We use uncountable nouns to talk about things we
think of as a mass, rather than countable individual
things. We use them with singular verbs.
It may not be immediately obvious whether nouns
are countable or uncountable, and
some uncountable nouns in English are countable
in other languages. Logic and grammar seem to
produce contradictions. Here are a few examples:
Uncountable: rice, bread, macaroni, advice, knowledge, money, news, information, luggage, marketing, flu, cancer, measles, strawberry jam.
Countable: , lentils, hair, ideas, these facts, a wig, a dollar, an advertisement,
two suitcases, a cold, a headache, a heart attack, four potatoes, a few suggestions, a traffic jam
Many nouns can be countable or uncountabledepending on the context :
Uncountable: He's a danger to society.
Countable: Britain is a multi-racial society .
Uncountable: I never eat lunch.
Countable: He's grown fat through eating
so many business lunches.
Uncountable: Work is starting to take over my life.-
Countable: Beethoven's later works are
startlingly original.
SOURCE: Grammar and vocabulary for Cambridge advanced anc proficiency.
No comments:
Post a Comment