Fruit is an uncountable noun. Uncountable nouns in English

We are sure that more than once while studying English in courses you have had to deal with the concept of countability and uncountability of nouns. This is not surprising, since in English the categories countable and uncountable influence the choice of the grammatical environment of a word. In Russian we can count almost anything and easily say both “two apples” and “two weathers”. The second phrase sounds less harmonious than the first, but, nevertheless, is not a grammatically incorrect construction. In English, counting uncountable concepts means making a gross grammatical error (you cannot say two happinesses). Due to the discrepancy between our native and English grammatical systems, a Russian person can make annoying mistakes related to the countability of nouns. Let's figure out what difficulties are most common in this case.

Which English nouns are classified as uncountable nouns?

The first thing to do when determining the category of a noun is to count. Most often this will quickly resolve the issue. If you can easily count objects, phenomena, put them in the plural so that there is no doubt in your mind, they are countable (two carrots, eleven computers, three bags). Otherwise, the noun is classified as uncountable.

However, it is important not to fall into a logical trap. Is money countable? We count them, there is no arguing here. But, please note, when calculating money, we always use the name of the currency: one hundred rubles, fifty dollars, ten yens. Accordingly, money is an uncountable noun, and ruble, dollar, yen are countable. The same situation occurs when counting water, sugar, milk. We can count all these uncountable concepts by resorting to countable nouns denoting measures: kilograms, liters, cups, pieces, etc.

Uncountable are liquids: tea, blood, milk, oil, water and others. To determine their quantity, you will have to resort to words such as liters, bottles, cups, mouthfuls.

Uncountable are products that do not have a standard, familiar form. Such “shapeless” products as butter, meat, rice, ice.

Not countable gaseous substances: air (air), oxygen (oxygen), smoke (smoke).

Also uncountable are abstract concepts: music (music), knowledge (knowledge), health (health), progress (progress).

Grammar accompanying countables and uncountables

Let us repeat, correctly determining the countability of a noun is necessary in order to avoid making grammatical errors. What grammatical structures are used with countable and uncountable nouns.
The first thing to remember is indefinite article " a» not used with uncountables nouns. This is logical, since the etymology of the indefinite article goes back to the noun one. Thus, uncountable nouns are accompanied by a definite article when necessary and are not used in the plural. Don't forget that the verb accompanying an uncountable noun is also used only singular– is, does, was, has etc.

The second slippery moment is choice. many/much, a few/a little. Countable nouns are accompanied by the adjectives many and few, uncountable nouns are accompanied by much and little. More about this

Nouns that can be countable and uncountable at the same time

In the English language there are many nouns that, depending on the context and their meaning, are either countable or uncountable. Here are some of the most common variations of these words:

	uncountable	countable
Tea, coffee, other drinks	Some tea - Some tea. Drinks are always uncountable when it comes to the substance itself.	A tea, two teas - one cup of tea, two cups of tea. By attributing countable characteristics to substances, we limit their quantity to one unit. If we are talking about tea - one cup. The exception is water, we still say: Can I have some water?
	Her hair is red - she is red-haired. The word hair is uncountable in English when we talk about all the hairs belonging to a person. Don't say my hair - it's grammatically incorrect.
	The time - time.	A time - time.
	The paper – paper (material).	A paper – document, newspaper.
	The room – place, space. Come here, we will make some room for you – Take a seat, we’ll move over.	A room - room.
	The work – work (process).	A work – a work (the work of an artist, writer, poet, musician).
Chocolate	The chocolate – chocolate (substance, formless product).	A chocolate – chocolate candy, chocolate.
Wine (similar to cheese, meat, pate, etc.)	The wine - wine (substance, product).	A wine – a type of wine.

Nouns that are surprisingly uncountable in English.

Particular attention should be paid to two nouns that are countable in Russian, but not in English. These insidious words cause a huge number of mistakes among those who study English in courses or individually.

Remember the word advice – uncountable noun. I'll give you some advice- I'll give you advice. If you still want to count the advice you give, you will have to do it in “pieces”. A piece of advice- one piece of advice.

A similar situation occurs with the word news. Don't be confused by the ending -s; it's not a plural indicator in this case. What IS the news? – What news? When counting news, also use pieces of news or bits of news.

This is how a seemingly simple topic can conceal many subtle nuances. By understanding them, you can avoid many mistakes.

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Very important from the point of view of grammar and understanding of native speakers is the rule “Countable and uncountable nouns” in English. It is known that some objects can be counted, while it is impossible to apply quantitative numerals to abstract concepts and substances.

