Abstract Noun in Academic Writing

In writing thesis or journal article, the use of noun is essential due to the formal style of writing. The overuse of verbs could lead to ambiguity which leads to confusion. That is why, one of the strategy to change informal sentences into formal style is by using nominalisation. However, nominalisation which formulates a new form of noun has different types, and one of that is the use of abstract noun.


Abstract Noun

Abstract is an observational characteristic of something that is seen without shapes. Thus, an abstract noun is defined as a noun that is immaterial. Another method to understand this abstract noun is by referring the experiences that cannot be sensed by your five senses. So, if it is not seen by the eyes, heard by the ears, tasted by the tongue, touched by the skin, and smelled by the nose; however, it exists, that is what we call as an abstract noun. Conclusively, abstract noun is a noun that does not have physical aspect.

As an example, it is easy to notice books, laptops, a cat, your mother, and your father. These nouns are easily to see, hear, taste (if you can), touch and smell because they have physical objects. Apparently, these types of noun are called real noun. On the other hand, anger, for instance is a real condition. However, you cannot sense the anger, because it does not have physical aspect. Yup, abstract noun is the opposite of real noun. In term of understanding, abstract noun is divided into two groups

Emotions

The most common way to understand the abstract noun is by knowing all of the emotional words. The thing that you have felt is commonly expressed with adjectives, such as
  • happy
  • sad
  • pleased
  • embarrassed
Then, to change it into noun, they are only added with certain suffixes, which become:
  • happiness
  • sadness
  • pleasure
  • embarrassment


Ideas and Concepts

The other way to understand is the aspect of ideas or concept. When we are thinking, the ideas come out from our mind, which cannot be formed in physical entities. However, if we try to explain to our partners, we can describe those ideas, in which they can use their imagination to understand that. These kind of imaginations also refer to abstract noun as they are based on ideas and concepts. As an example is:
  • dedication
  • vulnerability
  • science
  • experimentation
  • magnetism
  • polarity


Example in a sentence

The word aggressive is an adjective, which has lots of meaning. According to Oxford Online Dictionary, aggressive is defined as
angry, and behaving in a threatening way; ready to attack

in a sentence,

Aggression is commonly considered a masculine trait - it comes from the word aggressive

You just need to change the -ion from the -ive

The following link is an assignment for you, please kindly download it from this GDrive Link.

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