How do you know if a noun is countable or uncountable?

[newbornbaby]

Hi everybody!
I am learning English myself. My English level is around A2.
I have problems with both countable and uncountable nouns. When I look up the dictionary I understand the meaning of single words and understand the meaning of example sentences. The problem is that I don't really understand whether the nouns in those examples are countable or uncountable.
There are very basic words that are both countable and uncountable, for example:

afternoon [c,u]
She works three afternoons a week at the library. [c]
He's been in a bad mood all afternoon.

advantage [c,u]
It gives you an unfair advantage. [c]
She had the advantage of a good education.

age [c,u]
I'd guess she's about my age.
We're the same age.
She was 74 years of age when she wrote her first novel.
He left home at the age of 16.
The show appeals to people of all ages. [c]

analysis [c,u]
a detailed analysis of the data [c]
We made the decision based on our analysis of the situation.

April [c,u]
She was born in April.
The meeting is on the fifth of April.
We went to Japan last April.
I arrived at the end of April.

banana [c,u]
a bunch of bananas [c]
mashed banana
a banana skin/peel

bed [c,u]
He lived in a room with only two chairs, a bed and a table. [c]
He likes to have breakfast in bed on a Saturday morning.
She didn't get out of bed till lunchtime today.
I'm exhausted - I'm going to bed.

beer [c,u]
a pint of beer
Would you like another beer? [c]

life [c,u]
All risk to human life should be.
He risked his life to save his daughter from the fire.
The operation saved her life.
Hundreds of lives were threatened when the building collapsed. [c]

breakfast [c,u]
What do you want for breakfast?
Have you had breakfast?
Breakfast is served in the dining room between 8.30 and 10.

cake [c,u]
chocolate cake
Would you like a piece of/a slice of cake?
He made/baked a delicious cake. [c]

change [c,u]
There was no change in the patient's condition overnight.
I need to make some major changes in my life. [c]
She is someone who hates change.

class [c,u]
My last class ends at 4 o'clock.
I was told off for talking in class.
Who takes/teaches your environmental studies class?
I missed my aerobics class yesterday.


I understand the meaning of the above sentences very easily, but I don't understand when it is countable or uncountable. I only know a countable noun when I see it in the plural form or with a quantity word (those are the words in bold). I spend a lot of time speaking or writing a sentence related to this type of noun. It's really hard to understand. Please help!

 

[Barque]

All risk to human life should be.

There's something missing here.

but I don't understand when it is countable or uncountable.

You just have to learn with practice. I don't think there's any rule to decide when to use what.

 

[newbornbaby]

There's something missing here.


You just have to learn with practice. I don't think there's any rule to decide when to use what.

All risk to human life should be avoided.

I think practice doesn't work either.
Listening to 1 Japanese song 10,000 times doesn't help me understand what it's about (because I don't know Japanese)

 

[Barque]

I think practice doesn't work either.

Too bad, because there aren't any shortcuts.

Listening to 1 Japanese song 10,000 times doesn't help me understand what it's about (because I don't know Japanese)

Your English is better than your Japanese, isn't it?

 

[newbornbaby]

Too bad, because there aren't any shortcuts.

Perhaps you misunderstood me. I am a hard-working person. The problem is that I don't understand this kind of noun. I thought a lot about it and hoped that one day everything would be fine but in the end it was still the same. In those examples I see no difference.

 

[5jj]

I have problems with both countable and uncountable nouns. When I look up the dictionary I understand the meaning of single words and understand the meaning of example sentences. The problem is that I don't really understand whether the nouns in those examples are countable or uncountable.

Does that matter?

The countable/uncountable distinction is something that is important for learners only with the (comparatively) few nouns such as advice, furniture and information that are uncountable in English but countable in any language.

 

[Tarheel]

A simple rule is if you can have one or more it's countable.

You need to look at two or more sentences for each usage (the more the better) -- not one or two before you go to the next one. (In one case there was not one example sentence.)

 

[newbornbaby]

The countable/uncountable distinction is something that is important for learners only with the (comparatively) few nouns such as advice, furniture and information that are uncountable in English but countable in any language.

If the nouns are clearly divided, there is no problem. I'm just confused when they're grouped together [c,u]
When reading examples of nouns I can't tell if it's countable or uncountable.

 

[Tarheel]

@newbornbaby Unfortunately, I don't understand any of that post.

For those nouns that can be countable or uncountable depending on context, whether a certain noun is one way or the other depends on, well, context. It's an oversimplication, I guess, but whenever the issue comes up just ask yourself if it's something that can be counted.

 

[probus]

Unfortunately for learners English nouns are not clearly divided into countable and uncountable. Some nouns may be either depending on context. Examples include light, hair, room, gear and science.

 

[newbornbaby]

For those nouns that can be countable or uncountable depending on context, whether a certain noun is one way or the other depends on, well, context.

Honestly, I can't guess. I just understood the content of those sentences. I copied dozens of examples for people to help me determine which sentences are countable/uncountable. Then I will understand more.

 

[newbornbaby]

Examples include light, hair, room, gear and science.

I understand these nouns because they are clearly classified. Ex:

light - 1 [uncountable] the energy from the sun, a lamp, etc. that makes it possible to see things
light -2 [countable, usually singular] a particular type of light with its own colour or qualities
light -3 [countable] a thing that produces light, especially an electric light

hair - 1 [uncountable] the substance that looks like a mass of fine threads growing on a person's head
hair - 2 [uncountable] hair growing on the body of a person or an animal
hair - 3 [countable] a piece of hair from a person or an animal

I can learn thousands of nouns like this.

 

[Tarheel]

If you can have one or more than one of something it's countable. With "furniture", for example, you are not talking about a thing but a category of things. (Maybe that doesn't count since we are only talking about things that can be either count or no count nouns )

Alice: I just drank the last of the orange juice.
Betty: We'll have to get some more orange juice.
Alice: We still have plenty of grape juice and cranberry juice and apple juice.
Betty: Those are all good, but I really really like orange juice.
Alice: I'm sorry. Next time I'll leave the orange juice for you.
Betty: That's OK.

When I go to Shomars I always get something to drink -- a Pepsi or a sweet tea. Hm.

 

[White Hat]

Every time you think of noun countability, just think of sand. If you put some sand on the table and try to count it, you won't be able to count quickly every single particle that makes up that little mound of sand. It may take a lot of time to do that. I use this example to explain noun countability in English to my students, and it seems to work pretty well.

 

[5jj]

That works for some nouns, but doesn't help with nouns such as those I mentioned previously, advice, furniture and information.

 

[White Hat]

I know. An example like that will at least help introduce a learner to the concept. Here is a pretty informative explanation from Cambridge Dictionary.

 

[emsr2d2]

Uncountable nouns need another noun and "of" before them to make them countable.

Sand (uncountable)
Grain of sand (countable)

furniture (uncountable)
piece/item of furniture (countable)

advice (uncountable)
piece/bit/nugget of advice (countable)

water (uncountable)
drop of water (countable)

I don't consider "all afternoon" to be an example of an uncountable noun.
Yesterday, it rained all afternoon = Yesterday, it rained for the entirety of the afternoon that happened yesterday.
It's going to rain all night = It's going to rain for the entirety of the night that's coming.

 

[5jj]

Uncountable nouns need another noun and "of" before them to make them countable.

True, but that doesn't help learners identify countable and uncountable nouns. I must confess that after decades of learning and teaching I am am still unable to identify any real system.

 

[5jj]

Here is a pretty informative explanation from Cambridge Dictionary.

I don't think of these words as 'informative':
In English grammar, some things are seen as a whole or mass. These are called uncountable nouns, because they cannot be separated or counted.
A good learner’s dictionary will tell you whether a noun is countable or uncountable.

Without the help of a teacher or good dictionary (with plenty of example sentences), there is no way that a learner can know that job is countable and work often uncountable.

 

[White Hat]

I don't think of these words as 'informative':
In English grammar, some things are seen as a whole or mass. These are called uncountable nouns, because they cannot be separated or counted.
A good learner’s dictionary will tell you whether a noun is countable or uncountable.

I meant the whole article.