Does everything in the world lend itself to accounting and measurement? 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 analyze all the nuances of their use.
The concept of an uncountable noun
The words "love" (love) and "friendship" (friendship) will have the most direct relation to this topic. Neither can be counted. We can say "many loves" but we can't say "three loves". This is how we distinguish between countable and uncountable nouns, the number of the former can always be counted. There can be one bottle of water, two bottles of water (one bottle of water, two bottles of water), but "one water" (one water), "two waters" (two waters) or "three waters" (three waters) - so do not speak. The word "water" is uncountable.
Why even bother with the category of uncountable nouns? Is it really impossible to use these words correctly without knowingcan they be counted? In fact, this is important in English, 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
Note that any Russian uncountable noun can have an English counterpart that can be counted. Although mismatches are quite rare. In any case, one 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:
- abstract nouns: beauty - beauty, permission - permission;
- disease names: flu - influenza;
- weather conditions: rain - rain;
- food: cheese - cheese;
- substances: water - water;
- 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 easy to guess whether a noun is uncountable. But some words can be difficult. For example, hair - hair. Some students become stumped when they encounter a hair in assignments. In fact, hair and a hair are different words. The first is indeed uncountable andtranslated as hair, the second word means "hair" and can be used in the plural. The word advice can also surprise. It does not have a plural, advices does not exist. It can be translated as "advice" or "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 various kinds".
Features of the use of uncountable nouns: pronouns, articles
Only the definite article is used with uncountable nouns. For example, the news - these news. The indefinite article "a" is never used before them. Also, these nouns do not have a plural. Many of them already seem to be in the plural: news. But they may well be used with quantitative pronouns: some (some), little (few), 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: a piece, a bowl, a bag, a jar, a glass, a tile, a cup, a loaf, a slice, and others.
For example, a bar of soap/chocolate/gold is a bar of soap/chocolate/bar of gold, a bowl of fruits is a bowl of fruit, a carton of milk is a carton of milk, a can of beer is a can of beer, a cup of coffee - a cup of coffee, a loaf of bread- a loaf of bread or a loaf of bread.
Uncountable nouns with expression a piece of
Very interesting is the use of the word "piece" - a piece of. It is often used with the most unexpected abstract and uncountable words 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 these are rather stable expressions, the translation will be specific: "advice", "musical work", "message".
Concordance of uncountable nouns with verbs
Which verb to 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 is on the chest? The first option would be correct. With uncountable nouns, only verbs in the singular are used. Examples: the milk is fresh - the milk is fresh, the water is very hot - the water is very hot. But if auxiliary words are used that allow measuring uncountable nouns, then the agreement of verbs occurs already with them. For example, two cartoons of milk are on the table - two packages of milk on the table, three bottles of water are in thefridge - three bottles of water in the fridge.
Uncountable nouns in English: types
Can all uncountable nouns be divided into groups? There are two such groups in English, and, oddly enough, they are divided by number, singular or plural. Plural nouns are nouns that end in -s, -es. For example, the names of games (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, and they are the majority, in this case, this or that is used.
Countable and uncountable nouns: examples
To better understand the features of these types of nouns, consider pairs of nouns, one of which is countable and the other is 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 (wardrobe - furniture), tip - advice (advice, hint - advice), job - work (work, piecework - work), jorney - travel (travel, trip - travel), view - scenery (review, view - view, landscape). The word "hours", which in Russian is used only in the plural, in English will stand only in the singular. The watch is very expensive - This watch is very expensive. Although, when it comes toset of watches, it is quite possible to say watches. The word money can also cause confusion. After all, the Russian "money" is the plural. In English, the word money is always, without exception, only the singular. 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 (homework), 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, farm animals).
Uncountable nouns in English and the possessive case
The possessive case expresses property relations. For example, in the phrase "dog tail" it is not clear who belongs to whom. But if you 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 setting English countable nouns into the possessive case are quite simple: you just need to add the ending "s" after an apostrophe, for example, dog's tail. But how do you say "temperature of water", "mass of matter" or "a few pounds of ice cream"? It should immediately be noted thatinanimate nouns are rarely used in the possessive case. As a rule, the preposition "of" is used, for example: mass of a substance - the mass of a substance (as you can see, in English, the word "substance" is not uncountable), a few pounds of ice-cream - a few pounds of ice cream. The construction "noun + noun" is often used. For example, water temperature - water temperature.
