To express a particular quantity, some noncount nouns may be preceded by unit expressions
|
(a) I bought a chair. Sam bought three chairs. (b) We bought some furniture. INCORRECT : We
bought a furniture. |
Chair is a count noun; chairs are items that can be counted. |
II) COUNT
AND NONCOUNT NOUNS
|
a chair |
A count noun: (1) May be preceded by a / an in the singular. |
||
|
A non count noun: (1) Is not immediately preceded by a / an. |
III) NONCOUNT
NOUNS :
Notice in the following : Most
noncount nouns refer to a “whole” that is made up of different parts.
|
(a) I bought some chairs,
tables, and desks. In other
words, I bought some furniture. |
In (a) : furniture represents a whole group of things that is made up of
similar but separate items. |
|
(b) I put some sugar in my coffee. |
In (b) : sugar and coffee represent whole masses made up of individual particles
or elements.* |
|
(c) I wish you luck. |
In (c) : luck is an abstract concept, an abstract “whole.” It has no
physical form; you can't touch it. You can't count it. |
|
(d) Sunshine is warm and
cheerful. |
In (d) : Phenomena of nature, such as sunshine, are frequently used as noncount
nouns. |
|
(e) NONCOUNT : Ann has
brown hair . COUNT : Tom has a hair on his jacket (f) NONCOUNT : I opened the curtains to let in some light. COUNT : Don't forget to turn
off the lights before you go
to bed. |
Many nouns can be used as either noncount or count nouns,
but the meaning is different, e.g, hair in (e) and light in (f). (Dictionaries written especially for learners of English
as a second language are a good source of information on count / noncount
usages of nouns. |
* To express a particular quantity, some noncount nouns may
be preceded by unit expressions: e.g., a spoonful of sugar, a glass of
water, a cup of coffee, a quart of milk, a loaf of bread, a grain of rice, a
bowl of soup, a bag of flour, a pound of meat, a piece of furniture, a piece of
paper, a piece of jewelry.
IV ) SOME COMMON
NONCOUNT NOUNS :
|
The following are typical of nouns
that are commonly used as noncount nouns. Many other nouns can be used as
noncount nouns. This list serves only as a sample. |
|
(a) WHOLE GROUP MADE UP
OF SIMILAR ITEMS : baggage, clothing,
equipment, food, fruit, furniture, garbage, hardware, jewelry, junk, luggage,
machinery, mail, makeup, money / cash / change, postage, scenery, traffic. |
|
(b) FLUIDS : water,
coffee, tea, milk, oil, soup, gasoline, blood, etc. (c) SOLIDS : ice,
bread, butter, cheese, meat, gold, iron, silver, glass, paper, wood, cotton,
wool, etc (d) GASES : steam,
air, oxygen, nitrogen, smoke, smog, pollution, etc . (e) PARTICLES : rice,
chalk, corn, dirt, dust, flour, grass, hair, pepper, salt, sand, sugar,
wheat, etc. |
|
(f) ABSTRACTIONS : -
beauty, confidence, courage, education, enjoyment, fun, happiness, health,
help, honesty, hospitality, importance, intelligence, justice, knowledge,
laughter, luck, music, patience, peace, pride, progress, recreation,
significance, sleep, truth, violence,
wealth, etc. - advice, information,
news, evidence, proof. - time, space, energy. - homework, work. - grammar, slang,
vocabulary. (g) LANGUAGES : Arabic,
Chinese, English, Spanish, etc. (h) FIELDS OF STUDY : chemistry, engineering, history,
literature, mathematics, psychology, etc. (i) RECREATION : baseball, soccer, tennis, chess, bridge,
poker, etc. (j) GENERAL ACTIVITIES : driving, studying, swimming, traveling,
walking, (and other gerunds) |
|
(k) NATURAL PHENOMENA : weather,
dew, fog, hail, heat, humidity, lightning, rain, sleet, snow, thunder, wind,
darkness, light, sunshine, electricity, fire, gravity. |
V ) EXPRESSIONS OF
QUANTITY :
An
expression of quantity (e.g., one, several, many, much)
may precede a noun. Notice that below : Some expressions of quantity are
used only with count nouns; some only with noncount nouns; some with either
count or noncount nouns.
|
EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY |
USED WITH COUNT NOUNS |
USED WITH NONCOUNT NOUNS |
|
- one - each. - every. |
- one apple - each apple - every apple |
Ø * Ø Ø |
|
- tow - both - a couple of - three, etc. - a few - several - many - a number of |
- two apples - both apples - a couple apples - three apples - a few apples - several apples - many apples - a number of apples |
Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø Ø |
|
- a little - much - a great deal of |
Ø Ø Ø |
- a little rice. - much rice. - a great deal of rice. |
|
- not any / no - some - a lot of - lots of - plenty of - most - all |
- not any / no apples - some apples - a lot of apples - lots of apples - plenty of apples - most apples - all apples |
- not any / no rice. - some rice. - a lot of - lots of rice. - plenty of rice. - most rice. - all rice. |
* Ø = “not used.” For example, you can say “I ate one apple” but NOT “I ate one rice.”
