they

[Ju]

I know they are the plural forms of he, she, it.

When I use they as the plural form for it, it can be uncountable and countable. Am I right?

Thank you.

 

[Raymott]

I know they [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] is the plural form of he, she, it.

When I use they as the plural form for it, it can be uncountable and countable. Am I right?

Thank you.

No, you can't use 'they' with an uncountable noun. Can you think of an example?

 

[Ju]

No, you can't use 'they' with an uncountable noun. Can you think of an example?

eg.

I put the rice on a bowl. They are very hot.

Thank you.

 

[bhaisahab]

eg.

I put the rice in a bowl. They are very hot.

Thank you.

No, that's not right. It should be "it is very hot".

 

[emsr2d2]

I put the rice in a bowl. It is very hot.

Be aware that the above is ambiguous as it's not clear whether "It" refers to the rice or the bowl. To be clear:

I put very hot rice in a bowl.
I put the rice in a bowl and now the bowl's very hot.
I put the rice in a bowl. Be careful, the rice is very hot.

"Rice" is uncountable when referring to a portion, and takes "it". If you want to make it countable, you would use "grains of rice". However, that would be unnatural when talking about serving food. We don't count individual grains of rice in our food.