Grammar -Countable noun vs. Uncountable noun

What is the difference between countable and uncountable nouns? How do we recognize them?

Countable noun : A count noun (also countable noun) is a common noun that can be modified by a numeral and that occurs in both singular and plural form, as well as co-occurring with quantificational determiners like every, each, several, etc. A mass noun has none of these properties. It can't be modified by a numeral, occur in singular/plural or co-occur with the relevant kind of determiner.

Uncountable noun : A mass noun (also uncountable noun or non-count noun) is a noun with the syntactic property that any quantity of it is treated as an undifferentiated unit, rather than as something with discrete subsets. Non-count nouns are distinguished from count nouns.

USAGE

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Countable	Uncountable
many = a number of	much  a deal of
a few  few	a little  little
a lot of  lots of  plenty of  some

Countable nouns

- Countable nouns can be singular(=one)

a car, the car, my car, etc.

- or plural (=two or more)

cars, the cars, his cars, two cars, some cars, many cars etc.

Uncountable nouns

- You can’t use [a/an + uncountable nouns]:

a money(x), a music(x)

- But you can use [a piece of… / a glass of…, etc. + uncountable nouns].

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▪ a bottle of water/ milk/ perfume ▪ a cup of coffee/ tea ▪ a glass of juice/ water/ drink/ cocktail ▪ a packet(pack) of cigarettes/ letters ▪ a carton(pack) of cigarettes/ milk ▪ a can of coke/ fruit ▪ a jar of jam ▪ a box of cereals/ matches ▪ a bag of onions/ sugar/ sweets/ flour ▪ a piece of bread/ cheese/ cake/ paper/cloth ▪ a game of tennis ▪ a slice of cheese/ cake/ bread/ life ▪ an article of clothing ▪ a bar of chocolate/ soap ▪ a bowl of rice/ salads/ soup ▪ a sheet of paper ▪ a bunch of flowers/ grapes/ broccoli/ keys ▪ a bundle of clothes ▪ a head of lettuce ▪ a scoop of ice cream ▪ a dozen of eggs ▪ a half of eggs ▪ a loaf of bread/ cake ▪ a pound of meat ▪ a kilogram of rice ▪ a gallon of chocolate ice cream

 

a/an and some

- A/an + singular countable nouns

- Would you like an apple?

Some + plural countable nouns

- I need some new shoes.

- Would you like some apples?

Some + uncountable nouns

- I need some money.

- Would you like some cheese?

- Would you like a piece of cheese?

 

Be careful with these nouns – they are usually uncountable:

advice, information, weather, news, bread, hair, furniture, paper, work(a job), equipment, baggage, luggage, information, clothing, advertising, machinery, merchandise, evidence

 

by Floria