What does a countable noun mean? Countable and uncountable nouns. Countable and uncountable nouns. Notation for the number of uncountable nouns

Words fruit And fish have several meanings in English. In one they can be used as countable, in the other as uncountable, which in turn leaves an imprint on the use of articles with them. We will look at the basic meanings of each word and determine which article should be used in a given case. We will also get acquainted with other nouns that are used as countable and uncountable.

Using the article with the noun fruit

"Fruit", "fruit" like type of food is an uncountable noun that does not need to be preceded by an article. After such a noun we use a singular verb.

Fruit is good for health. – Fruits good for the health.

People eat more fruit now than they used to. – People eat more now fruit than before.

If we we are talking about different types of fruits or we mean the fruit of some plant, then the word fruit becomes countable and is completely freely used in the plural. Here we can use the definite and zero articles, less often the indefinite.

– What are the local fruits? - Which fruits common in this area?
– Mostly apples and cherries. – Mainly apples and cherries.

This bush gives very delicious fruits. – This bush bears very tasty fruits. fruits.

Apple is a fruit. - An apple is fruit.

And let's not forget about the figurative meaning fruit– “fruits”, “reward” (positive result of some action). Here the noun is used with a definite article in singular or plural, often in combination with a preposition of: the fruit / the fruits of learning(fruits of teaching), the fruit / the fruits of labor(fruits of labor) the fruit / the fruits of efforts(fruits of efforts).

He began to appreciate the fruit of his efforts. - He began to appreciate the fruits of your efforts.

Using the article with the noun fish

Fish(fish) is a countable noun. Its peculiarity is that the singular and plural forms are the same: a fish- fish, three fish- three fish, many fish- a lot of fish. The same is true with the names of some fish species: a pike(pike) - pike(pike), a place(flounder) – please(flounder), a carp(carp) – carp(carps).

If a noun fish is used in the singular, we put an article in front of it.

My mom forbade me to have a dog, so I bought a nice fish yesterday. – Mom forbade me to have a dog, so yesterday I bought a cute one. fish.

If we are talking about fish as a general concept, the article is usually not used.

Fish travel long distances in the sea. – Fish in the sea it moves long distances.

How many fish did you catch yesterday? - How many fish did you catch it yesterday?

English also retains the plural form fishes. It is used when we talk about different types of fish.

He presented his nephew with a bright album on exotic fishes. – He gave his nephew a bright album with exotic fish.

When we talk about fish as a food product, then it becomes uncountable and the article is not needed.

I always order fish in that restaurant. - I always order fish at this restaurant.

Article with other uncountable nouns

There are many chameleon words in the English language. Likewise fruit And fish they can change meaning and become countable and uncountable. The article in this case will be used according to the general rules: with countable ones - indefinite, with uncountable ones - definite or zero.

Let's see what words relate to this rule.

1. Liquids– liquids.

   If suddenly some liquid became countable and an indefinite article appeared in front of it, it means that a certain amount of this liquid is implied:

   • coffee(coffee) - a coffee(a cup of coffee);
   • tea(tea) - a tea(cuppa);
   • lemonade(lemonade) – a lemonade(glass/bottle of lemonade);
   • beer(beer) - a beer(glass/bottle of beer);
   • wine(wine) – a wine(glass/bottle of wine).

   If you go to the kitchen, bring me some lemonade, please. - If you go to the kitchen, take it for me. lemonade, Please.

   If you go to the kitchen, bring me a lemonade (= a glass of lemonade / a bottle of lemonade), please. - If you go to the kitchen, take it for me. cup/a bottle of lemonade, Please.

2. Foods- products.

   Food products can be countable and uncountable:

   • duck(duck; portion of duck) – a duck(whole duck);
   • chicken(chicken; portion of chicken) – a chicken(whole chicken);
   • salmon(salmon; portion of salmon) – a salmon(whole fish);
   • sugar(sugar) - a sugar(spoon/piece of sugar);
   • chocolate(chocolate) – a chocolate(chocolate candy).

   There will be four of us. We will take chicken. - There will be four of us. We will order chicken.

   There will be six of us. I want to order a chicken. - There will be six of us. I want to book whole chicken.

   Please note that not all food names follow this rule: beef(beef) a beef , pork(pork) a pork , mutton(mutton) a mutton , pasta(paste) a pasta .