VI ) USING A FEW
AND FEW; A LITTLE AND LITTLE :
|
a few |
(a)
She has been here only two weeks, but she has already made a few friends. (Positive idea: She has made some friends.) |
A few and a little * give a positive idea ; they indicate that something
exists, in present, as in (a) and (b). |
|
a little |
(b)
I'm very pleased I've been able to save a little money this month. (Positive idea: I have saved some money instead of spending all of
it.) |
|
|
few |
(c) I feel sorry for her. She has (very) few friends. (Negative idea: She does not have many friends;
she has almost no friends.) |
Few and little (without a)
give a negative idea, they indicate that something is largely absent. Very (+ few/little) makes the negative idea stronger; the number /
amount smaller. |
|
little |
(d)
I have (very) little money.
I don't even have enough money to buy food for dinner. (Negative idea: I do not have much money; I have
almost no money.) |
*
A few and few are used with plural
count nouns.
A little and little are used with noncount
nouns.
VI) USING OF IN
EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY:
|
MOST + NONSPECIFIC NOUN : (a)
Most books are
interesting. (b) INCORRECT: Most of books are interesting. |
In (a): The speaker is not referring to specific books. The
speaker is not referring to “those books” or “your books” or “the books
written by Mark Twain.” The noun “books” is nonspecific. In (b) the word of is not added to an expression
of quantity (e.g., most) if the noun it modifies is nonspecific. |
|
MOST + OF + SPECIFIC NOUN : (c) Most of those
books are mine. (d) Most of my
books are in English. (e) Most of the books on that table are mine. |
A noun is specific when it is preceded by: - this, that,
these, those, as in (c); OR - my, John’s,
their (any possessive), as in (d) OR - the, as in (e). When a noun is specific, of is used with an expression of
quantity.* |
|
EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY FOLLOWED BY OF + A SPECIFIC
NOUN: all,
most, some/any +
of + specific plural count noun or noncount noun
, as in (f) many, (a) few, several, both, two, one +
of + specific plural count noun, as in (g) much, (a) little +
of + specific plural noncount noun, as in (h) |
|
(f) count: Most of those
chairs are uncomfortable. noncount: Most
of that furniture is
uncomfortable. (g) count: Many of those
chairs are uncomfortable. (h) noncount: Much
of that furniture is
uncomfortable. |
* NOTE: of is always a part of the
following expressions of quantity, whether the noun is nonspecific or specific:
a
lot of, lots of, a couple of, plenty of, a number of, a great deal of.
NONSPECIFIC: I’ve read a lot of books.
SPECIFIC:
I’ve read a lot of those books.
|
(a) CORRECT: All of the students
in my class are here. (b) CORRECT: All the students
in my class are here. (c) CORRECT: All students
must have an ID card. (d) INCORRECT: All of
students must have an ID card |
When a noun is specific (e.g., the students),
using of after all is optional. When a noun is nonspecific, of does NOT follow all. |
|
(e)
I know both (of) those men. |
Similarly,
using of after both is optional when the noun is specific. |
EXAMPLE: Most of the students in our class are very
smart. *
* COMPARE :
(1) The most =
superlative. The superlative is used to compare three or more persons of things. The most is never immediately followed by of.
Example :
Out of all the boys, Tom ate the most
food.
(2) Most (not preceded by the) = an
expression of quantity whose meaning ranges from “over fifty percent” to
“almost all”.
Example
: Most of the food at that
restaurant is good, but not all of it.
VII ) SINGULAR
EXPRESSIONS OF QUANTITY : ONE, EACH, EVERY .
|
(a) One student
was late to class. (b) Each student
has a schedule. |
|
|
(d) One of the students
was late to class. (e) Each ( one ) of the students has a schedule. |
* COMPARE:
Every one (spelled as two
words) is an expression of quantity; e.g., I have read every
one of those books.
Everyone (spelled as one
word) is an indefinite pronoun, it has the same meaning as everybody; e.g.,
Everyone / Everybody
has a schedule
NOTE:
Each and every have essentially the same meaning.
Each is used when the
speaker is thinking of one person / thing at a time: Each student has a
schedule. = Mary has a schedule. John has a schedule.
Hiroshi has a schedule. Carlos has a schedule. Sabrina has a schedule. (etc.)
Every is used when the
speaker means “all”. Every student has a schedule = All
of the students have schedules.
