, and shadows.
Add an ending. -ness is the most reliable: kind → kindness, happy → happiness (with y → i). Others use -ity (curious → curiosity), -y (honest → honesty), or -ry (brave → bravery).
Keep Learning: Your Next Steps
- 📘 Types of Nouns: Definition, Examples, and Worksheets for Kids — the complete hub: all 10 types of nouns, with a printable chart.
- 📘 What Is a Noun? — the pillar guide: the full definition, the three noun tests, and 100+ examples.
- 📗 Collective Nouns: Definition, Examples, and a Big List for Kids — the one word that names a whole group, like flock, team, and bunch.
- 📝 Nouns Worksheet for Grade 1 — a gentler first worksheet: circle, sort, and fill in nouns, with a complete answer key.
- 📝 Common and Proper Nouns Worksheet for Grade 3 — sorting practice one step below this guide, with answers.
Founder & Editor, Outrenza. Irshad Ullah Asad is a linguist and experienced content writer with an M.Phil in Linguistics. For the past 15 years, he has taught postgraduate classes, helping advanced students master the structure and use of the English language. At Outrenza, he turns that deep expertise into simple, practical grammar lessons — clear explanations, rich examples, and free printable worksheets — so teachers, parents, and students can learn parts of speech and core grammar with confidence. His academic background in linguistics ensures that every lesson on Outrenza is accurate, well-structured, and easy to follow.