3. Materials– materials.

   Materials can be countable and uncountable:

   • stone(stone as a material) – a stone(stone as an object);
   • paper(paper) - a paper(newspaper);
   • iron(iron) - an iron(iron);
   • rock(rock like rock) – a rock(rock as a hill);
   • wood(wood as material) – a wood(grove);
   • glass(glass) - a glass(cup).

   Give me some paper paper. I want to pack a parcel.

   Give me the morning paper. I want to wrap the package. - Give me morning newspaper. I want to pack a parcel.

   As with products, this rule does not work with all materials, for example: wool(wool) a wool , silk(silk) a silk , cotton(cotton) a cotton .

4. Other nouns.

   Under such a general name are hidden nouns, which in one meaning are used as abstract, describing a general concept, in another - concrete, describing a narrow concept. You should be very careful with them, since this class combines a large number of words and it is difficult to bring them all under one rule. If you are not sure whether a noun can be used in both abstract and concrete meanings, be sure to check in.

   Here are some examples of such words:

   • business(business as a general concept) – a business(business, company, matter);
   • noise(noise as a general concept) – a noise(certain noise);
   • hair(hair) - a hair(one hair);
   • painting(painting) – a painting(painting);
   • education(education as a general concept) – an education(the education that a person has received);
   • time(time as a general concept) – a time(time as a certain period).

   I want to have mine hair cut at the weekend. - I want to cut my hair hair on the weekend.

   I won't eat this soup. There is a hair in it. - I won't eat this soup. Floats in it hair.

You will find even more words that change their meaning in this video.

And if you want to learn more about abstract and concrete nouns, read on.

To make it convenient for you to repeat words, we have collected them in a table that can be downloaded. We also recommend taking the test to better remember which article is placed before uncountable and countable nouns.

(*.pdf, 193 Kb)

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Test

Articles with fruit, fish and other uncountable nouns

Hello dear readers! Today I have prepared a very sensitive topic for you. After studying the material, you will become familiar with the main groups of uncountable nouns, learn how to denote the number of uncountable nouns in English, and also learn in which cases an uncountable noun can be used as a countable noun. The topic is not as simple as you might think. The fact is that when translating an uncountable noun from Russian into English, you can easily make a mistake. Very often, a noun that is countable in Russian is uncountable in English, and vice versa. Because of this, confusion arises. As you can see, this topic needs to be treated with special attention.

You could already familiarize yourself with countable nouns in the article: Plurals of nouns in English. Let me remind you that countable nouns in English denote objects and concepts that can be counted. They can be in singular or plural form. You could also familiarize yourself with the rules for forming the plural in the article “Plural nouns in English.” Let's move on to learning about uncountable nouns in English.

Uncountable nouns in English

Uncountable nouns are nouns that denote substances and concepts that cannot be counted. These include both real (liquid, gaseous, solid materials) and abstract nouns (natural phenomena, actions, feelings, etc.). But in English, unlike Russian, many nouns can be used both as countable and uncountable.

So, uncountable nouns are used only in the singular and, accordingly, agree with verbs in the singular. Remember that in English they are not used with the indefinite article a or an. If it is necessary to distinguish an uncountable noun from the general category of substances or concepts, the definite article is used the.

As a subject, they agree with the singular predicate. Can be replaced by singular pronouns. In most cases this is a pronoun it.

Classification of uncountable nouns

There are quite a lot of uncountable nouns in the English language, and in order to remember them better, you can classify them into groups. We have compiled a list of commonly used uncountable nouns in colloquial speech.

