indefinite article and uncountable nouns

[Jurohkl]

Hi
Could anybody help me to answer this question please?
There was a long silence in the conference room.
Why is the indefinite article a used with silence in the above sentence? Is't silence the uncountable noun?
Thank you very much

[5jj]

Could anybody help me to answer this question please?
There was a long silence in the conference room.
Why is the indefinite article 'a' used with 'silence' in the above sentence? Isn't 'silence' the an uncountable noun?

There are few nouns in English that are always and only either uncountable or countable . 'Silence' meaning 'absence of noise/sound' is almot always uncountable. When it means 'a time/situation in which no word is spoken', it can can be either countable or uncountable.

[Jurohkl]

Thank you fivejedjon