a bread (a pitta bread)

[Mnemon]

As far as I know bread is an uncountable noun then how come some people say a pitta bread?! Is there any logic in that?

I want to buy a bread.
I want to buy a pitta bread.

pitta bread / pitta noun [countable/uncountable] a type of flat bread that is eaten especially with Middle Eastern food

Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners

 

[emsr2d2]

That's because "pitta bread" is countable. You can literally count how many pitta breads you have. You can assign a number to it. You can't do that with just "bread".

 

[Mnemon]

You can't do that with just "bread".

Sorry, not sure if I understood your justification correctly!

 

[emsr2d2]

You can't say "I have four breads". You can say:
I have four slices of bread.
I have four loaves of bread.
I have four chunks/hunks/pieces of bread.
I have four pitta breads.
I have four bread rolls.

(You can say a lot of other bread-related sentences but you still can't say "I have four breads".)

 

[SoothingDave]

Do you all really spell "pita" with two t's?

I thought that was a typo.

 

[emsr2d2]

Do you all really spell "pita" with two t's?

I thought that was a typo.

We really do. I've seen it spelt (you'll query that spelling too!) with one "t" but, in general in the UK, it's "pitta".

 

[jutfrank]

It sounds a little odd to me to use pitta breads countably. I'd use the plural pittas instead.

 

[probus]

Pita bread is redundant, just like chai tea, naan bread, and sharia law. I might ask a guest "Would you like another pita?"

 

[emsr2d2]

Don't ask me why, but in BrE, we say "pitta bread" and "naan bread" but just "chapati".

 

[Tdol]

It would be hard to describe it as a loaf of pitta.

 

[Mnemon]

It would be hard to describe it as a loaf of pitta.

Yes. As far as I know, this kind of bread doesn't come in loaves.

 

[Tdol]

So we break the pattern to describe a kind of bread that doesn't fit the pattern.