1. Natural phenomena: darkness - darkness, snow - snow, fog - fog, gravity - gravity, heat - heat, humidity - dampness, light - daylight, hail - hail, lighting - lightning, rain - rain, thunder - thunder, sunshine - sunlight, weather - weather, wind - wind, etc.
2. Liquids: petrol - gasoline, oil - vegetable oil/petroleum, coffee - coffee, water - water, tea - tea, lemonade - lemonade, milk - milk, wine - wine, blood - blood, etc.
3. Gaseous substances: nitrogen - nitrogen, oxygen - oxygen, air - air, steam - steam, smoke - smoke, smog - thick fog, etc.
4. Food: bread - bread, cheese - cheese, butter - butter, meat - meat, spaghetti - spaghetti, yoghurt - yogurt, etc.
5. Languages: Russian - Russian, Greek - Greek, German - German, English - English, Arabic - Arabic, Chinese - Chinese, Spanish - Spanish, etc.
6. Substances consisting of many small particles: semolina - semolina, rice - rice, flour - flour, corn - corn, dust - dust, salt - salt, sugar - sugar, pepper - pepper, sand - sand, etc.
7. Diseases:Сancer - cancer, Flu - flu, Measles - measles, Mumps - mumps, Smallpox - chickenpox, Pneumonia - pneumonia, etc.
8. Abstract concepts: space - space, energy - energy, advice - advice, beauty - beauty, time - time, education - education, wealth - wealth, happiness - happiness, honesty - honesty, health - health, help - help, laughter - laughter, intelligence - intelligence, knowledge - knowledge, justice - justice, truth - truth, information - information, news - news, homework - homework, work - work, grammar - grammar, vocabulary - vocabulary, etc.
9. Names of disciplines: chemistry - chemistry, mathematics - mathematics, history - history, psychology - psychology, literature - literature, etc.
10. Natural resources, building materials, metals: gold - gold, silver - silver, wood - wood, glass - glass, oil - oil, clay - clay, concrete - concrete, paper - paper, etc.
11. Games: baseball - baseball, poker - poker, billiards - billiards, chess - chess, golf - golf, rugby - rugby, football - football, soccer - football, tennis - tennis, etc.
12. Actions (gerund): driving - driving, walking - walking, studying - studying, drawing - drawing, rock climbing - rock climbing, swimming - swimming, etc.

Notation for the number of uncountable nouns

If you need to indicate the quantity denoted by an uncountable noun, use the following nouns:

• a piece - a piece (a piece of paper - a sheet of paper, a piece of news - news, a piece of advice - advice, a piece of information - information, a piece of furniture - a piece of furniture)
• a glass - glass (a glass of wine - glass of wine)
• a bottle - a bottle (a bottle of cognac - a bottle of cognac)
• a jar - jar (a jar of honey - jar of honey)
• a rasher - slice (a rasher of bacon - thin slice of bacon)
• a packet - packet (a packet of rice - packet of rice)
• a loaf - loaf (a loaf of bread - loaf of bread)
• and slice is a piece (and slice of bread is a piece of bread)
• a pot - a pot, a jar (a pot of yoghurt - a jar of yogurt, a pot of tea - a teapot)
• a cup - a cup (and cup of tea - a cup of tea)
• a kilo - kilogram (a kilo of meat - kilogram of meat)
• a tube - tube (a tube of tooth paste - tube of toothpaste)
• a bar - piece, tile (a bar of chocolate - chocolate bar, a bar of soap - piece of soap)
• a can - a tin can (a can of lemonade - a jar of lemonade)
• a carton - packaging (a carton of milk - packaging of milk)
• a bowl - bowl (a bowl of soup - bowl/bowl of soup)

Also, to indicate a large or small quantity denoted by an uncountable noun, use the following pronouns:

• much - a lot (much time - a lot of time)
• a lot of - a lot (a lot of chees - a lot of cheese)
• little - little, a little (little oil - little oil)
• some − a certain amount (to buy some tea - buy tea)
• any - any, any (to eat any spaghetti - there is some spaghetti)

Transition of nouns from uncountable to countable

1. In English, if a material noun is used to designate an object from a given material, the uncountable noun becomes countable and is used with articles a And an. (If the whole and its elements are denoted the same way.)

• hair hair − a hair hair
• wood tree, wood − a wood forest
• paper paper − a paper newspaper, document
• coal − a coal coal
• iron iron − an iron iron

2. In English, if a material noun is used to denote varieties, types or portions of something, the uncountable noun becomes countable and is used with articles a And an.

• He bought some tea. He bought tea. — He bought an Indian tea. He bought one of the Indian teas.
• I like coffee. I love coffee. − He bought a coffee. He bought (a cup of) coffee.

3. In English, if an abstract noun is used to designate a specific object or person, i.e. for concretization, the uncountable noun becomes countable and is used with articles a And an.

