confusing countable/uncountable nature

Hi,

I think a typical definitioon of the word 'gratuity' would go like 'money you give to somebody who has given you ...' and my question is why 'gratuity' is countable, whereas money is uncountable? Isn't it logical to assume if something can be describe in part with an uncountable term (word??), then it should be uncountable too?

Anonymous

my question is why 'gratuity' is countable, whereas money is uncountable? Isn't it logical to assume if something can be describe in part with an uncountable term (word??), then it should be uncountable too?

No.  There is something wrong with that logic.

money (uncountable) is part of the idea of many countable entities:  a purchase, a sale, a tip, a gratuity, a payment, a coin, a bill, a donation, a grant, ...

Likewise water (uncountable) is part of the idea of many countable entities: a river, a lake, an ocean, a pool, a puddle, a drop, ...

The same is true of many other ideas.

CJ