GRAMMAR / NON COUNTS NOUNS

1. TO NON-COUNT NOUNS BELONG :


Abstract ideas :


anger, beauty, fun, luck, pollution, poverty, stupidity, etc.


Substances :


bread, dust, gasoline, gold, ink, meat, paper, water, etc.


Gases :


air, oxygen, smoke, etc.


Natural Forces :


electricity, fire, lighting, rain, thunder, etc.


Activities :


Basseball, chess, jogging, swimming, travel, work, etc.


Group Words


Advise, equipment, food, furniture, homework, information, jewelry, knowlegde, luggage, poetry, traffic, etc.


2. Non-count nouns don't have a plural form.


He's got a lot of advice / fun / furniture ( NOT advices!)
We need more patience / money.
N.B See point 7 below.


3. Non-count nouns take a singular verbs.


Sleep / Knowlegde is important.
Death usually comes unexpectedly
Traffic has come to a complete stop


4. Some Non-count nouns look like plural count nouns because they end in "-s", but they still take a singular verb.
Physics / mathematics is what we're going to talk about (NOT mathematics are! )


Measles spreads quickly.
News travel fast.


5. Non-count nouns aren't used with "a." They are used with "the" or with a possessive construction when they refer to a specific or known thing.


The air that we breathe is polluted.
He was suddeneed by her selfishness.
The child's imagination is remarkable.


6. Non-counts nouns can be used with words like all, any, enough, little, much, no, some.


They received little appreciation.
There's enough food for everyone.


7. Some non-count nouns can be used in their plural form with a different meaning.


Tea : "Waiter, two iced - teas please." (two glasses / cups etc. of iced-tea)
Water : And all the waters on the earth ran dry. (waters = seas, oceans, lakes, rivers, etc.)
Gas : Oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen are gases. (Non-count gas  is also short for gasoline.)
Time : Isaw the movie three times.


8. To indicate a quantity of a noun-count noun, certain expressions can be used.


Ice cream : There are two cups of ice cream in the fridge.
Gas (gasoline) : I need four gallons of gas
Furniture : That's a good piece of furniture.
Bread : Give me three leaves of bread. 



taken from : CnS mags. Feb-March 2009