cereal vs cereals

[Mdenglish]

Hello again

Which answers are correct and why ?

What are you going to have for breakfast?

1. I'm going to have cereals.
2. I'm going to have cereal.
3. I'm going to have a bowl of cereals.
4. I'm going to have a bowl of cereal.

Thanks in advance

mdenglish

[Jamie (K)]

"Cereal" is an uncountable noun that means the thing you eat for breakfast, so you would talk about "eating cereal" or "a bowl of cereal".

"Cereals" means more than one different type of cereal. So if a store displays various cereals, they have different types on display, such as corn flakes, raisin bran, etc.

"Cereals" can also mean more than one type of grain, such as wheat, oats, barley, etc.

If you said, "I like to eat cereals," it would sound to us as if you meant you like to eat different types of grain.