a grammar book and an electronic dictionary by Oxford.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Ju

Key Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2006
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
Hong Kong
I am studying a grammar book and an electronic dictionary by Oxford.

****************************************************************

Points quoted from the grammar book

uncounted nouns are :

1 . subtances such as gases or liquids, solids such as sugar or sand composed
of such small units that we would not want to count.
2. solid masses such as butter or cheese which form a unit
3. abstant nouns that name qualities or concepts such as bearty or truth, eg
sugar, butter, water, gold, oxygen"

Points quoted from Oxford electionic dictionary

sound, rain, liquid, smokes are countable nouns

****************************************************

Could you kindly clarify for me?

Thank you.
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I am studying a grammar book and an electronic dictionary by Oxford.

****************************************************************

Points quoted from the grammar book

uncounted nouns are :

1 . subtances such as gases or liquids, solids such as sugar or sand composed
of such small units that we would not want to count.
2. solid masses such as butter or cheese which form a unit
3. abstant nouns that name qualities or concepts such as bearty or truth, eg
sugar, butter, water, gold, oxygen"

Points quoted from Oxford electionic dictionary

sound, rain, liquid, smokes are countable nouns

****************************************************

Could you kindly clarify for me?

Thank you.

"Sound" can be countable and uncountable.
"Rain" is generally uncountable but you can say "The rains have finally come to the country".
"Liquid" can be countable and uncountable.
"Smoke" as the noun meaning the cloudy stuff which comes from fire or cigarettes is uncountable. "Smoke" as a slang noun for a cigarette is countable ("Have you got any smokes?")
 

Ju

Key Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2006
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Hong Kong
Current Location
Hong Kong
"Sound" can be countable and uncountable.
"Rain" is generally uncountable but you can say "The rains have finally come to the country".
"Liquid" can be countable and uncountable.
"Smoke" as the noun meaning the cloudy stuff which comes from fire or cigarettes is uncountable. "Smoke" as a slang noun for a cigarette is countable ("Have you got any smokes?")

Dear emsr2d2,

Thank you for your reply.

Let me try to make sentences according to your instructions.

Liquid" can be countable and uncountable.
1. There are a lot of different kinds of liquids flowing onto the table.
2. Liquid is different from solid.

************************************************************

"Smoke" as the noun meaning the cloudy stuff which comes from fire or cigarettes is uncountable. "Smoke" as a slang noun for a cigarette is countable ("Have you got any smokes?")

sorry, I cann't think of any example coresponding to "smoke' is uncountable.

Can you help?

Ju
 

Chicken Sandwich

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Netherlands
sorry, I cann't think of any example coresponding to "smoke' is uncountable.

NOT A TEACHER

Have you tried looking up "smoke" in a dictionary? See here.
 

Gillnetter

Key Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Dear emsr2d2,

Thank you for your reply.

Let me try to make sentences according to your instructions.

Liquid" can be countable and uncountable.
1. There are a lot of different kinds of liquids flowing onto the table.
2. Liquid is different from solid.

************************************************************

"Smoke" as the noun meaning the cloudy stuff which comes from fire or cigarettes is uncountable. "Smoke" as a slang noun for a cigarette is countable ("Have you got any smokes?")

sorry, I cann't think of any example coresponding to "smoke' is uncountable.

Can you help?

Ju
Smoke, rising from the fire, alerted the cavalry soldiers that the enemy would attack soon.
There was smoke all over the area.
I saw what appeared to be some smoke just over the hill.
The smoke made seeing difficult.
Let's have a smoke and sing part of the old song that goes, "...there'll be smoke on the water, there'll be smoke on the sea".
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top