Search results for 'tag:Countable nouns tag:Grammar' matching tags 'Countable nouns' and 'Grammar'

Re: How much abstract an abstract noun is?

Cool Breeze — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:38:47 GMT

Clive
hi,what is use an abstract noun in a sentence
Please tell me an abstract noun. Then I can help you to use it in a sentence.

Hi Clive

I haven't read all the posts in this thread and thus I don't really know what this is all about. "Abstract noun" is a term commonly used in grammar books on this side of the Atlantic. It is used to refer to uncountable nouns that have no physical dimensions and cannot be weighed: courage, happiness, absent-mindedness.

Re: creams and detergents

Goodman — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:19:09 GMT

Mr. Miclawer,

I wasnât going to expand this pluralization discussion on âcreamsâ and âwinesâ.
But it really bothered the heck out of me for two reasons.
1) I really wanted to find out if I was really blowing hot air on this subject
because of my misunderstanding of this topic, and 2) if there is another side of the usage
I am not aware of.
This is perhaps not relevant to the discussion but to establish my point, I think it needs
to be said. Mrs. Milton whom I learned English from was an excellent English teacher who
also had taught for 5 years at the Beijing University, which is a top University in China, by
invitation of the Government. Many of her students had landed positions working for the
Chinese Government and the U.N. as translators and interpreters. I was very blessed to be
among her students. Most of my English foundation was learned from her. And I was really
surprised to see your examples pluralizing âcreamâ and âwineâ. By your earlier examples, which I
compared with the information found on the WEB, I must ask this question. Am I to understand
that itâs completely grammatical to say in a restaurant âmay I have 2 waters and soups?â. I know
we hear that all the time but if we are discussing the whether a particular usage is grammatically
correct, running into this type of scenario is inevitable. Here are some âsupportsâ you had
asked for which may not may not be validated to your satisfaction. No doubt, you are the
English authority and perhaps possess âsuperiorityâ over many frequented this forum and I donât
mean to sound like challenging your examples, let alone to waste anymore of your time.
Nonetheless, as a serious learner, Iâd owe the real answers to myself and the learners if I just
accepted your answers as given. I may be wrong with my search result and you are correct.
And If so, here is my âadvanced apologyâ.

Nouns only countable nouns can be either singular or plural. ... He had some ice cream on
his face. He had an ice cream. mass. countable ...
www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/tta/wc/nouns.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

http://ajaja.paradoxinc.org/Basic/Grammar/CountAndNoncount.ht

Liquids: beer, milk, coffee, blood, cream, juice, honey, gasoline, oil, shampoo, soup, tea, water, wine.

Solids and semi-solids: Bread, butter, cheese, ice, ice cream, lettuce, toast, meat, beef, chicken, fish, ham, lamb, pork, chalk, 
copper, cotton, glass, gold, iron, , soap, tin, toothpaste, wood, wool,

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/countnon.html

A Revision of the RulesThe exceptions require that the rule for pluralizing be revised: count nouns and nouns used 
in a count sense can be pluralized; noncount nouns and nouns used in a noncount sense cannot.

	Pluralizes with -s	Does not Pluralize
Count Noun	X
Count Use	X
Noncount Noun		X
Noncount Use		X

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080425090142AAom2ui

Answers (4)

If coffee is an uncountable noun, cream certainly is by common sense. Thus the rule applies.

Â· Answerer 1

Many nouns can be used as countables or uncountables. It depends on whether you are thinking of a substance or
a single serving or object made of the substance. So:

Beer is fattening (uncountable - the substance)
Don't drink more than three beers a day. (Countable - servings)

I love chocolate (uncountable - the substance)
Get me a box of chocolates (countable - individual pieces)

A vase made of blown glass (uncountable - the substance)
A glass of wine (A single piece / artifact)

Coffee gives me indigestion (the substance - uncountable)
I need at least three coffees to wake up on a morning (countable - individual servings)

2 months ago

http://www3.law.cuny.edu/wc/students/multilingual/articles.html

Uncountable nouns often refer to drinks and food, other general substances, or concepts (meat, tea, steel, information, justice):

Examples of Uncountable Nouns in English:

