count and noncount nouns

[RonBee]

More noncount nouns:

homework
research
hardware
software

[THG]

Originally Posted by RonBee

Some noncount nouns:

advice
help
..........

You can not have advices, helps, feedbacks, or informations. You can give some advice, get some help, receive some feedback, or require some information. Adjectives that do not apply:

several
a few
many

Hi,
"Help" is noncount, right. However, I tried to do a search on the Internet and I could see that there are so many websites which use "Helps", even they come from American countries. So, "Helps" is not totally incorrect?
Thank you!

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by THG

Hi,
"Help" is noncount, right. However, I tried to do a search on the Internet and I could see that there are so many websites which use "Helps", even they come from American countries. So, "Helps" is not totally incorrect?
Thank you!

Certainly, the word "helps" is used quite often, but it is normally used as a verb, not a noun. (I Looked up "helps" too and there were no surprises.) Certainly, there are noun uses for "help", but the word is not normally pluralized. For example, we would not say "Thank you for your helps'. You could say "Thank you for all your help".

HELP - Definitions from Dictionary.com

[RonBee]

More noncount nouns:

foliage
input

[RonBee]

More noncount nouns:

equipment
potential
shrubbery
pollution
cutlery
cookery
crockery
spinach
furniture
volume
discomfort
homework
housework
work (usually)

[the concierge]

Why the confusion?

If you can count the word, like

One car, two cars, three cars

then car must be countable



just try counting the word to see if it is countable

One rice, two rice, three rice

No, rice is not countable, you have to say a grain of rice, or a sack of rice

[tzfujimino]

Originally Posted by the concierge

Why the confusion?

If you can count the word, like

One car, two cars, three cars

then car must be countable



just try counting the word to see if it is countable

One rice, two rice, three rice

No, rice is not countable, you have to say a grain of rice, or a sack of rice

Hi again, the concierge.
And thank you again for your response to my thread.

Well, yes...I think you are absolutely right. 'Try counting' is a good way. I feel, however, it(counting) would not be the best way for non-native speakers to know whether the noun is countable or not. It would be best for us(non-native speakers) to know why.

Well. the table(chart?) below is how I see it.
I'd appreciate it if you could add(modifiy/correct) more points below.

<the>.....................<a(an)-countable>.. ............<uncountable>
too big in size...........ordinary in size...................too small in size
the only one.............you can grab(see) it..........you can't grab(see) it
we know 'which one'..concrete notion..................abstract notion

There are no rules but exceptions....

Thank you in advance!

[the concierge]

exceptions need rules to exist

I don't get your table - size doesn't have anything to do wth whether something is countable or not

[tzfujimino]

Originally Posted by the concierge

exceptions need rules to exist

I don't get your table - size doesn't have anything to do wth whether something is countable or not

Hi, the concierge!

I know what you mean.

Well... the reason that I used '...in size' is that...I wanted to illustrate...
'The bigger the thing(noun), the more concrete it becomes.' And it means you can easily see and grab(, or whatever you may call it..) it. You can count it because you can see it. If you can't see it, you can't count it. (The smaller the thing(noun), Am I correct?

For example...

1) sand
Each tiny piece of sand, which is barely recognizable, sort of...gather together at one place...and you see 'sand' as it is. There are too many pieces of sand to count. (May I call it 'collective'?) Therefore it is 'uncoutable'.

2)coffee
You can see it. But you can't grab it because it's a liquid. You can't recognize it as a 'concrete object'.
Therefore it is 'uncountable'.
If it is recognized as a 'concrete object', it can be 'countable'. For example...if the coffee is in a cup, it is more concrete than just 'coffee'.
In that case, we can say 'Two coffees' or 'Three coffees'. (Am I wrong?)

3) air
You can't see it. Therefore it is 'uncountable'

4) love
You can't see it. Therefore 'uncountable'.

As for 3) and 4), when you see(use) them as 'concrete objects', they can be countable.

Oh...it's so hard to explain them in English..but...
this is one of the ways I use to tell 'countable' from 'uncountable'.

[engee30]

My advice is to treat all uncount nouns as phenomena, and count nouns as their representatives.