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#2 (permalink) Mon Sep 14, 2009 14:10 pm Argh... countable or uncountable... |
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Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns: dog, cat, animal, man, person bottle, box, litre coin, note, dollar cup, plate, fork table, chair, suitcase, bag
Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:
music, art, love, happiness advice, information, news furniture, luggage rice, sugar, butter, water electricity, gas, power money, currency
Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of meaning.
Countable Uncountable There are two hairs in my coffee! hair I don't have much hair. There are two lights in our bedroom. light Close the curtain. There's too much light! Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. noise It's difficult to work when there is too much noise. Have you got a paper to read? (= newspaper) paper I want to draw a picture. Have you got some paper? Our house has seven rooms. room Is there room for me to sit here? We had a great time at the party. time Have you got time for a coffee? Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest works. work I have no money. I need work! Drinks (coffee, water, orange juice) are usually uncountable. But if we are thinking of a cup or a glass, we can say (in a restaurant, for example): Two teas and one coffee please. _________________ con·text - The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning. |
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Milanya I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 29 Dec 2008 Posts: 846 Location: Texas, USA (at present)
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#3 (permalink) Mon Sep 14, 2009 18:59 pm Argh... countable or uncountable... |
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Ah fellow Texan. xD Thank you so much your very detailed answer Milanya! I'm learning alot here, specially about that countables that could also be uncountables.
- A _________________ please correct any errors you see on my writings on: nouns, tenses 
"Practice makes perfect!" xD |
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Aikuzo I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 23 Jul 2009 Posts: 111 Location: Houston, Texas
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#4 (permalink) Mon Sep 14, 2009 22:14 pm Argh... countable or uncountable... |
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How about this though:
- I've got two news for you, one good and one bad. (news=countable plural) - I've got news for you. (news=uncountable)
Did I see this correctly here? _________________ please correct any errors you see on my writings on: nouns, tenses 
"Practice makes perfect!" xD |
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Aikuzo I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 23 Jul 2009 Posts: 111 Location: Houston, Texas
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#5 (permalink) Mon Sep 14, 2009 23:28 pm Argh... countable or uncountable... |
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| Aikuzo wrote: |
I think I now know the rules of a/an/the but I'm always at lost everytime I come across words that I don't know if countable or uncountable. Other than asking over the internet everytime it happens... is there some kind of 'mind trick' or a site I could use where I could just type in a word and it would tell me right away what type of noun is it....? |
Why do you fuss over that? Take the weight off your shoulders! Because it's just a matter of your zest, meticulousness, and the amount of practice for you to be able to get used to them; it's just a matter of time so long as you hope that you somehow want hone the second language. I betcha you have previously realized those paramount things for the amelioration in your linguistic skills. _________________ Love love love love co-co-nuts, I I I I Island. |
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Fimbriae I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 14 Sep 2009 Posts: 150 Location: Ceres
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#6 (permalink) Mon Sep 14, 2009 23:44 pm Argh... countable or uncountable... |
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| News is already pleural (things that are new), so to split it up you have to say something like: 'items of news', 'pieces of news' or 'lots of news'. |
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Anglo Sax I'm new here and I like it ;-)
Joined: 04 Aug 2009 Posts: 39 Location: Prime Meridian
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#7 (permalink) Tue Sep 15, 2009 15:51 pm Argh... countable or uncountable... |
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| Aikuzo wrote: |
How about this though:
- I've got two news for you, one good and one bad. (news=countable plural) Incorrect. You could say 'I've got two pieces of news for you, one good and one bad'. - I've got news for you. (news=uncountable) Correct
Did I see this correctly here? |
News is uncountable. Either you've got some news, or no news. To divide it up, you have to use a countable noun in front of it, such as 'pieces' or 'bits', or 'items'. _________________ Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.
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Did you hear they arrested the Energizer Bunny on battery charges?
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Skrej I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 03 Jul 2008 Posts: 863 Location: Not-quite exact central USA
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#8 (permalink) Tue Sep 15, 2009 16:14 pm Hi I'm new user |
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| My friend found www.english-test.net in Yahoo and send me link. My name is Destiny, I live in Paris. I was born in London, United Kingdom and move to Paris after marriage. I like campari and Lost |
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Destinytriest New Member
Joined: 15 Sep 2009 Posts: 1
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#9 (permalink) Tue Sep 15, 2009 16:26 pm Argh... countable or uncountable... |
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Hi. I couldn't agree more. thanks Skrej. _________________ The limits of my language are the limits of my universe.
Ludwig Wittgenstein |
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Richard I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 01 Sep 2009 Posts: 459
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| Plural problem: The patient returns for his left tibia and fibula fracture. | Group word: a pod of dolphins, a school of fishes, a herd of cows, etc. |