http://www.englishforums.com/English/GeneralEnglishGrammarQuestions/Forum12.htmAsk your questions on grammar and get your sentence checked. We answer lots of different types of general English grammar questions here.enCSMOD (Build: 3273.32735)http://www.englishforums.com/English/ConfusingCountableUncountableNature/gzjlc/post.htm#528481Tue, 17 Jun 2008 07:36:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:528481CalifJim0http://www.englishforums.com/English/ConfusingCountableUncountableNature/gzjlc/post.htm#528481http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-528481.xml<BLOCKQUOTE><div><img src="/Themes/englishforums/images/icon-quote.gif"> <strong>Anonymous</strong></div><div>my question is why &#39;gratuity&#39; is countable, whereas money is uncountable? Isn&#39;t it logical to assume if something can be describe in part with an uncountable term (word??), then it should be uncountable too?</div></BLOCKQUOTE> No.&nbsp; There is something wrong with that logic.</p><p><i>money</i> (uncountable) is part of the idea of many countable entities:&nbsp; <i>a purchase, a sale, a tip, a gratuity, a payment, a coin, a bill, a donation, a grant, ...</i></p><p>Likewise <i>water</i> (uncountable) is part of the idea of many countable entities: <i>a river, a lake, an ocean, a pool, a puddle, a drop, ...</i></p><p>The same is true of many other ideas.</p><p>CJ&nbsp;<div style="clear:both;"></div>http://www.englishforums.com/English/ConfusingCountableUncountableNature/gzjkb/post.htm#528463Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:52:19 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:528463Jadarite1http://www.englishforums.com/English/ConfusingCountableUncountableNature/gzjkb/post.htm#528463http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-528463.xml<p>I think&nbsp;&quot;gratuity&quot; functions more like the word &quot;donation&quot; than &quot;money&quot;, referring to a unit of something rather than identifying it</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>http://www.englishforums.com/English/ConfusingCountableUncountableNature/gzjjl/post.htmTue, 17 Jun 2008 04:44:34 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:528456Anonymous2http://www.englishforums.com/English/ConfusingCountableUncountableNature/gzjjl/post.htmhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-528456.xmlHi,<br /><br />I think a typical definitioon of the word &#39;gratuity&#39; would go like &#39;money you give to somebody who has given you ...&#39; and my question is why &#39;gratuity&#39; is countable, whereas money is uncountable? Isn&#39;t it logical to assume if something can be describe in part with an uncountable term (word??), then it should be uncountable too?<div style="clear:both;"></div>