Todaywearegoingtotalkaboutthedifferencebetweencountandnoncountnouns.
MostnounsinEnglishcanbecounted.Thinkofthenounshirt,asin,"Iboughtashirt."Ifyouhavemorethanoneshirt,youjustadd"s"tomakeitplural.
"Ibought10shirts."
Butashirtispartofalargercategory:clothing.Youcansay"Iboughtthreeshirts"butyoucannotsay,"Iboughtthreeclothings."Clothingisanoncountnoun.Youcannotusea,an,oranumberbeforeanoncountnoun.
Grammatically,anoncountnounisalwayssingular,evenifitreferstomultipleitemslikefurniture,luggage,orequipment.
AcountnouninyournativelanguagemightbeanoncountnouninEnglish.Forexample,theSpanishtranslationforhomeworkisacountnoun.ButhomeworkisanoncountnouninEnglish.Itwouldsoundstrangetosay,"Ihadthreehomeworks."Youcouldsay,"Ihadalotofhomework."
Youcanalsocouldsay,"Ihadthreehomeworkassignments."Inthisexample,homeworkisusedasanadjective.Itdescribesassignment.Youcancountassignments,butyoucannotcounthomework.
Thereisnoperfectruletodetermineifanouniscountornoncount.Fortunately,mostnoncountnounsfallintoafewcategories.
Groupsofsimilarthings
Noncountnounsoftenrefertogroupsofsimilarobjects.Furniture,forexample,isanoncountnoun.Furnitureisacollectionofsimilarcountableitemslikechairs,sofas,tables,shelves,bedsandsoon.
Luggageisalsoanoncountnoun.Youcancountbags,packages,andbackpacks,butyoucannotcountluggage.Othernoncountnounsthatrefertogroupsofsimilarthingsincludeequipment,food,garbage,mail,moneyandvocabulary.
Abstractions
Abstractwordsarenoncount.Thesearewordsthatrefertoideasorqualitiesinsteadofphysicalobjectsorevents.Abstractionsareusuallythingsthatyoucannotsee:Theyonlyexistinthemind.Forexample:love,hate,information,news,peace,musicandart.Therearetensofthousandsofabstractwords.
Othertypesofnoncountnouns
Itislogicalthatparticles--thingsthatcomeinverysmallpieces--arenoncountnouns.Itwouldbedifficulttocountrice,corn,salt,sugaranddust.
Thenamesofacademicfieldsofstudyarenoncount.Eventhoughphysics,economics,andmathematicsallendwithans,theyaresingularnoncountnouns.Forexample,"Physicsisdifficult."
Wordsrelatedtonatureandweatherareoftennoncount,suchasrain,wind,snow,lightning,fireandair.
Wordswithcountandnoncountmeaning
Afewwordscanbeusedascountandnoncountnouns.Butthemeaningchangesalittlebit.Let'slookatthewordglass.Asanoncountnoun,glassreferstotheclearmaterialusedtomakewindows.Forexample,"Thelampwasmadeofglass."
Asacountnoun,glassreferstoadrinkingcontainermadeofglass,asin"Couldyoubringmeaglassofwater"
Thepluralglasseshastwomeanings.Itcouldrefertomorethanonedrinkingcontainer."Pleasewashtheglasses."
Glassescouldalsorefertospectacles,apairoflensesusedtocorrectvision."IhavebeenwearingglassessinceIwasateenager."
Coffee,alongwithotherdrinks,hasacountandnoncountmeaning."CoffeeisgrowninColombia"referstocoffeeasanagriculturalproduct."I'llhaveacoffee"referstoasinglecupofcoffee.
MakingNoncountNounsintoCountNouns
Thereareafewveryimportantwordsthatmakeitpossibletocountnoncountnouns.Manyfoodwordsarenoncountnouns.Butifyouarecooking,youneedtomeasurespecificamountsoffood.
Arecipeforcookiesmightcallfor"2cupsofsugar,ahalf-poundofbutter,and1teaspoonofvanilla."Pound,cupandteaspoonareexamplesofmeasurewordsthatyoucanusetomakenoncountnounscountable.
Oneofthemostusefulofthesemeasurewordsispiece.Youcannotcountinformationbutyoucancountapieceofinformation.Pieceisaveryusefulwordbecauseitcanbeusedwithbothcountandnoncountnouns.Forexample,youcanhavetwopiecesofpieorthreepiecesofinformation.ListentothissongbyPaulYoung.
EverytimeyougoawayYoutakeapieceofmewithyou.
HereisavideoofPaulYoungsingingEverytimeYouGoAway.
Someofthesemeasurewordshavepoeticqualitiestothem,suchas:agrainofsand,aspeckofdust,aboltoflightning,aflakeofsnow,andabreathofair.
Commonmistakes
Let'slookatsomecommonmistakeswithnoncountnouns.
Trafficmightseemlikeacountnoun.Afterall,itreferstoalotofcars.ButtrafficisanoncountnouninEnglish.Vocabulary,hardware,information,music,andadvicearenoncountnounsthatEnglishlearnersoftenconfuseforcountnouns.
Andletusnotforgetthemostimportantnoncountnounofall:grammar.Youcannotcountgrammar.Butyoucancountgrammarrules.
I'mJillRobbins.
I'mRickHindman.
ComeoncomeoncomeoncomeonandTakeit!TakeanotherlittlepieceofheartnowbabyBreakitBreakanotherlittlepieceofmyheartIknowyouwillHaveaHaveanotherlittlepieceofmyheartnowbaby
AdamBrockwrotethisstoryforVOALearningEnglish.Partsofthereportwerebasedon"UnderstandingandUsingEnglishGrammar,"byBettyAzar.JillRobbinsandKathleenStruckweretheeditors.
Nowit'syourturn.Ifyousendusyourmailingaddressinthecomments,wewillsendyoua2016VOACalendar.Wewillnotpublishyouraddressinthecomments,ofcourse.Feelfreetoaddacomment,wewillpublishthatwithouttheaddress.
HereisJanisJoplinsingingPieceofMyHeart.
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noncountnouns-n.anoun(suchas"sand"or"butter")thatreferstosomethingthatcannotbecounted
luggage-n.thebagsandsuitcasesthatapersoncarrieswhentraveling
garbage-n.thingsthatarenolongerusefulorwantedandthathavebeenthrownout
abstract-adj.relatingtoorinvolvinggeneralideasorqualitiesratherthanspecificpeople,objects,oractions
spectacle-n.(old-fashioned)eyeglasses
bolt-n.abrightlineoflightthatappearsintheskyduringastormasinaflashoflightning