• beauty beauty − a beauty beauty
• light light − a light light, lamp
• life life − a life life path
• time time − a time times
• play game − a play play

4. In English, if the ending is added to an uncountable noun -s, -es, it becomes countable and is used with articles a And an.

Is everything in the world accountable and measurable? No. True, here we are not talking about such philosophical concepts as love or friendship. We are interested in uncountable nouns in English. Let's look at all the nuances of their use.

The concept of an uncountable noun

The words “love” will be most directly related to this topic. Neither one nor the other can be counted. We can say “many loves,” but we cannot say “three loves.” This is how we distinguish between countable and uncountable nouns; the number of the former can always be counted. There may be one bottle of water, two bottles of water, but “one water”, “two waters” or “three waters” - so do not speak. The word "water" is uncountable.

Why even get acquainted with the category of uncountable nouns? Is it really impossible to use these words correctly without knowing whether they can be counted? In fact, in English this is important, because the indefinite article “a” is not used before uncountable nouns (for nouns with a vowel - an), and the definite article “the” is used only in some cases.

Types of uncountable nouns

It should be borne in mind that any Russian uncountable noun can have an English counterpart that can be counted. Although discrepancies are quite rare. In any case, you should have an idea of ​​which words can be classified as uncountable, at least in order to correctly use articles with them. The list of uncountable nouns in English includes:

• beauty - beauty, permission - permission;
• names of diseases: flu - influenza;
• weather conditions: rain - rain;
• food: cheese - cheese;
• substances: water - water;
• types of sports or activities: gardening - gardening;
• items: equipment - equipment;
• geographical features: the Mississippi - Mississippi;
• languages: German - German, Russian - Russian.

And also a number of generalizing nouns like information - information, money - money. In most cases, it is not difficult to guess whether a noun is uncountable. But some words can be difficult. For example, hair - hair. Some students become confused when they encounter a hair in assignments. In fact, hair and a hair are different words. The first is indeed uncountable and is translated as hair, the second word means “hair” and can be used in the plural. The word advice can also surprise you. It has no plural, advices does not exist. It can be translated both as “advice” and “advice” depending on the situation. The word fruit does not mean “one fruit”, but “fruits”. It is very rare to find fruits, but it has a rather specific meaning with the approximate meaning of “fruits of different types”.

Features of the use of uncountable nouns: pronouns, articles

With uncountable nouns, only the definite article is used. For example, the news - these news. "a" is never placed in front of them. Also, these nouns do not have a plural form. Many of them are already in the news. But they can well be used with quantitative pronouns: some (a certain amount), little (little), much (many), as well as with demonstratives: this (this), that (that). In addition to all this, there are a number of words that allow you to make uncountable nouns in English countable: piece, bowl, bag, jar, glass, tile, cup, loaf, slice and others.

For example, a bar of soap/chocolate/gold - a bar of soap/chocolate bar/gold bar, a bowl of fruits - a bowl of fruit, a carton of milk - a package of milk, a can of beer - a can of beer, a cup of coffee - a cup of coffee, a loaf of bread - a loaf or loaf of bread.

Uncountable nouns with the expression a piece of

The use of the word “piece” is very interesting. It is often used with abstract and uncountable words that are most unexpected for a Russian person, for example, a piece of advice, a piece of music, a piece of information. And, of course, we will not translate these expressions as “a piece of advice”, “a piece of music” or “a piece of information”, although the latter option is quite acceptable. But since this is quite the translation will be specific: “advice”, “piece of music”, “message”.

Agreement of uncountable nouns with verbs

Which verb should I use with an uncountable noun: singular or plural? For example, how do you say "money is on the table"? The money is on the chest or The money are on the chest? The first option will be correct. Only singular verbs are used with uncountable nouns. Examples: the milk is fresh - the milk is fresh, the water is very hot - the water is very hot. But if they are used that allow us to measure uncountable nouns, then verb agreement occurs with them. For example, two cartoons of milk are on the table, three bottles of water are in the refrigerator.

Uncountable nouns in English: types

Can all nouns that cannot be counted be divided into groups? There are two such groups in English, and, oddly enough, they are divided by number, singular or plural. Plural nouns include nouns that end in -s, -es. For example, game names (darts), scientific theories (economics), groups and associations (Police, the Andes). They are preceded by the plural demonstrative pronouns those or these. Before uncountable singular nouns, which are the majority, in this case we use this or that.

