Countable and Uncountable Noun

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Countable Nouns is a common noun that can be modified by a numeral and that occurs in singular and plural form, as well as co-occurring with quantificational determiners like every, each, and several, etc. A mass noun or uncountable noun has none of these properties. It can't be modified by a numeral, occur in singular/plural or co-occur with the relevant kind of determiner. Here are some more countable nouns: •Rabbit, cat, animal, man, person • bottle, box, litre • coin, note, dollar • plate, spoon, cup • table, chair, suitcase, bag Below are examples of all the properties of count nouns holding for the count noun chair but not for the mass noun furniture. Occurrence in Plural/Singular. There is a chair in the room. There are chairs in the room. There is furniture in the room. There are furnitures in the room. Co-occurrence with count determiners Every chair is man made. There are several chairs in the room. Every furniture is man-made. There are several furnitures in the room When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it: • I want an orange. (Not I want orange.) • Where is my bottle? (Not where is bottle?) When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone: • I like oranges. • Bottles can break. We can use some and any with countable nouns: • I've got some dollars. • Have you got any pens? We can use a few and many with countable nouns: • I've got a few dollars. • I haven't got many pens. Uncountable Nouns Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns: • music, art, love, happiness • advice, information, news • furniture, luggage • rice,

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