What is a concrete noun?

A concrete noun is “a noun denoting something material and nonabstract.”

Here, concrete denotes the noun represents “an actual substance or thing, as
opposed to an abstract quality.”
Putting it another way, concrete nouns refer to the things we can experience
with our five senses. If you can see, smell, hear, taste, or touch something,
that thing is referred to with a concrete noun. And if you recall your grade-
school science lessons, you also know that our senses perceive these things
because they are matter. The words refer to “physical or corporeal
substances,” whether solid, liquid, or gaseous. For example, you can
see smoke. You can smell a flower. You can hear a whistle. You can
taste bananas. You can touch a ladder. All of these words are concrete
nouns. While concrete is useful in the construction of buildings, concrete
nouns help us build strong grammar and explain the world around us.
Concrete noun examples
Many, many words are concrete nouns. We use them to describe everything
we can see and many things that we can’t. Concrete nouns can be singular
nouns or plural nouns. Concrete nouns can be common nouns or proper
nouns. Concrete nouns can be collective nouns, countable nouns, or
uncountable nouns. You will see how versatile concrete nouns can be as we
explore examples.
How adept are you at understanding the difference between common
and proper nouns? Read up to find out.
Living things
If something is alive, it can be observed and perceived. Even extremely small
living things like bacteria and amoebas can be seen with a microscope. We
use a lot of different concrete nouns to refer to all of the people, animals,
plants, and other creatures that share our world:

 People: man, women, children, friend, people, Benjamin Franklin,

Pocahontas, Spider-Man
 Animals: dogs, cat, bird, fish, Tony the Tiger, Smokey the Bear,
Hello Kitty
 Plants: tree, grass, moss, rose, tulip, bush, garden, crops, weeds
 Others: mushroom, mold, fungi, bacteria, cells, protozoa
 Places
You can experience places with your senses, so we also refer to
them with concrete nouns. We use concrete nouns to refer to both
general and specific places.
 city, outside, neighborhoods, parks, mountain, Atlanta, Shanghai,
Norway, South America
  Things
Many, many things are referred to with concrete nouns. Remember,
the thing must be material and tangible for it to be considered a
concrete noun—it can’t be abstract, like an idea, a kind of noun we
will turn our attention to next.
Let’s look at many examples of concrete nouns that are used to
refer to things. As you read these words, think about which of your
senses you would use to experience each item.
 apple, blizzard, cloth, doorknob, elbows, fortress, glass, hot dog,
igloo, jackhammer, kennel, litter, money, nitrogen, octagon,
pumpkins, quilt, rain, snow, television, underwear, volcano, wagon,
xylophone, yardstick, zippers
List of concrete nouns
Let’s review our understanding of concrete nouns by listing examples. We’ll
assign each word to each of the five senses as a way to help clarify these
concepts, but you could easily use more than one of your senses to
experience many of the things on this list.

Sight: painting, artwork, book, show, performance, movie, television,

drawing, note, letter, document, the Mona Lisa, The Lord of the Rings, The
Powerpuff Girls, Frozen

👃 Smell: cheese, roses, skunk, perfume, bakery, fragrance, odors, mold,

coffee

👄 Taste: pizza, bread, food, desserts, candy, beer, milk, Fruity Pebbles,
Doritos, Earl Grey tea

👂 Hear: sound, sirens, whistle, ring, trumpets, banjo, chime, music, Dr. Dre,
Billie Eilish

✋ Touch: wood, paper, computer, coins, mud, plastics, sand, trash, wheel,
Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut, Nintendo Switch, iPhone, the Eiffel Tower, Barbados, air,
fire, wind