Countable and uncountable nouns: examples

To better understand the characteristics of these types of nouns, consider pairs of nouns, one of which is countable and the other uncountable. Particularly interesting are those that have the same translation. So: song - music (song - music), bottle - wine (bottle - wine), report - information (message - information), cupboard - furniture (cabinet - furniture), tip - advice (advice, hint - advice), job - work (work, piecework - work), jorney - travel (travel, trip - journey), view - scenery (review, view - view, landscape). The word "clock", which in Russian is used only in the plural, will appear only in the singular in English. The watch is very expensive - This watch is very expensive. Although, if we are talking about a lot of watches, then it is quite possible to say watches. The word money can also be confusing. After all, the Russian “money” is plural. In English, the word money is always, without exception, only the singular number. For example, Money in not for me - Money is not for me. Money is under the pillow - Money under the pillow.

Other interesting uncountable nouns in English: mail (mail, that is, parcels and letters), garlic (garlic), harm (harm, evil, loss, damage), homework (housework), chalk (chalk), content (content, text and graphic content of the site), currency (currency), fame (fame, fame, popularity), garbage (garbage, garbage, leftovers), innicence (purity, innocence), jelly (jam), labor (work, especially physical work) , livestock (livestock, animals kept on a farm).

Uncountable nouns in English and the possessive case

The possessive case expresses property relations. For example, in the phrase “dog's tail” it is unclear who belongs to whom. But if we give the word “dog” the form of the possessive case, then it is immediately clear that the tail belongs to the dog, and not vice versa. The rules for putting English countable nouns into the possessive case are quite simple: you just need to add the ending “s” through an apostrophe, for example dog’s tail. But how do you say “temperature of water,” “mass of a substance,” or “several pounds of ice cream”? It is immediately worth noting that inanimate nouns are extremely rarely used in the possessive case. As a rule, the preposition "of" is used, for example: mass of a substance - mass of a substance (as we see, in English, the word "substance" is not uncountable), few pounds of ice-cream - several pounds of ice cream. The construction “noun + noun” is often used. For example, water temperature - water temperature.

We can all count. But is everything countable? For example, how to calculate the weather? Or water or money? “Well, we know how to count money!” - many will object. Okay, let's count: one money, two money, three... Is something wrong? But we can count rubles, dollars or euros very well. Why this conversation? Yes, besides, we will talk about countable and uncountable nouns in the English language.

Why is it important

The fact is that in English there are grammatical differences when using countable and uncountable. This concerns agreement between the subject and the predicate, formation, use, and use of indefinite pronouns.

How to determine countability

Everything is simple here: you need to count. If it turns out, it means the noun is countable. If not, uncountable. We've already counted the money, let's count something else. For example, milk. Try saying: I have five milk. The question immediately arises: why five? Liters? Glasses? Cans? This means milk is an uncountable noun, and a liter, glass or can is a countable noun. We can count hours, days, seconds, but we cannot count time. This means that time is an uncountable noun, and days and hours are countable. Using this principle, you can easily determine which noun is countable and which is not.

Countable nouns

Countables include specific items, objects, people, animals, which we perceive as separate units:

doll - doll
girl - girl
tree - tree
cat - cat
pencil - pencil

Some abstract concepts that can be counted can also be countable:

word - word
desire - desire
idea - idea
decision - decision
order - order

You can always put a numeral in front of them:

four cats – four cats
two decisions - two decisions

Uncountable nouns

Uncountable substances include any substance: liquid, solid, gaseous, or in powder form. This also includes abstract concepts, feelings, emotions, natural phenomena, various sciences and educational subjects, sports, etc. That is, everything that cannot be divided into separate units and, therefore, counted:

peace - peace
gold - gold
time - time
kindness - kindness
love - love

Features of some nouns

Let's take, for example, such nouns as coffee (coffee), tea (tea), beer (beer). These are liquids, they cannot be counted and we classify them as uncountable nouns:

I don't like coffee, I prefer tea.
I do not like coffee, I prefer tea.

But here's another example:

Give us two coffees and a tea, please.
Give us two coffee And tea, Please.

