UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

- are nouns that we cannot count. They only take singular verbs and have no plural forms.

These words are thought of as wholes rather than as parts. Uncountable nouns include:

food: cheese; meat; salt; bread; cream; jam;

liquids: coffee; milk; water; tea; oil; wine

gases: air; oxygen; steam; smoke

materials: silk; iron; plastic; wool; glass; stone; wood

subjects of study, sciences: History; Geography; Chemistry; Italian; French; economics,

ethics, optics, statistics

activities: sailing; jogging; shopping; fishing

games / sports: ninepins; darts; billiards; dominoes; cards; athletics, gymnastics; chess;

basketball ; tennis; football

diseases: measles (pojar); mumps (oreion); rickets (rahitism); flu (gripa); cancer

natural phenomena: rain; wind; snow; thunder; lightning; light; fog; heat; weather

abstract nouns: accommodation; beauty; behaviour; courage; difficulty; dirt; fear; hope;

income; information; knowledge; time; truth; wealth; death; experience; fear; help; hope;

horror; mercy; pleasure; relief; work

some nouns ending in –s: news; means

Here is the 9 o’clock news.

some proper nouns: Athens, Brussels, Naples, Wales, the Thames

Wales is in the south-west of Great Britain.

abstract nouns that come from adjectives: the beautiful, the sublime, the good, the evil

In fairy-stories the good always wins.

others: advice; homework; garbage; luggage; baggage; furniture; money; damage; parking;

shopping; weather; hair; rubbish

 Uncountable nouns are not used with a/an or numerals.

We can use the following nouns before uncountable nouns to show quantity:

a piece of a glass of a bowl of a loaf of (bread)

an article of a carton of a packet of a kilo / litre of

an item of a cup of a slice of a bar of (soap; chocolate)

a bottle of a jar/ pan a sheet (of paper) a tablespoon of

a can of (Coke) of a tube of a pint of (beer)

a tin of

(tuna)

a lump of coal / sugar / flour

a ray of light / sunshine / hope

a grain of truth / sand / rice

a drop of water / vinegar / oil / rain

a pinch/dash of salt

a handful of nuts / rice / flour

a clove of garlic

a knob of butter

a sum of money

a blade of grass

a stroke of luck

a clap of thunder

a flash of lightning

QUANTIFIERS:

some a lot of / lots of much

any a great / good deal of plenty of

 no a small / large amount of a little / little

Many uncountable nouns can be used in a particular sense and are then countable. They can

take a/an in the singular and can be used in the plural. Some examples are given below:

 hair (all the hair on one’s head) is considered uncountable, but if we consider each hair

separately, we say one hair, two hairs etc.

Her hair is black. The hairs found in the soup were disgusting.

HAIR = păr; HAIRS = fire de păr

 We drink beer, coffee, gin, but we can ask for a (a cup of) coffee, a gin, two gins

etc.

 We drink wine, but enjoy a good wine. We drink it from a glass or from glasses.

 This door is made of wood. The boy got lost in the woods.

WOOD = lemn; WOODS = pădure

 Experience meaning “sth which happened to someone” is countable:

He had an exciting experience / some exciting experiences (= adventures) last week.

 Work meaning “occupation / employment / a job / jobs” is uncountable ( He is looking for

work / a job.), but works (plural only) can mean “factory” or “moving parts of a machine”

and works (usually plural) can be used of literary or musical compositions ( Shakespeare’s

complete works).

 You shouldn’t eat too much chocolate. We gave her o box of chocolates.
CHOCOLATE = ciocolată; CHOCOLATES = bomboane de ciocolată