NON-COUNT NOUNS

octubre 14, 2022

NON-COUNT NOUNS

Uncountable nouns (as their name suggests) are those that cannot be counted. Some common uncountable nouns are entities such as information, water, and furniture, or abstract nouns, such as happiness or anger. These nouns cannot be used with numbers and are used without an article.

Characteristics of uncountable nouns:

*Cannot be counted. For example: I'd like some water. (It is not correct to say I'd like "one" water).

* They only have a singular number. For example: some cheese.

*They cannot be preceded by cardinal numbers (one, two) or indefinite articles (a, an). Yes, they can be preceded by possessive adjectives (my, your) or the definite article (the). For example: My faith.

*They can be concrete nouns, that is, material and tangible elements (that can be touched). For example: sugar, milk. Or abstract nouns, that is, intangible elements. For example: love, peace.

*With the exception of abstract nouns, which can appear alone (I enjoy music), the rest of the uncountable nouns must be preceded by quantifiers: some (something), a little (a little), little (little, little), any ( both in questions and in negative sentences, it is an obligatory word without translation). For example: They have some money left.

*Although they cannot be counted or accounted for, the weight or the container that contains them can be counted. For example: One kilo of rice, a cup of coffee.

How to know if the noun is countable or uncountable in English?

Countable nouns have a plural form, numbers can be used in front of them to express their quantity and also indefinite articles (A-AN). In the case of uncountable nouns, the plural cannot be formed, since it is not possible to say “flour”, “milk”, etc.