A. Common uncountable nouns
One of the problems with uncountable nouns is that many of them are countable in other languages.
Common mistakes
- I need information. (NOT I need an information.) (no indefinite article)
- I need some information. (NOT I need
informations.) (no plural form)
- The homework was difficult. (NOT The homework
were difficult.) (use with a singular verb)
- • You can put all that rubbish in the bin over there. [things that you throw away because you do not want them]
- • Is there any more news about the man who was injured?
- • She gave me some good advice about buying a car. [what you think someone should do]
- • Do the children get pocket money [money that parents give regularly to their children]?
- • You need a lot of equipment for camping, e.g. tent, sleeping bag, torch, things for cooking, etc. [the things that are used for a particular activity]
- • We sold the furniture [tables, chairs, armchairs, etc.].
- • The scenery is really beautiful. [the natural beauty you see around you]
- • My knowledge of Russian is limited. [what I know about it]
- • She’s worked very hard and I believe she is making progress [improving / getting better].
- • Can you take the dog? We haven’t got any room in our car. [empty space]
- • Would anyone like some more toast?
- • The children’s behaviour was terrible: they were climbing all over the furniture and making a lot of noise. [the way you do and say things]
B. Uncountable nouns in dictionaries
Dictionaries show countable nouns with a (C) and uncountable nouns
with a (U). Some nouns can be countable with one meaning, and
uncountable with another.
- experience (U) [the knowledge you get from doing a particular job or activity]
- She’s got a lot of experience of working with children.
- experience (C) [something that happens to you that affects the way you feel]
- I had so many fantastic experiences on my trip to Thailand and Japan.
- chance (U) [luck]
- Lotto is a game of chance.
- chance (C) [the opportunity to do something]
- He’s had several chances to go abroad, but he’s just not interested.
C. Making uncountable nouns countable
You can make some uncountable nouns singular. Sometimes we do this with a word like piece
(for advice, equipment, toast, furniture, news), but in spoken English we often use a bit (infml)
with most uncountable nouns.
- a good piece of advice
- an interesting bit of news
- another piece of toast
- just a bit of rubbish
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