In English grammar, some things are seen as a whole or mass. These are called uncountable nouns, because they cannot be separated or counted.
Some examples of uncountable nouns are:
Ideas and experiences: advice, information, progress, news, luck, fun, work
Materials and substances: water, rice, cement, gold, milk
Weather words: weather, thunder, lightning, rain, snow
Names for groups or collections of things: furniture, equipment, rubbish, luggage
Other common uncountable nouns include: accommodation, baggage, homework, knowledge, money, permission, research, traffic, travel.
These nouns are not used with a/an or numbers and are not used in the plural.
We’re going to get new furniture for the living room.
Not: We’re going to get a new furniture for the living room. or We’re going to get new furnitures for the living room.
We had terrible weather last week.
Not: We had a terrible weather last week.
We need rice next time we go shopping.
Some nouns always have plural form but they are uncountable because we cannot use numbers with them.
I bought two pairs of trousers.
Not: I bought two trousers.
Other nouns of this type are: shorts, pants, pyjamas, glasses (for the eyes), binoculars, scissors.
Warning:
Some nouns which are uncountable in English are countable in other languages (e.g. accommodation, advice, furniture, information):
They can give you some information about accommodation at the tourist office.
Not: They can give you some informations about accommodations at the tourist office.
Can you give me some advice about buying a second-hand car?
Not: Can you give me some advices about buying a second-hand car?
A good learner’s dictionary will tell you whether a noun is countable or uncountable.
To refer to one or more quantities of an uncountable noun, expressions such as a bit of, a piece of, an item of or words for containers and measures must be used:
He bought a very expensive piece of furniture for his new apartment.
Maggie always has some exciting bits of news when she comes to see us.
I think we’ll need five bags of cement for the patio.
There’s a litre of milk in the fridge for you. And I bought you a bar of chocolate.
Uncountable nouns can be used with certain determiners (e.g. my, her, some, any, no, the, this, that) and expressions of quantity (e.g. a lot of, (a) little):
They gave me some information about courses and scholarships and things.
Have you heard the news? Fran’s getting engaged.
She’s been studying hard and has made a lot of progress.
There’s no work to do here, so you can go home if you like.
This milk’s a bit old, I’m afraid.
We can sometimes use countable noun phrases to talk about an individual example of the thing an uncountable noun refers to.
|
uncountable |
countable |
|
accommodation |
a house, a flat, a place to live, a place to stay |
|
baggage/luggage |
a suitcase, a bag, a rucksack |
|
bread |
a loaf (of bread), a (bread) roll |
|
lightning |
a flash of lightning |
|
luck |
a stroke of luck |
|
money |
a note, a coin, a sum of money, a euro, a dollar |
|
poetry |
a poem |
|
rain |
a shower, a downpour, a storm |
|
travel |
a journey, a trip |
|
work |
a job, a task |
Finding a place to live is difficult if you’re a student and you’ve got no money. (or Finding accommodation …)
Not: Finding an accommodation …
She brought two big suitcases and a rucksack with her.
Not: She brought two big luggages …
I read a poem once about someone riding a horse at night.
Not: I read a poetry …
We went on a trip to the Amazon when we were in Brazil.
Not: We went on a travel …
Some nouns can be used either countably or uncountably, but with different meanings.
Compare
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Countable use |
Uncountable use |
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Sometimes uncountable nouns are used countably, to mean ‘a measure of something’ or ‘a type or example of something’:
Can I have two teas and one coffee, please? (two cups of tea and one cup of coffee …?)
A:
How many sugars do you want in your tea? (How many spoonfuls/lumps of sugar?)
To some degree we tend to eat the foods that we ate as children. (i.e. types of food)
Some abstract nouns can be used uncountably or countably. The uncountable use has a more general meaning. The countable use has a more particular meaning.
Nouns of this type include: education, experience, hatred, help, knowledge, life, love, sleep, time, understanding.
Compare
|
uncountable use |
countable use |
(education in general) |
(the time one person spent at school) |
(love in general/all love) |
(a specific liking for something) |
(all knowledge/knowledge in general) |
(a specific type of knowledge) |
(time in general) |
(a specific period of time) |
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