UN COUN TABLE N OUN S
I . N ames of Subst ances
Br ead cr eam gold paper t ea
Beer dust ice sand wat er
Clot h glass j am soap wine
Cof f ee oil st one wood
2. Abst ract N ouns
Advice ex per ience hor r or pit y Beaut y f ear inf or mat ion r elief
Cour age help knowledge suspicion
Deat h hope mer cy wor k
3. Also considered uncount able:
Baggage f ur nit ur e luggage weat her
Experience meaning ‘somet hing which happened t o someone’ is count able: He had an ex cit ing ex per ience/ some ex cit ing ex per iences
(=advent ur e/ s).
W ork meaning ‘occupat ion/ employment / a j ob/ j obs’ is singular : He’s looking f or wor k/ f or a j ob.
I do homewor k.
W orks can mean ‘f act or y’ or ‘moving par t s of a machine’.
Some abst r act nouns can be used in a par t icular sense wit h a/ an, but in t he singular only:
My childr en ar e a gr eat help t o me. I t was a r elief t o sit down.
He had a good knowledge of mat hemat ics. I t ’s a pit y you wer en’t t her e.
I t ’s a shame he wasn’t paid.
a love of music a hat r ed of violence
Uncount able nouns ar e always singular and ar e usually not used wit h a/ an:
I don’t want (any) advice or help. I want (some) inf or mat ion. He has had no ex per ience in t his sor t of wor k.
These nouns ar e of t en pr eceded by some, any, no, a lit t le, or by nouns such as bit , piece, and slice of :
