"travel" - countable or uncountable?

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spongie

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Let me tell you what I think and then I would like somebody to correct me.

"Travel" is uncountable. Of course, there is a plural form known as "travels", but that doesn't mean that we can divide those "travels" into several separate ones, because there is no such thing as "a travel". "Travel" means travelling in general.

Am I right? Is there something else I should know about this?

Thank you in advance.
 

SoothingDave

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You have the right idea. I can speak of my many travels, when looking back and telling stories of my adventures.

But I would not say I had 2 travels this month. I would say I traveled twice.
 

billmcd

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Let me tell you what I think and then I would like somebody to correct me.

"Travel" is uncountable. Of course, there is a plural form known as "travels", but that doesn't mean that we can divide those "travels" into several separate ones, because there is no such thing as "a travel". "Travel" means travelling in general.

Am I right? Is there something else I should know about this?

Thank you in advance.

Are you right? Wellllll.....yes and no. :roll: Try this. "Spongie is known for his/her many travels around the world, but in his/her travel from New York to Los Angeles, a travel of about 2000 miles, he/she had to plan the travel carefully even though he/she had travelled there once before." Noun/Verb, Countable/Uncountable

 

spongie

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I see. So it can be both countable and uncountable.
 

bhaisahab

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"...but in his/her travel from New York to Los Angeles, a travel of about 2000 miles, he/she had to plan the travel carefully..."
I wouldn't use "travel" where I have highlighted above.
 

billmcd

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"...but in his/her travel from New York to Los Angeles, a travel of about 2000 miles, he/she had to plan the travel carefully..."
I wouldn't use "travel" where I have highlighted above.

Actually, I wouldn't either, but the example was to address the issue of countable/uncountable and how "travel" and other typically uncountable nouns can be used as countable.

 
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