2022-02-03 01:16:53
#Rule-27
Countable Nouns vs.
Uncountable Nouns
Both concrete and abstract nouns can be either
countable or
uncountable, depending on what they name.
Countable Nouns:
Countable nouns (also known as
count nouns) are, as the name suggests, nouns that can be counted as individual units.
Concrete countable nouns
Many concrete nouns are countable. Consider the following, for example:
- cup
- ambulance
- phone
- person
- dog
- computer
- doctor
Each of these can be considered as an individual, separable item, which means that we are able to count them with numbers—we can have one, two, five, 15, 100, and so on. We can also use them with the indefinite
articles a and
an (which signify a single person or thing) or with the
plural form of the noun. For example:
-
a cup – two
cups
-
an ambulance – several
ambulances
-
a phone – 10
phones
-
a person – many
people
Abstract countable nouns
Even though abstract nouns are not tangible, many of them can still be counted as separable units. Like concrete nouns, they can take
a or
an or can be made plural. For example:
-
a conversation – two
conversations
-
an emergency – several
emergencies
-
a reading – 10
readings
-
an aspiration – many
aspirations
Uncountable Nouns
Uncountable nouns, on the other hand, are nouns that cannot be considered as separate units. They are also known as
non-count or
mass nouns.
Concrete uncountable nouns
Concrete nouns that are uncountable tend to be substances or collective categories of things. For instance:
• wood, smoke, air, water
• furniture, homework, accommodation, luggage
Uncountable nouns
cannot take the indefinite articles
a or
an in a sentence, because these words indicate a single amount of something. Likewise, they cannot take numbers or plural forms because there cannot be multiple units of them. For example:
“I see
a smoke over there.” (incorrect)
“I see (
some*)
smoke over there.” (correct)
“I don’t have
furnitures.” (incorrect)
“I don’t have (
any*)
furniture.” (correct)
(*We often use the words
some or
any to indicate an unspecified quantity of uncountable nouns.)
However, uncountable nouns
can sometimes take the definite article
the because it does not specify an amount:
• “They’re swimming in
the water.”
• “
The homework this week is hard.”
Abstract uncountable nouns
A large number of abstract nouns are uncountable. These are usually ideas or attributes. For instance:
• love, hate, news*, access, knowledge
• beauty, intelligence, arrogance, permanence
(*Even though
news ends in an “-s”, it is uncountable. We need this “-s” because without it,
news would become
new, which is an adjective.)
Again, these cannot take indefinite articles or be made plural:
“He’s just looking for
a love.” (incorrect)
“He’s just looking for
love.” (correct)
“She’s gained a great deal of
knowledges during college.” (incorrect)
“She’s gained a great deal of
knowledge during college.” (correct)
As with countable nouns, though, we can sometimes use the definite article
the:
• “I can’t stand watching
the news.”
• “Can you believe
the arrogance he exhibits?”
https://t.me/English_Grammar_Farlex
2.2K viewsAdmiral, 22:16
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