Difference between countable and uncountable nouns

To understand how to determine the type to which a given part of speech belongs and correctly use words in sentences, you should focus on the following basic principles:

In a countable noun. there are forms of units. h. and pl. h. Together with them you can use digital symbols or the word some (several):

Uncountable nouns have no plural form. h., but can also be used with some to mean “a certain amount, a little”:

We have some chocolate. - We have some chocolate.

In negative and interrogative sentences with both types of nouns. the word any is used (any, any, etc.):

They haven't got any coins. - They don't have any coins. (a coin – countable noun)

Have they got any coins? – Do they have any coins?

There isn’t any information about this case. – There is no information about this case. (information – uncountable noun)

Is there any information about this case? – Is there any information about this case?

In the meaning of “many” with uncountable. noun use much, with calculus. – many:

Kate has much work to do. – Katya has a lot of work. Jack has got many subjects at school. – Jack has a lot of disciplines at school.

To report a small quantity or volume use little with uncount. noun and few (little) with calculus. noun:

The English also use the expressions “a little”, “a few” with uncountable. and calculus noun accordingly, to report a small but sufficient amount of any objects or substances:

Margaret put a little salt in the soup. Margaret put some salt in the soup.

Sam invited a few friends to the picnic. Sam invited several friends to a picnic.

From uncountable noun the verb is always used in the singular form. h.:

Love is a nice feeling. - Love is an amazing feeling.

Coffee helps people to stay active. – Coffee helps people stay active.

These basic rules will help you use countable and uncountable nouns in English without errors.

List of countable nouns in English

To understand which words belong to the group of concepts to be counted, you can look at some categories and examples for them:

items : a cup (cup), a book (book), a table (table);
animals, birds, insects, fish: a snow leopard (snow leopard), an eagle (eagle), a fly (fly), a shark (shark);
countable products: an apple (apple), an egg (egg);
containers or packaging: a box (box), a jar (jar), a bar (chocolate bar);
people, family members, representatives of different professions: a grandfather (grandfather), a baby (baby), a doctor (doctor), etc.

This list can be continued endlessly. The main thing is to understand the basic principle: calculus. noun you can recalculate and name their number using a numerical expression.

Some words can be used in plural. hours or units h., if they have a collective meaning: family, team, army, audience, etc. But noun. police (police) is always used with plural verbs. h.

My family is/ are on holiday now. – My family is on vacation now. The police are near his house. - The police are near his house.

Special cases

Some nouns are inconstant and move from the category of uncountable. in calculus depending on the meaning that the speaker puts into the sentence.

It is necessary to take into account such nuances when composing and translating English sentences.

So. In other words, more than one grammatical topic concerns this category, because many points depend precisely on what kind of noun we are working with - with a countable ( countable noun) or uncountable ( uncountable noun). How are they different from each other? This can be understood just by looking at their name.

Countable nouns

Countable nouns (“countable”) are words that denote the names of concrete objects and abstract concepts that can be counted. And since they can be counted, they are used both in the singular and in the plural. Here are examples of countable nouns: table, picture, hour, holiday, offer, boy, decision, way-out etc.

When using such words in the singular, you can put in front of them a / an: a table, a picture, an hour, an offer, a boy, a decision, a way-out. Moreover, a countable singular noun must always be accompanied by some kind of determiner. If there is no indefinite article, you need or ( the), or ( my, his, our etc.), ( that, this Let me remind you that a determiner is a linguistic indicator with a noun, expressing the meaning of definiteness. For example:

I saw a boy .
This picture is a masterpiece.
I approve of the decision you've made.
I brokemy leg.

With plural countable nouns we can use some (any, many, few):

Some friends of mine will come to this party. - Several of my friends will come to the party. (Some of my friends will come to the party).

Uncountable nouns

In contrast to the previous ones, uncountable nouns (“non-countable”) are the names of substances, abstract concepts that cannot be counted. And, therefore, they are used only in the singular. Examples: knowledge, silver, music, milk, water, happiness, furniture, advice etc. These nouns cannot be used with indefinite articles a / an, but they can be combined with the other determiners mentioned above (definite article, possessive, demonstrative pronoun).

They are also used with some indefinite pronouns: some, any, much, little. For example:

These earrings are made of silver .
I have some news for you.
I don't like the music you are listening to now.
Her beauty attracts me.

However, there are cases in which it is permissible to use an uncountable noun with an indefinite article a / an, as well as with numerals ( one / two, etc.). This can be done when ordering food in a restaurant or cafe:

We'll have four coffees, please. - We need four coffees.

