Question

In the following sentence a word has been italicized. To what category of a noun does it belong? Kristen must learn about thirteen colonies for his history class
A) Uncountable noun/concrete noun
B) Countable noun/ Concrete noun
C) Uncountable noun/ abstract noun
D) Countable noun/ abstract noun

Answer 1

Hint: Noun is a naming word. It is a word that refers to any name, place, thing, feeling, animal or abstract idea. There are 7 main types of nouns are Common nouns, Proper nouns, Concrete nouns, Abstract nouns, Collective nouns, Count and mass nouns. In the above question, we have to identify the right category of nouns from the given options.

Complete answer:
Let us first understand the meaning of uncountable, concrete, countable and abstract nouns.
i) Uncountable nouns - As the name suggests, these are the nouns that cannot be counted. These nouns are usually given in singular forms as they do not have any plural forms. These nouns can be found in the form of an abstract idea, a feeling or they may have such little quantity which cannot be counted. For e.g. hair, air, gas etc.

ii) Concrete nouns - It is a noun which is opposite of abstract nouns i.e. these are the nouns that can be felt, seen, touched, tasted, heard, or smelt. These nouns can be perceived by at least one of our senses.

iii) Countable nouns - The nouns which can be counted are known as countable nouns. We can count these nouns using numbers and they can have both singulars as well as plural forms. The singular form will use a/an in the sentences while the plural form will have a count(number) of the noun. For e.g. a rat (singular form), 5 rats (plural form).

iv) Abstract noun - It is a noun which is opposite of a concrete noun i.e. these are the nouns that cannot be felt, seen, touched, tasted, heard, or smelt. These are intangible nouns that refer to an idea, emotion, philosophy or concept.

The italicized word is ‘colonies'. Colonies is a plural of the noun colony which refers to a specific area governed by their specific government. They are countable nouns. Also, since colonies can be perceived by our five senses therefore it is a concrete noun. C

The correct answer is option B - Countable noun/ Concrete noun.

Note: Concrete nouns include common nouns, proper nouns, countable nouns and collective nouns. They also include some of the uncountable nouns and not all of them because uncountable nouns can also include abstract nouns and concrete nouns only include tangible nouns.