for an ad-free Fetcheveryone experience!

Grammar pedants - help please.

95 watchers

sallykate Oct 2016 8:36pm, 6 Oct 2016 4,411 posts	Quote Pin sallykate I have a daughter in year 6. This means Grammar homework. I've just had a debate with her about whether things like eyesight and strength are common nouns or abstract. She's essentially being taught that abstract nouns are concepts and ideas (though at the moment she's thinking just in terms of feelings) - I'm just not sure whether it extends to physical attributes which can be measured but aren't actually tangible.
Dvorak Oct 2016 9:34pm, 6 Oct 2016 12,267 posts	Quote Pin Dvorak I looked up the internet which suggested that "qualities" are abstract nouns. So you're examples would be abstract. Is a dragon common or abstract?
Dvorak Oct 2016 9:36pm, 6 Oct 2016 12,268 posts	Quote Pin Dvorak autocorrect horror: "your", of course.
Cyclops Oct 2016 9:45pm, 6 Oct 2016 2,560 posts	Quote Pin Cyclops As a teacher who sometimes teaches Year 6 grammar, I would say, for the purposes of testing, they would be abstract. I like the idea of dragons, unicorns, fairies and trolls being common nouns
paul the builder Oct 2016 10:57am, 7 Oct 2016 5,770 posts	Quote Pin paul the builder Help this simple scientist understand why we need to differentiate nouns in to 'common' and 'abstract'?
R4R Oct 2016 11:40am, 7 Oct 2016 2,745 posts	Quote Pin R4R we don't need to, but we can, so we do
Surelynot Oct 2016 1:38pm, 7 Oct 2016 1,216 posts	Quote Pin Surelynot It helps in differentiating people.
paul the builder Oct 2016 2:09pm, 7 Oct 2016 5,773 posts	Quote Pin paul the builder Between simple scientists and clever linguists?
DeeGee Oct 2016 2:13pm, 7 Oct 2016 17,585 posts	Quote Pin DeeGee I think you'll find the correct adjective for able linguists is "cunning".
Northern Exile Oct 2016 2:13pm, 7 Oct 2016 4,137 posts	Quote Pin Northern Exile Is your question one of understanding the need, or how to actually tell the difference?