[Suggestion] Uncountable nouns reference?

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DiamondBlueMoon

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I think that for the development of the forum, we should add an uncountable nouns article to reference column. Either Uncountable or Countable is fine, depends on the number of them. Thank you for spend time reading this, and please think it over.
 

philo2009

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It would be an extremely long list, which would require much annotation to explain differences between countable and non-count versions of the same noun. You might find it easier just to consult a good learners' dictionary, which will always carry that kind of information.
 

Tdol

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I'm with Philo2009 on this- it would be impractical to make useful lists as they would stretch to tens or hundreds of thousands of items and dictionaries already carry that information.
 

konungursvia

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Another problem would be that many can be used either way. It would not be a useful reference for the learner, for this reason. It takes an advanced English 'ear' to use them correctly, it's that simple. Like gender in French nouns.
 

Jane Lee Pankovitch

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Much time; many hours.
Much money; many dollars.
Much sugar; many cups.
Much theory; many exercises.

I do not understand how many can be used with non-count nouns. Many elephants in the room are waiting for a clearer reference to "many".
:roll:
 

5jj

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charliedeut

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I do not understand how many can be used with non-count nouns. Many elephants in the room are waiting for a clearer reference to "many".
:roll:

I believe konungursvia meant that many nouns can be used both as countable or non-countable nouns, not that "many" could be used with non-countable nouns.
 

konungursvia

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Thanks for catching that misunderstanding; yes, that is what I mean. Psychologists often use the term "behaviours" -- which sounded wrong to me for a while, as I have always used it exclusively as an non-countable; 'hair' goes both ways, as does 'time'... there are just so many oddities that such a list would be a bit of a false friend, like a concise bilingual dictionary -- leading newer users to believe they have something correct, when at times they don't.
 
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