Uncountable nouns include various edible products ( meat, flour, milk, salt, etc.), liquid ( petrol, coffee, etc.), substances and materials ( gold, wood, glass, etc.), abstract concepts ( help, education, etc.) and many other words ( advice, weather, hair, etc.). What if we need to use such a word in speech? How to transfer any quantity? Certain words serve this purpose: a piece of advice(advice), a bowl of fruit(bowl of fruit) a carton of milk(a carton of milk), a bar of chocolate(chocolate bar), a glass of wine(a glass of wine), a can of Coke(can of Coca-Cola), a tube of paint(tube of paint) a kilo of meat(kilogram of meat), a cup of tea(Cup of tea), a loaf of bread(a loaf of bread), a rasher of bacon(rasher).

If we are talking about material nouns, then we remember that there are nouns that denote not the substance itself, but the object consisting of this substance. Such a noun will already be countable. For example:

Their house is built of local stone.– Their house is built from local stone. (uncountable noun)

I have a stone in my shoe. - I have a pebble in my shoe. (countable noun)

In yet another case, material nouns can become countable: when they convey different varieties or types of a substance.

There is a live coal in the fire-place. - There is a burning coal in the fireplace.

You can read about four tips in choosing and using various body oils. – You can read four tips on how to choose and use different body oils.

What is the difficulty in understanding the principle of “countability-non-countability”? But the fact is that some nouns in English are uncountable, but in Russian or other languages, on the contrary, they are countable. Among them are the following words: baggage, bread, information, furniture, traffic, work, progress, accommodation, cash, clothing, cutlery, equipment, health, luck, money, photography, research, safety, sunshine, underwear, violence, etc.

That is great news! – What great news!

May I give you two pieces of advice? - May I give you two pieces of advice?

And there are nouns that can be used both as countable and uncountable. But in this case we will observe a difference in meaning. For example:

I'm three apples. - I ate three apples. (countable)

Is there apple in this salad? – Is there an apple in this salad? (uncountable)

Would you like a glass of lemonade? - How about a glass of lemonade? (countable)

This sculpture was made of glass. – This sculpture is made of glass. (uncountable)

I'm pressed for time. – I don’t have any time.

How many times did you read this article? – How many times have you read this article?

Countable and uncountable nouns– this is not the most difficult topic in the English language. And if you perceive every noun in English precisely from the point of view of this language, and not your native one, you will master this topic without any problems.

Now test your knowledge by taking the following test:

Test

Countable and uncountable nouns in English

Any schoolchild can tell you what countable and uncountable nouns are. The name speaks for itself: countable nouns are those nouns that can be counted, while uncountable nouns cannot be counted. However, this is not the only difference. Usually it is not difficult to determine whether a noun is countable or not, but in some cases the differences between Russian and English make themselves felt.

As practice shows, uncountable nouns cause more problems. Either they will put an article in front of them, or they will add the ending -S. Therefore, in this article we will focus our attention on those nouns that cannot be counted.

Liquids: water, milk, tea, vine etc.

Please note that the words tea, coffee, beer can be countable when, for example, you order something in a restaurant:

One coffee and two teas, please. - One cup of coffee and two cups of tea, please.

Food (Types of food): bread, meat, cheese, butter etc.

Many names for food products that represent mass are measured in liters, kilograms (kilos), pieces (piece), plates (bowl) and so on. Mistakes are often made with the word bread, since in Russian it is normal to say “one loaf” when we mean a loaf of bread, but in English we should say a loaf of bread.

Some food products are a combination: pasta, spaghetti, rice.

Materials: sand, metal, concrete etc.

Materials represent a mass or substance, but sometimes the word can become countable when referring to an object made from a given material: paper (paper) - a paper (newspaper). In addition, when talking about varieties of the same material or liquid, the word can take the plural form:

: love, weather, time, sleep, importance, experience etc.

Many abstract nouns can also be countable, depending on their meaning in a particular sentence. For example, time is time, and time is time. Read more about this in.

Names of gases: air, oxygen etc.

Mass Nouns: hair, furniture, clothes, traffic, luggage etc.

Uncountable nouns also include those nouns that are not individual objects and denote a collection of homogeneous objects without clearly defined boundaries.

Names of diseases (Illnesses): measles, influenza, mumps etc.