Food and Drink: bacon, beef, beer, bread, butter, cabbage, candy, cauliflower, chicken, chocolate, coffee, corn,
cream, fish, fruit, juice, lettuce, meat, milk, oil, pasta, rice, salt, spinach, sugar, tea, water, whiskey, wine, yogurt.
General Substances: air,cement, clay, coal, copper, dirt, dust, foam, gasoline, gold, ice, leather, paper, petroleum,
plastic, rain, rubber, silver, soap, steel, wood, wool.
Abstract nouns: abandonment, access, adultery, advice, alimony, anger, anguish, arson, authentication, beauty, capacity,
conduct, confidence, courage, deprivation, desperation, discretion, employment, empowerment, evidence, extortion, fortune,
fun, happiness, health, honesty, housing, information, insurance, intelligence, intent, knowledge, land, love, malice, negligence,
poverty, privacy, real estate, sadness, satisfaction, strength, truth, wealth.
Others: biology, clothing, darkness, equipment, furniture, gossip, homework, jewelry, luggage, machinery, mail, money, music,
news, poetry, pollution, research, scenery, traffic, transportation, violence, weather, weight, work.

Some uncountable nouns (except for concepts) can be turned into countable nouns by preposing a phrase to them
(two bottles of wine, a bar of soap, a piece of information, an act of violence, a burst of anger, a piece of evidence).

e.g. The defendant's lawyer is sure the judge will accept new evidence in this case.

vs. The defendant's lawyer is sure the judge will accept three new pieces of evidence in this case.

Some uncountable nouns can be used in the plural, but their meaning changes:

experience / experiences: e.g., He had to rely on experience / I lived unforgettable experiences

Re: words like (Information)

Mr Wordy — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:43:47 GMT

These are often called "uncountable nouns" (or "mass nouns"). For example, you can count apples -- one apple, two apples, three apples -- but you can't count "informations". There are lots and lots of them in English. Some examples are at http://learning.cl3.ust.hk/english-grammar-guide/Nouns_and_Pronouns/noncount_nouns1x.htm. A longer list is at http://simple.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Mass_nouns. A definitive "complete" list is not feasible.

Edit: Note that a number of nouns can be countable or uncountable, depending on context. To pick an example at random, the Wiktionary list includes "change", which is uncountable in "change is a good thing", but countable in "we need to make some changes".

Re: The female mosquito /adult mosquito

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:58:25 GMT

Actually a bum steer, sorry Goodman.

"The snake is representative of strength, power, ferocity, and cunning."

"Both a/n and the can indicate that the countable noun is referring to the whole class"

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/grammar/useartic.html

Re: marriage or marriages

New2grammar — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:51:48 GMT

Thanks, Optilang, GG and Yoong Liat. I have no further question about the original question. I agree with GG's answer (arranged marriageS, gay marriage)

Yong Liat, this is a side question. I wonder why my question confused you and made you ask:

Yoong Liat

New2grammar
It is possible to use the uncountable in the first sentence?
What do you mean by 'uncountable'?

You suggested 'plural' or 'singular' instead of 'uncountable' in my question to make it clear, if I understand your reply correctly. The reason I chose uncountable is as follows:

As far as I know singular and plural are words associated with countable. For example

An apple (is singular)

Apples(is plural)

a gay marriage ( is singular)

gay marriages (is plural)

gay marrriage (is abstract/uncountable)

The reason I chose uncountable was that I wanted to emphasize the abstractness. Is my understanding incorrect? If so, please correct me. Thanks.

If I had used 'singular' or 'pural', it would have referred to one of the countable nouns, which was not what I wanted. Please let me know if my explanation is still unclear.

Re: noun

Clive — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:43:31 GMT

Hi,

1. I learned that we could use the word 'different' with an uncountable noun like 'different grammar'. Then, it is also known to me that we can't use the word 'several' with an uncountable noun. Going back to the word 'different', how possibly one's perception of the situation be different for the situation outlined with a variable noun, a noun that be both countable and uncontable.

We held different discussion on the topic and couldn't reach agreement. Don't say this.

We held different discussions on the topic and couldn't reach agreement. Say it this way.

2. Yesterday, I and my roommate went shopping together to buy soap and found there are a lot of varieties/brands of soap in stock at the market, After looking at the choices, we forewent with our ususal brand of soap and bought another brand.

I am at home and trying to wash my hands and found there isn't the soap we bought yesterday; and I told to my roommate this.

