Abstract classes are very useful and it's all about design. If, for example, you have an abstract base class called Shape, which has functions such as 'Draw' and 'Move'. You then inherit the Shape class to create a 'Circle' class and 'Square' class.

The inherited classes both have the functions Draw and Move. Move may have functionality in the base class which the child classes use, but draw functionality is handled by each child.

While you then instantiate a Circle and Square, it is meaningless to have just a 'Shape' object.