But those nouns that denote minor health problems, such as a cold, a headache, a sore throat, a fever are countable and are preceded by an article. As for other diseases with the word ache ( toothache, backache, earache), then in British English they are always uncountable and are not used with the article A/ AN, but in American English they can be countable when they denote a separate attack of the disease:

I had a terrible toothache yesterday. - My teeth hurt a lot yesterday. (AmE)

I had terrible toothache yesterday. - My teeth hurt a lot yesterday. (BrE)

Fields of Study: mathematics, physics, economics etc.

Sports: gymnastics, football, tennis etc.

Now let's take a closer look at the differences between countable and uncountable nouns. Different sources highlight different numbers of differences and describe them differently, but we won’t complicate things and highlight three main ones.

1. Countables can be counted, and uncountables can be measured.

You can easily use cardinal numerals with countable nouns:

One tree - one tree

Five people - five people

One hundred dollars - one hundred dollars

When we are dealing with uncountable nouns, we need to use certain measures:

Two liters of milk - two liters of milk

Five tons of coal - five tons of coal

Three bowls of soup - three bowls of soup

Different containers, measures, and shapes are used for measurement. There are a lot of them, certain substances are measured in appropriate containers, so this topic deserves a separate article, which will soon appear on our website.

2. Use of qualifiers

Many + countable:

How many people were in the queue? - How many people were in line?

Much + uncountable:

How much milk do you need? - How much milk do you need?

The a lot of/lots of qualifier can be used with both types:

I"ve got a lot of friends. - I have a lot of friends.

He "s got a lot of money. - He has a lot of money.

If there is a small amount of something, then the pair (a) few and (a) little is used.

(A) few + countable:

(A) little + uncountable:

She gave me a little salt. - She gave me some salt.

Sometimes it is more expedient to use the word some in the meaning of “a little”; it is combined with both countable and uncountable:

Some apples - some apples

Some apple juice - some apple juice

The words any and no are also used with both nouns:

Have you bought any vegetables? - Did you buy vegetables?

Have you bought any oil? - Did you buy oils?

We haven't bought any sweets or any sugar. - We didn't buy sweets or sugar.

There are no vegetables in the refrigerator. - There are no vegetables in the refrigerator.

There is no sugar at all! - There is no sugar at all!

If your level is a little higher, then you will probably find this table useful, from which you can see which determiners are used with which nouns:

Countable

Uncountable

a good number of

a large number of

a small amount/ quantity of

3. Plural and singular forms

And finally, the last difference. Countable nouns have singular and plural forms. The plural is presented in an accessible and detailed manner in the material dedicated to. Accordingly, if the noun is singular, we use the singular verb form (is, was), and if it is plural, then the plural verb form (are, were).

And here uncountable nouns can be divided into two groups: those that “always is” and those that “always are”. Of course, you won’t find such terminology in textbooks, but this “classification” will help you remember.

Most uncountable nouns are combined with the singular verb form (is, was, has):

And now, attention: those words that constantly cause our mistakes. Remember that with these nouns in English it is used singular verb form. Let's call them "always is":

news- news

money- money

advice- advice

furniture- furniture

knowledge- knowledge

traffic- traffic

luggage- baggage

But what if you need to say: “a lot of advice” or “one piece of news”? By no means “many advices” and not “one new”! In this situation, use the word piece:

A piece of news - one piece of news

A piece of advice - one piece of advice

Many pieces of advice - a lot of advice

If option with piece you are not satisfied, then select countable synonyms. For example, advice can be replaced by countable recommendation or tip , word news words news story or article.

And I’m generally silent about money! Thoughts in Russian, word money always combined with a plural verb: money are. Don't let this happen! Learn two sentences:

This will help you avoid a common mistake.

In English, among the uncountables there are those that agree with the verbal forms of the plural (are, were). Here are some of them:

clothes- cloth

contents- content

customs- customs

funds- facilities

goods- product

groceries- foodstuffs

manners- manners, behavior

odds- chances

outskirts- outskirts

police- police

premises- real estate

regards- wishes

remains- remains

savings- savings

surroundings- surroundings

staff- staff

congratulations- congratulations

stairs- ladder

thanks- Gratitude

troops- troops

wages- wage

Remember that these words belong to the category of “always are”, even if you really want to say “ is".

As you can see, countable and uncountable nouns are not such a simple topic, there are enough rules to learn them and exceptions to remember them.

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When it comes to such a part of speech as nouns, one of the greatest difficulties in the learning process is given to students by countable and uncountable nouns in the English language. Here you need to navigate different cases of use and know a fairly extensive list of such words and exceptions. However, here you can find certain patterns, and for this it is necessary to consider the topic of countable and uncountable nouns of the English language in more detail.

