Mirwaners, as we know, although a countable noun is defined by “its name” as a noun which can be counted, and
uncountable noun as a noun which cannot be counter, deciding whether a noun is
countable or uncountable is not as easy. Therefore, I’m going to explain a little
bit about how to identify countable and uncountable Nouns.
The following lists give
characteristics of uncountable nouns. If a noun meets one of the following
characteristics, then it is an uncountable noun; otherwise, it is countable noun.
1. Abstract Nouns
Abstract
nouns are the nouns which do not represent concrete objects.
Advice
|
Fun
|
Luck
|
Art
|
Grammar
|
Music
|
Beauty
|
Happiness
|
News
|
Confidence
|
Hate
|
Nutrient
|
Courage
|
Health
|
Pride
|
Education
|
Help
|
Truth
|
Enjoyment
|
Homework
|
Work
|
Experience
|
Honesty
|
Justice
|
2. Groups with individual parts
Some
uncountable nouns are names of groups, which have members of the group.
Cash
|
Garbage
|
Change
|
Junk
|
Clothing
|
Luggage
|
Food
|
Money
|
Fruit
|
News
|
Furniture
|
Research
|
3. Things with no definite form
Some nouns
are considered uncountable when they do not have a definite shapes. Their shapes
are changing based on the container or brand.
LIQUIDS
|
GASES
|
SOLIDS
|
Beer
|
Air
|
Butter
|
Blood
|
Carbon
|
Cheese
|
Coffee
|
Monoxide
|
Cotton
|
Cream
|
Fire
|
Flour
|
Gasoline
|
Pollution
|
Salt
|
Milk
|
Smoke
|
Wood
|
4. Things that have tiny parts which are too small to count
Sometimes,
a noun can only be considered one thing when it is in a set. For example, sugar is not a single particle of sugar
but it is the whole set. The set comprises tiny parts which are impossible to
count.
Corn
|
Grass
|
Salt
|
Dirt
|
Hair
|
Sugar
|
Dust
|
Rice
|
Wheat
|
5. Natural phenomena
Phenomena
which happen in nature without direct human involvement are considered
uncountable.
Darkness
|
Humidity
|
Dew
|
Rain
|
Electricity
|
Wind
|
Heat
|
Thunder
|
6. Ailments
Names of
diseases are always uncountable. Some diseases come in plural form, but they
are always analyzed as singular nouns, which are uncountable, and take singular
verb such as in Measles is very dangerous
fro children.
Cancer
|
Polio
|
Cholera
|
Smallpox
|
Flu
|
Strep
throat
|
Heart
diases
|
Measles
|
Malaria
|
Mups
|
7. Academic subjects
Most academic
subjects take the final –s. However, the final –s does not indicate plurality. Instead,
it indicates the academic subject. Without the final –s the words refer to
different nouns of adjectives.
Art
|
Linguistics
|
Biology
|
Physics
|
Chemistry
|
Literature
|
Economics
|
Mathematics
|
8. Words that can be countable and uncountable
Some
nouns can be both considered countable and uncountable depending on their
meanings, which can be determined from the context.
Uncountable
|
Countable
|
|
1
|
Glass
(the material)
|
A glass
(something to put liquid in)
|
2
|
Paper
(the material)
|
A
paper (a report or newspaper)
|
3
|
Iron
(the material)
|
An iron
(for pressing clothes)
|
4
|
Fire
(the material)
|
A fire
(one speceific occurence of fire)
|
5
|
Time
(an abstract idea)
|
A time,
times (a specific occurence of period)
|
6
|
Rain
(drops of water from the sky)
|
Rain
(the occurance of raining)
|
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