Abstract and Concrete

“Abstract” and “Concrete” are opposites. Concrete ideas describe only one or a few things. Abstract ideas describe what is common between a lot of things. “Soccer ball” is more concrete than “ball”, and “ball” is more concrete than “toy”.

When you use an abstract word, you put things in a group. “Toys” puts every thing you can play with in a group, like balls and trains and blocks. “Round things” also has balls, but instead of trains or blocks, it has circles, the sun and the moon.

Many words you learn in school are abstract. When you learn to count, you learn numbers like “three” and “six.” When you say “three cows,” you make believe all the cows are all the same. You don’t care about their color, or their size, or if they are “boy” or “girl” cows. You just care about how many there are. In fact, you learn not to care if they are cows or ducks or blocks or apples. This is because “three” is an abstract idea.

“Letters” is an abstract idea too. Some kinds of pen-marks on paper are “letters,” but other marks are not.

Abstract words make thinking simpler.