As you can see, seemingly uncountable liquids have become countable. Since in this case we are not interested in abstract coffee and tea, but in a specific volume (cup, portion). We mean it, although we don't name it.

More examples

Here are some more examples where the same noun can have two categories. In this case, the semantic meaning of the word may change. Compare:

The statue is made of stone.
The statue is made from stone.

There are two beautiful stones in the girl's pocket.
The girl has (has) two beautiful pebble.

In the first case, stone is the substance from which the statue is made, so the noun is uncountable. In the second case, a stone is an object that can be counted.

The bridge was not sturdy because it was made out of wood.
The bridge was not strong because it was made of tree.

This wood is huge.
This forest(the forest area) is huge.

Forest is like wood, the material is an uncountable noun. And the forest as a specific area, a forested area, can already be counted.

The sun gives us light and heat.
The sun gives us light and warmth.

The light in the room was dim.
Light(lamp, light bulb) in the room was dim.

In the first case, the word “light” is used as an abstract concept, in the second, a specific light source is meant, of which there may be several (two light bulbs).

Michael has extensive experience in medicine.
Mikhail has a big one experience in medicine.

When we went to Moscow, we had some interesting experiences.
When we went to Moscow, we had several interesting adventure(experiences).

In the first sentence, experience is an abstract, uncountable concept; in the second, it is specific interesting moments in life that can be counted.

Thus, depending on the meaning, the same noun can be countable or uncountable. How to determine? The old proven way: count.

Language Differences

advice - advice
work - work
news - news
baggage - luggage
knowledge - knowledge
information – information, message
progress – progress, success
hair - hair

However, there are pitfalls here too. For example, the word hair is uncountable; in English, hair cannot be counted. But there is a noun a hair, which is translated as “hair” and is countable:

There are two hairs on your dress.
There (are) two here hair on your dress.

Let's move on to grammar

We have learned how to determine the countability of English nouns, now let's see where this can come in handy. The fact is that there are very important grammatical differences in the use of countable and uncountable nouns.

1. English nouns vary in number and can be singular or plural. But this only applies to countable nouns. All uncountable nouns are used only in the singular. Don't try to pluralize them, it will be a mistake. In a sentence, uncountable nouns agree with the singular verb and can be replaced by the pronoun it:

This advice is very useful.
This advice very helpful.

Water freezes at a temperature of zero degrees.
Water freezes at zero degrees.

I would like to remind you that the word news also belongs to the uncountable, therefore, despite the ending – s, it is a singular noun:

No news is good news.
Absence news- good news.

1. I think you know that nouns are used with articles, which can be and.

Both articles are used with countable nouns:

There is a big tree in the yard.
There is a big one in the yard tree.

The tree is very old.
Tree very old.

The indefinite article cannot be used with uncountable nouns. This is explained simply: the indefinite article a/an comes from the English word one, which means “one”. Since uncountable nouns cannot be counted, the article a/an cannot be used either. These nouns are either preceded by a definite article, or no article is placed at all:

Water is very important for life on the Earth.
Water very important for life on the ground.

The water in the stream is cold and clean.
Water the stream is cold and clean.

1. Both countable and uncountable nouns can be used with the indefinite pronouns some and any. However, countable nouns in this case must be in the plural:

I have some friends in Brazil.
I have some friends in Brazil.

He took some money and went to the store.
He took money (some money) and went to the store.

1. The use of nouns with the pronouns much, many, little, few also has its own rules.

• The pronouns many (many), how many (how much, how much), (a) few (little, little) can only be used with countable nouns:

He doesn't usually ask many questions.
He usually doesn't ask many questions.

There are a few flowers in the garden.
There is in the garden some flowers.

• The pronouns much, how much, (a) little are used only with uncountable nouns:

How much time do you usually spend on this kind of work?
How much time do you usually spend on this kind of work?

There is a little milk in the cup.
There is in the cup some milk.

• The expression a lot of (a lot) is used with any nouns:

There are a lot of cars in the yard.
In the courtyard a lot of cars.

There is a lot of water in the glass.
In glass much water.

Knowing the grammatical features of countable and uncountable nouns will help you avoid many mistakes. But theory without practice is quickly forgotten. Channel “English – speak freely!” will give you the opportunity to practice your English at any time of the day. See you on air!

Hi all!

