THE NONCOUNT NOUN RECOGNIZE A NONCOUNT NOUN WHEN YOU SEE ONE.
Nouns name people, places, things, and ideas. Most nouns have a singular and plural form. a surfer/ two surfers a pickle/ two pickles Some nouns, however, have only a singular form; you cannot add a number to the front or an s to the endof these words. This group of nouns is called NONCOUNT NOUNS.
Examples: After two months of rainstorms, Chris carries his umbrella everywhere in anticipation of more bad weather. rainstorms = count noun weather = noncount noun Because Big Toe Joe has ripped all four chairs with his claws, Rachel wants to buy new furniture and find the cat a new home. chairs = count noun furniture = noncount noun
Know the different categories of noncount nouns.
Abstractions Example: We practice patriotism by celebrating the Fourth of July. advice, courage, enjoyment, fun, help, honesty, information, intelligence, knowledge, patience, etc.
Activities Example: We played Monopoly for six hours last Saturday. homework, swimming, housework, music, Scrabble, Monopoly, reading, singing, sleeping, soccer, tennis, work, etc.
Food Example: Grandma Brown baked homemade bread for dinner. beef, bread, butter, fish, macaroni, meat, popcorn, pork, poultry, toast, etc.
Particles or Grains Example: Do you like pepper on your french fries? corn, dirt, dust, flour, hair, rice, salt, sugar, wheat, and pepper (black, white or ground, but not green or bell)
Gases Example: Exhaust from cars can cause pollution. air, exhaust, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, pollution, smog, smoke, steam, etc.
Groups of Similar Items Example – Katy placed her suitcase on the rack with her family’s luggage. Noncount Count luggage suitcase clothing shirt furniture chair mail letter jewelry necklace money dollar
Things Made of Small Pieces Example: Mr. Brown was unhappy when his wife insisted they plant more grass in the front yard. grass, sand, gravel, dirt, clay, etc.
Liquids Example: Sam tried to fill the pool by pouring water from a bucket. blood, coffee, gasoline, milk, oil, soup, syrup, tea, water, wine, etc.
Natural Events Example: When he first moved to Wisconsin, Jose liked snow, but after five years he was missing sunshine. electricity, gravity, heat, humidity, moonlight, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder, weather, etc.
Materials Example: We had a big stack of lumber in the back yard. aluminum, asphalt, chalk, cloth, concrete, cotton, glue, lumber, wood, wool, etc.
Understand that some nouns are both noncount and count! Sometimes a word that means one thing as a noncount noun has a slightly different meaning if it also has a countable version. Remember, then, that the classifications count and noncount are not absolute.
Time is a good example. When you use this word to mean the unceasing flow of experience that includes past, present, and future, with no distinct beginning or end, then time is a noncount noun. Read this example: Time dragged as Simon sat through yet another boring chick flick with his girlfriend. Time = noncount because it has no specific beginning and, for poor Simon, no foreseeable end.
When time refers to a specific experience which starts at a certain moment and ends after a number of countable units [minutes, hours, days, etc.], then the noun is count. Here is an example: On his last trip to Disney World, Joe rode Space Mountain twenty-seven times. Times = count because a ride on Space Mountain is a measurable unit of experience, one that you can clock with a stopwatch.
Kobe Bryant uses a basketball (count noun)to play the game of basketball (noncount noun).
