yogi2005  +  160828 Sun, 20 Nov 05 10:19 PM hello, Please, could you tell me when the nouns 'lettuce' and 'cake' are used as countable and uncountable nouns? as my dictionary says that they can be both.   thank you in advance yogi2005 Joined on Thu, Mar 31 2005 Full Member 197 Nouns, Uncountable Nouns, Countable Nouns, Countable or Uncountable

	My2sense  +  160831 Sun, 20 Nov 05 10:43 PM I baked a cake.   Lettuce is a mass noun meaning a determiner a/an is not used.  So we have to use a head of, a piece of, etc. to show quantity. For example: He bought a head of lettuce and then made a salad with a few pieces of lettuce. My2sense Joined on Sun, Nov 13 2005 europe Full Member 154 Nouns, Countable or Uncountable, Determiners

	paco2004  +  160833 Sun, 20 Nov 05 10:57 PM "Lettuce" is countable before being served at the eating table, but uncountable when you eat.      (EX) They grow cabbages and lettuces in the field.      (EX) Do you prefer lettuce in your salad, or cabbage? "Cake" is countable before being cut into pieces but after then it is uncountable.      (EX) Mother is baking a cake for my birthday.      (EX) Would you like to have some cake? paco paco2004 Joined on Wed, Nov 17 2004 Senior Member 4,095 In Japan today even dogs are learning how to bow-wow in English. Countable or Uncountable

	My2sense  +  160836 Sun, 20 Nov 05 11:07 PM  Paco2004 wrote: "Lettuce" is countable before being served at the eating table, but uncountable when you eat.      (EX) They grow cabbages and lettuces in the field.      (EX) Do you prefer lettuce in your salad, or cabbage? "Cake" is countable before being cut into pieces but after then it is uncountable.      (EX) Mother is baking a cake for my birthday.      (EX) Would you like to have some cake? paco Lettuces means a variety of i.e. the different kinds of lettuce. Hence, lettuce is not countable. My2sense Countable or Uncountable

	paco2004  +  160839 Sun, 20 Nov 05 11:17 PM Hello My2senses Whatever kind of lettuces they are, I can count lettuces, saying "one lettuce, two lettuces, three lettuces, ...". It would be because I am good at arithmetic. How about you? paco  paco2004 Countable or Uncountable

	My2sense  +  160843 Sun, 20 Nov 05 11:31 PM  Paco2004 wrote: Hello My2senses Whatever kind of lettuces they are, I can count lettuces, saying "one lettuce, two lettuces, three lettuces, ...". It would be because I am good at arithmetic. How about you? paco  Horrible at arithmetic but the plural of lettuce is lettuce. I can count 1 head of lettuce, 2 heads of lettuce and so on. My2sense Plurals, Countable or Uncountable

	paco2004  +  160847 Sun, 20 Nov 05 11:48 PM  My2sense wrote: Horrible at arithmetic but the plural of lettuce is lettuce. I can count 1 head of lettuce, 2 heads of lettuce and so on. 　You can count lettuces that way. But I would come to get a HEADache when I hear it. paco paco2004 Plurals, Countable or Uncountable

	My2sense  +  161106 Mon, 21 Nov 05 03:41 PM I think what we have here is a difference between American English and British English.  From what my British colleagues tell me they buy 2 lettuces and from what I know being a speaker of American English is that we buy 2 heads of lettuce. Result is:  it can be used either way.   My2sense American English, Difference Between, British English, Countable or Uncountable