Let's plunge into the world of nouns, namely the world called "Countable and uncountable nouns in English"(countable and uncountable). From the name it is obvious that there are objects that can be counted (for example, apples) and which can't be calculated(For example, milk ).

The question may arise: why can’t you count milk? After all, we say “ buy one milk" Everything is true, but in this case we mean one box or package of milk, and milk itself, as a substance, cannot be counted; this means that the word has no plural, with the verb , and also demonstrative pronouns are put in the singular form (see table below).

We have many examples ahead not only on the topic “Food”, but also from other areas. I hope that after the detailed rules and visual examples you will not have any questions. A my table with a list of the most common uncountable nouns at the end of this article it will become a useful and pleasant gift for you and a faithful assistant!

Go...

Uncountable nouns are realities that are considered as a whole and cannot be divided.

What are uncountable nouns?

Here is a sample list of nouns that belong to this group:

Beverages/food: water, coffee, chocolate, salt, pepper, meat, milk, bread, cheese, etc.

Materials: wood, gold, iron, paper, etc.

Abstract nouns: love, peace, anger, etc.

WordsrelatedWithweather: snow, weather, rain, lightning, thunder. But words such as storm, blizzard, cyclone are countable.

Generalizedconcepts: furniture, equipment, luggage.

Otherwords: oil, petrol, news, soap, information, travel, traffic, etc.

Because the countable nouns can exist in the amount of one piece, then with them the indefinite article a/an is used .

A uncountable they cannot have the article a/an with them for the simple reason that they cannot be counted, so they are often used with zero article (=no article), for example:

We had terrible weather last week.

Or with the definite article :

The information is very useful.

In addition, for uncountable there are nouns words some/any, which simply denote a certain amount of this substance.

Give me some butter, please.

Did you buy any juice ?

In general, some/any (read more about them) are also used with countable nouns, for example:

Give me some apples, please.

Did you buy any pictures ?

Note: It must be remembered that some/any are not used when we are talking about something in general, and not about a certain quantity. Compare offers:

I don't like milk(I basically don't like milk in general).

We have some milk in the refrigerator (we have milk in the refrigerator, i.e. some amount).

In addition, special mention should be made of the use of the words “ a lot/little"(More details about this -).

Note #1: There is a slight difference between few/afew And little/alittle.

A few / a little= a little, a few

Few/little= little (has a negative connotation)

Note #2: The word a lot of is universal, suitable for both countable and uncountable nouns.

FAQ

• Another question that is not entirely clear to Russian people: why fish counts uncountable. A??? After all, it is quite possible to count the fish - here is one, and here is the second. In this case, an analogy should be drawn with the word meat, i.e. if we talk about fish, how about the food product then he will uncountable m, like meat, but if we mean different types of fish , then it is appropriate to say fishes.
• Same story with the word fruit/fruits. If we consider fruits, How am I eating?(like meat and fish in the examples above), then the word will refer to the category uncountable x, respectively, does not require an article. But if we keep in mind different types of fruits and fruits , then the noun becomes countable .

For example:

He eats a lot of meat, but he doesn’t eat much fish .

There isn't much fresh fruit available at this time of year.

Bob is going to present his research on “ Fishes of the North Atlantic ” at the biologists’ conference.

You should eat three different fruits per day.

How to show quantity for uncountable nouns?

For this purpose expressions are used a bit of, a piece of, an item of or other words denoting package or measure:

A bar of chocolate, a piece of cheese, a piece of furniture, a kilo of meat, a carton of milk, a bottle of cola, a loaf of bread.

When before uncountable noun the indefinite article appears , this means that the word appears other meaning . Consider the following proposals:

We bought a new iron (We bought an iron = countable noun).

Ships are made of iron(Ships are made of iron = material, uncountable).

I broke a glass yesterday (I broke a glass yesterday = countable noun).

The table is made of glass(The table is made of glass = material, uncountable).

Or is it implied that we mean a certain measure of a substance (bottle, spoon, cup, etc.). In Russian, we sometimes also say phrases like: “ Two waters please"(=two bottles or two glasses, depends on the specific situation when we say it).

Can I have two teas and one coffee , please? (=two cups of tea and one cup of coffee).

Enough theory! And now, according to tradition, as always, the practical part.