1. Hi, where is a soap we bought yesterday? I want to use it. -- Does this sound OK ? No.

OR does it have to be this?

2. Hi, where is another brand of soap we bought yesterday. I want to use it. No. Say it this way.

Hi, where is the other brand of soap we bought yesterday? I want to use it.

or more concisely,say

Hi, where is the other soap we bought yesterday?

Best wishes, Clive

Re: noun

Mister Micawber — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:41:12 GMT

1. I learned that we could use the word 'different' with an uncountable noun like 'different grammar' -- Right
Then, it is also known to me that we can't use the word 'several' with an uncountable noun.-- Right

We held different discussion on the topic and couldn't reach agreement. -- No, the grammar is not good-- by using 'hold' and 'different' here, you have made 'discussion' countable.
We held different discussions on the topic and couldn't reach agreement. -- OK

2. Yesterday, I and my roommate went shopping together to buy soap and found there are a lot of varieties/brands of soap in stock at the market, After looking at the choices, we forewent our usual brand of soap and bought another brand.

1. Hi, where is a soap we bought yesterday? I want to use it. -- Does this sound OK ? -- No; you only bought one kind yesterday: 'the soap'
2. Hi, where is another brand of soap we bought yesterday. I want to use it. -- No; you only bought one kind yesterday: 'the other brand of soap'

noun

Anonymous — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:22:42 GMT

Hi, I have two questions

We held different discussion on the topic and couldn't reach agreement.

We held different discussions on the topic and couldn't reach agreement.

I am at home and trying to wash my hands and found there isn't the soap we bought yesterday; and I told to my roommate this.

1. Hi, where is a soap we bought yesterday? I want to use it. -- Does this sound OK ?

OR does it have to be this?

2. Hi, where is another brand of soap we bought yesterday. I want to use it.

Re: slam [shut]

Takoyaki-English — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:20:55 GMT

New2grammar,

> Do you interpret gunfire as multiple individual gunshots?
Yes, because "gunfire" means "the repeated firing of guns; the sound of guns firing."

> Is it like bombing vs explosion where bombing is multiple explosions of bombs?
No. "Gunfire" is an uncountable noun, but "bombing" is a countable/uncountable noun.

Re: Some questions

CalifJim — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 07:08:06 GMT

1) The committee changed its recommendations because__ the privous ones were too difficult for most people to follow

a) that felt that

b) it felt that

--> The answer is a but I don't understand why it's not the other

The correct answer is b, so there is a mistake in the answer key. they felt is also correct. Was that choice a?

2) Attending every class is important__ in college

a) for the sucess

b) for success

The answer is b but I don't know why it's not a

success is an abstract uncountable noun, so it occurs without an article.

3" I'm tired of taking the bus to work every day"

"I wish I had a car so that I___ give you a ride"

a) can

b) could

---> The answer is b but I don't understand why it's not a

have or has goes with can; had goes with could.

If I have a car, I can give you a ride.

If I had a car, I could give you a ride.

4) She worked __ day and read books at night

a) during the

b) at

--> The answer is a, I don't understand why it's not b since I think this sentence is a parallel sentence, so if we use a we must use during the night at the following clause

Neither at day nor at the day are correct. To make the sentence completely parallel, you need during the night, as you say. But that is not a choice in the test. You must sacrifice the parallelism for correct English. That is, if there is no correct English expression for the situation, you may have to break the parallelism. Never create incorrect grammar for the sake of parallelism. The grammar is more important than the parallelism.

Search results for 'tag:Countable nouns tag:Grammar' matching tags 'Countable nouns' and 'Grammar'

Re: How much abstract an abstract noun is?

Re: creams and detergents

Mr. Miclawer,

Nouns only countable nouns can be either singular or plural. ... He had some ice cream on his face. He had an ice cream. mass. countable ...www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/tta/wc/nouns.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080425090142AAom2ui

Answers (4)

Re: words like (Information)

Re: The female mosquito /adult mosquito

Re: marriage or marriages

Re: noun

Re: noun

noun

Re: slam [shut]

Re: Some questions

Nouns only countable nouns can be either singular or plural. ... He had some ice cream on
his face. He had an ice cream. mass. countable ...
www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/tta/wc/nouns.htm - 21k - Cached - Similar pages