Some common uncountable nouns

Types of nouns

Proper Nouns	Common Nouns
Bill Clinton Christmas The British Isles     1.2. Proper nouns names people, institutions, places, times, etc. They have unique reference, and in writing they begin with a capital letter. Proper names are non-count: they have no contrast in number. Generally, they have a singular form, but some place-names have only a plural form:   the AIds The British Isles The Bahamas   1.6. Proper names are treated as common nouns when they do not have unique references, though they retain capitals in writing:   I’m busy on Sundays. I have a lot of Julians in my class.	Countable/Count Nouns	Uncountable/Noncount Nouns
concrete	abstract	concrete	abstract
a book	an idea	clothing	courage
1.3. Count nouns have both a singular and a plural and they can be introduced by deter­miners that accompany dis­tinction in number:   a two one several every boxfew boxes either many this these	1.4. Noncount nouns indicate entities that are viewed as uncountable. They are singular in form and are treated as singular for subject-verb agreement. They are introduced by a restricted number of determiners:   the my this whose some newswhat advice any which no whatever   1.5. Like plural count nouns, noncount nouns may be used with the zero article: Honesty is appreciated a lot.   1.7. We can often achieve countability with noncount nouns (especially con­crete ones) through partitive expres­sions. There are general partitive expressions, such as a   piece/pieces of, a bit of/bits of:   a piece of bread a bit of advice some pieces of news   • Some partitive expressions tend to go only with certain noncount nouns: a lump of sugar/ a bar of chocolate/soap/gold a glass of water/soda/whisky   • We can also use measurements.   Two pounds of sugar, a ton of coal

SOME COMMON UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

The following nouns are commonly used as uncountable nouns. Many other nouns can be used as uncountable nouns. This list serves only as a sample:
1. WHOLE GROUPS made up of similar items:	baggage, clothing, equipment, food, fruit, furniture, garbage, hardware, jewelry, mail, makeup, money/cash/change, postage, scenery, traffic
2. FLUIDS: SOLIDS GASES: PARTICLES:	water, coffee, milk, oil, soup, gasoline, blood, etc.   ice, bread, butter, cheese, meat, gold, iron, silver, glass, wood, cotton, wool, etc.   steam, air, oxygen, hydrogen, smoke, nitrogen, pollution, etc.   rice, chalk, corn, dirt, dust, flour, grass, hair, pepper, salt, sand, sugar, wheat, etc.
3. ABSTRACTIONS	• beauty, confidence, education, enjoyment, fun, happiness, health, help, honesty, importance, intelligence, justice, knowledge, laughter, luck, music, patience, peace, pride, progress, significance, sleep, truth, violence, wealth, etc. • advice, information, news, evidence, proof etc. • time, space, energy • homework, work • grammar, slang, vocabulary
3. ABSTRACTIONS     LANGUAGES FIELDS OF STUDY   RECREATION:   GENERAL ACTIVITIES:	• beauty, confidence, education, enjoyment, fun, happiness, health, help, honesty, importance, intelligence, justice, knowledge, laughter, luck, music, patience, peace, pride, progress, significance, sleep, truth, violence, wealth, etc. • advice, information, news, evidence, proof, etc. • time, space, energy • homework, work • grammar, slang, vocabulary Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, etc. chemistry, engineering, psychology, etc.   baseball, soccer, tennis, chess, poker, bridge, etc.     driving, studying, swimming, traveling, walking (and other gerunds)
4. NATURAL PHENOMENA	weather, dew, fog, hail, heat, humidity, lightning, rain, sleet, show, thunder, wind, darkness, precipitation, sunshine, fire, gravity, electricity

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16