ohayo_suki  +  22116 Wed, 11 Feb 04 10:41 AM Hi all I need help regarding this topic. Can someone provide me an explanation as to why the following are uncountable? -chalk, soap, money, time From what i know, 'a little' is use with uncountable nouns & 'a few' is use with countable nouns. So are the following sentences correct?? If yes, is it because by using words like 'bars'and 'drops' with nouns, this makes the noun to be countable?? 1. A little soap 2. A few bars of soap 3. A little ink 4. A few drops of ink 5. A little bread 6. A few slice of bread Thanks alot for your help!! ohayo_suki Joined on Wed, Feb 11 2004 New Member 10 Nouns, Uncountable Nouns, Countable Nouns

	rommie  +  22125 Wed, 11 Feb 04 11:12 AM Please see the thread "An overtime or a overtime?", which ran yesterday. All of your phrases are correct apart from 6 - "a few SLICES of bread". Chalk, soap, money and time are indeed conventionally uncountable. You've probably been told that several times already. Rommie rommie Joined on Mon, Jan 26 2004 Earth orbit Regular Member 606

	simon_phlui  +  22205 Thu, 12 Feb 04 02:34 AM I have difficulties in choosing the correct form in some nouns. For example, we'd say: "I have some experience in teaching." - uncountable but we also say "He talks about his experienceS as a policeman." - countable Should abstract concepts always be uncountable? It's what my teachers told me when I was at school. simon_phlui Joined on Wed, Dec 10 2003 Junior Member 58 Nouns

	rommie  +  22231 Thu, 12 Feb 04 11:43 AM Your teachers were wrong. (Or at least, they were simplifiying things to the point where their explanations were no longer accurate). Please see the other thread I mentioned above. What I'm trying to get across is that you can use a nominally countable noun in an uncountable context, and you can use a nominally uncountable noun in a countable context. You see - the universe has got "things" in it. Some of these things we perceive as "smooth", other things we perceive as "lumpy". But MOST things are both. A lump of rock is "a rock", but rock itself is still continuous. The way that you refer to something is what defines whether you are referencing lumps of the stuff or the stuff itself. "Lumps" of experience are experiences. That's all. Rommie rommie Nouns, Uncountable Nouns, Countable Nouns

	Goodman  +  200645 Sat, 25 Feb 06 01:20 AM  Rommie wrote: Your teachers were wrong. (Or at least, they were simplifiying things to the point where their explanations were no longer accurate). Please see the other thread I mentioned above. What I'm trying to get across is that you can use a nominally countable noun in an uncountable context, and you can use a nominally uncountable noun in a countable context. You see - the universe has got "things" in it. Some of these things we perceive as "smooth", other things we perceive as "lumpy". But MOST things are both. A lump of rock is "a rock", but rock itself is still continuous. The way that you refer to something is what defines whether you are referencing lumps of the stuff or the stuff itself. "Lumps" of experience are experiences. That's all. Rommie I couldn't have said it any better! Goodman Joined on Mon, Nov 7 2005 Senior Member 3,816 The name says it all! Nouns, Uncountable Nouns, Countable Nouns

	Believer  +  268135 Sun, 17 Sep 06 01:14 AM Thank you. Can you expand on your statement which said, "What I'm trying to get across is that you can use a nominally countable noun in an uncountable context, and you can use a nominally uncountable noun in a countable context."? (Is the punctuation right? Should I not include the period?)   Believer Joined on Mon, Jan 2 2006 Contributing Member 1,969 Nouns, Punctuation, Uncountable Nouns, Countable Nouns

	Clive  +  491596 Fri, 21 Mar 08 10:39 PM Hi, If you want to post your words and how you classify them, we can check it for you. Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,572 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo