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

[newbornbaby]

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 understand why when I ask my friends and others about the type of noun [c,u], they always explain words like "hair, water, experience, advice..." I have no problem with nouns like these.

I'm talking about [c,u] -> age, analysis, April, bed, life, change, class... I want someone to help me determine if each of the dozens of sentences above is countable or not. I'm so sorry to bother everyone.

 

[newbornbaby]

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.

Can you and everyone identify about 30 example sentences above help me? Then I will think more to understand this kind of noun. Thanks in advance!

 

[jutfrank]

My English level is around A2.

Judging from the language in your posts, it's much higher than A2.

The problem is that I don't really understand whether the nouns in those examples are countable or uncountable.

If you can give us just one example sentence to start with where you can't tell if a noun is countable or uncountable, perhaps we can help you specifically.

 

[probus]

@newbornbaby

Have a look at this.

Nouns: countable and uncountable

Do you know how to use a, some, any, much and many? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

learnenglish.britishcouncil.org

 

[5jj]

The BC site does not help learners recognise countable/uncountable nouns.

 

[Tarheel]

I don't understand why when I ask my friends and others about the type of noun [c,u], they always explain words like "hair, water, experience, advice..." I have no problem with nouns like these.

I'm talking about [c,u] -> age, analysis, April, bed, life, change, class... I want someone to help me determine if each of the dozens of sentences above is countable or not. I'm so sorry to bother everyone.

Those are all countable nouns. Even "April" is countable although there isn't much need to talk about more than one of them.

 

[Tarheel]

Can you and everyone identify about 30 example sentences above help me? Then I will think more to understand this kind of noun.

I think you mean that you want 30 example sentences of each usage. (That's quite a few.) Also, I think you mean you will understand them better with that help

As I said before, it depends on context whether such nouns are countable or not.

 

[newbornbaby]

I think you mean that you want 30 example sentences of each usage. (That's quite a few.) Also, I think you mean you will understand them better with that help

Yes, that's right.That's what I meant from the start. I read a lot of comments but still don't understand.

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]

And then someone will explain the rest of the sentences. Why is it countable or uncountable. Maybe I'll figure something out this way.

 

[Tarheel]

"The show appeals to people of all ages" simply means that it appeals to everybody no matter what their age. You can't use a number there.

 

[Tarheel]

Nobody sleeps in two beds. There is no possibility of the plural usage in those sentences.

 

[Tarheel]

"I'm going to bed" means the person is going to get in bed and go to sleep. The plural usage is not possible.

 

[newbornbaby]

Nobody sleeps in two beds. There is no possibility of the plural usage in those sentences.

Oh no! I know those bold words. Those are countable words that I can identify ^^! I mean when I read the examples I only recognize countable nouns because it has "s, es, a, an..." Anyway, thanks a lot.

 

[Tarheel]

"All risk to human life should be avoided."

They are talking about any life.

"He risked his life to save his daughter from the fire."

He risked his only life.

"The operation saved her life "

The operation saved her only life.

"Hundreds of lives were threatened when the building collapsed."

The lives of hundreds of people were threatened (at risk) when the building collapsed.

 

[Tarheel]

"She works three afternoons a week at the library."

She works three days a week at the library in the afternoon.

"He's been in a bad mood all afternoon."

He's been in a bad mood today. It started in the afternoon. Either that or I first noticed it in the afternoon.

Do you think the plural is possible there somehow? Would you say "afternoons"?

 

[Tarheel]

"It gives you an unfair advantage."

It gives you an advantage, and it's not fair.

"She had the advantage of a good education."

She had the benefit of a good education.

You can have more than one advantage. You can have several advantages. You could say I have the advantage over you in using English because of being a native speaker. That would be using the word in its noncount sense. If I was talking about two basketball teams I might talk about the advantages each has over the other.

 

[White Hat]

In any case, really knowing and understanding something only comes with the experience of doing it. Practice makes perfect. I confess that my spoken English was a lot better when I lived in the US. It's all about practice, I guess. Reading books and watching movies will help, too. A useful thing to do would be to keep a text file to record all kinds of interesting phrases (and whole sentences) that you may come across daily. I've kept one, and I always underline the parts that I like the most.

 

[jutfrank]

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.

newbornbaby, what does this mean? Are you suggesting that the noun in the first respective sentence in each pair is countable whereas the noun in the second sentence is uncountable? That's not right.

Are you telling us that you want to understand this on a deeper level? If so, you should start by understanding what countability actually is.

There are two competing theories of matter that we use to understand the world around us. Some matter takes the form of things, which are countable, while some matter takes the form of stuff, which is uncountable. These two theories of matter are carried over into the world of abstract things and stuff. As far as I know, it's just the same in the Vietnamese language.

So if you want to understand whether a noun is being used countably or uncountably, you need to understand the meaning of the sentence the noun is used in. Sometimes, there are grammatical cues (indefinite articles and other determiners as well as plural suffixes) that tell you clearly the countability of a noun, but when there are no such grammatical cues, you have to rely on your understanding of what the sentence means.

 

[newbornbaby]

newbornbaby, what does this mean? Are you suggesting that the noun in the first respective sentence in each pair is countable whereas the noun in the second sentence is uncountable? That's not right.

No. The words in bold are words I understand. I understand because it has "s, es, a, an..."

From the start, I wanted to be explained the same way Tarheel was doing. I feel my brain is getting a little better.

 

[newbornbaby]

There are two competing theories of matter that we use to understand the world around us. Some matter takes the form of things, which are countable, while some matter takes the form of stuff, which is uncountable. These two theories of matter are carried over into the world of abstract things and stuff. As far as I know, it's just the same in the Vietnamese language.

So if you want to understand whether a noun is being used countably or uncountably, you need to understand the meaning of the sentence the noun is used in. Sometimes, there are grammatical cues (indefinite articles and other determiners as well as plural suffixes) that tell you clearly the countability of a noun, but when there are no such grammatical cues, you have to rely on your understanding of what the sentence means.

Thanks! I will think more about your point of view.

 

[Tarheel]

No. The words in bold are words I understand. I understand because it has "s, es, a, an..."

From the start, I have wanted things to be explained the same way Tarheel has been doing. I think I am understanding things a little better.

I really don't get the first part. However, I do think it is better to work on things you need help with and not things you already understand.