Main features of countable and uncountable nouns

These linguistic elements, which are called countable or uncountable nouns, are characterized by the fact that, depending on belonging to a particular group, they can be used both in both numbers (singular and plural), and only in the singular. Those nouns that can be counted, that is, formed into a plural form, are called countable nouns. Uncountables are those that do not have plural forms and are used exclusively in the singular.

The rules for using these linguistic structures largely imply division into countable nouns - uncountable nouns from the point of view of the semantics of the noun itself, that is, the group to which this or that belongs. In this regard, it is possible to give an appropriate classification and determine in which groups the differences between countable and uncountable nouns are most obvious.

Main categories of countable nouns

For countable nouns, the translation allows for the formation of the plural. This group can be divided into two main categories:

1. Concrete nouns

These parts of speech demonstrate familiar objects that surround people. They can be easily counted, they are tangible and completely real. Examples of such words are lamp, window, dog, bottle, pen, etc. Each noun in this group can be given a plural and used in the appropriate context.

2. Abstract nouns

Despite the fact that very often nouns from this category are uncountable nouns, there are often situations when these words can be used in the plural. Here are vivid examples of such words:

· idea (from a logical point of view, the essence of this concept is abstract; at the same time, the word ideas is used in the language very often)

· hour (the word “hour” is also intangible, but has a plural form), etc.

One of the main indicators that a noun is countable is the article. General grammatical rules stipulate that any singular countable noun must have an article, except in some special cases related directly to the subject of the article. At the same time, plurals of countable (their plural forms) are not always used with the article.

Categories of uncountable nouns

An uncountable word differs from a countable word in that it does not have the ability to form a plural. Uncountable words in the English language are quite often similar in principle to Russian ones. At the same time, there are situations when a noun can simultaneously be both countable and uncountable, depending on different meanings. Examples of these words:

· hair (“hair”) – a hair (“one hair”)
· beauty (“beauty”) – a beauty (“beauty”)
· paper (“paper”) – a paper (“document”)
· time (“time”) – a time (“one time”)
· room (“space”) – a room (“room”)
· light (“light”) – a light (“lamp”), etc.

Just like countable nouns, uncountable nouns fall into two categories:

1. Abstract

In this group, of course, words are rarely counted (some exceptional cases have been described above). This category includes concepts or phenomena that are not tangible and carry an abstract meaning: sadness, kindness, love, despair, experience, etc.

2. Real

In English they are called nouns of material. This includes natural elements, substances and materials: cream, bread, soup, butter, milk, meat, etc.

However, sometimes it becomes necessary to form plural forms with uncountable nouns. To do this, it is customary to use additional words, for example:

· cheese (“cheese”) – two slices of cheese (“two slices of cheese”)
· biscuit (“biscuit, cookies”) – three pieces of biscuit (“three pieces of biscuit”)
· chocolate (“chocolate”) – two bars of chocolate (“two chocolate bars”)

Articles with uncountable nouns when the context requires it: if a word is mentioned with a qualifying definition (the love that he feels), the use of a definite article is quite acceptable.

In addition, there are some unusual exception words. These include fruit and fish. Although it is possible to form the plural with them, this is not always done. When talking about fruits or fish without listing, the form of the number will remain unique (this does not apply to the word vegetables). For example:

· Most fruit are tasty – Most fruits are tasty
· They have a lot of fish – They have a lot of fish

There are many special cases: there are exceptions in the formation of plural forms (child – children – “child – children”), in the use of the plural with products and dishes (cake – cakes – “cake – cakes”, salad – salads – “salad – salads” , sweet – sweets – “candy – sweets”). In some cases, it is allowed to use the word some with such nouns to emphasize a certain amount (some chicken - “a little chicken”, some grapes - “a little grapes”). For example, people as a countable means “people” and can be used with the ending –s. There are quite a lot of such cases, and you should know them in order to navigate the peculiarities of the language.

Frequently occurring uncountable nouns

Below is a kind of table with examples of uncountable nouns, which are found quite often in English:

money - money
advice - advice
clothes - clothes
food - food
furniture - furniture
information - information
news - news
luggage - luggage
meal - meal
watch - watch
homework - homework
knowledge - knowledge
weather - weather

All the nuances and exceptions described above are extremely important, since, as can be seen from the examples presented, they are very actively used in the language and are quite standard structures in terms of meaning. The correct use of even such a seemingly not very complex part of speech as a noun requires quite serious preparation. The easiest way is to carefully study all atypical cases of use in order to appropriately apply the corresponding constructions in speech.