COUNTABLE VS. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS It is important for multilingual writers to recognize crosslinguistic differences in this area. A noun considered uncountable in one language may be considered countable in another and, consequently, pluralized, e.g., soap is an uncountable noun in English and cannot be pluralized except by preposing the phrase a bar of to it (I like to use scented soap vs. I bought two bars of soap but: I bought two soaps is wrong). However, in Spanish the same form can be pluralized, e.g. Me gusta usar jabón (singular) desodorante vs. Compré dos jabones (plural).
Countable nouns refer to people, places, or things that can be counted (one contract/two contracts, one witness/two witnesses). A countable noun can always be made plural--usually by adding -s or -es or some other plural marker (e.g. trial[s], parti[es], child[ren]).
Some words do not show any variation in form between the singular and plural (e.g., The sheep is in the field / The sheep are in the field).
Uncountable nouns often refer to drinks and food, other general substances, or concepts (meat, tea, steel, information, justice):
Examples of Uncountable Nouns in English:
- Food and Drink: bacon, beef, beer, bread, butter, cabbage, candy, cauliflower, chicken, chocolate, coffee, corn, cream, fish, fruit, juice, lettuce, meat, milk, oil, pasta, rice, salt, spinach, sugar, tea, water, whiskey, wine, yogurt.
- General Substances: air,cement, clay, coal, copper, dirt, dust, foam, gasoline, gold, ice, leather, paper, petroleum, plastic, rain, rubber, silver, soap, steel, wood, wool.
- Abstract nouns: abandonment, access, adultery, advice, alimony, anger, anguish, arson, authentication, beauty, capacity, conduct, confidence, courage, deprivation, desperation, discretion, employment, empowerment, evidence, extortion, fortune, fun, happiness, health, honesty, housing, information, insurance, intelligence, intent, knowledge, land, love, malice, negligence, poverty, privacy, real estate, sadness, satisfaction, strength, truth, wealth.
- Others: biology, clothing, darkness, equipment, furniture, gossip, homework, jewelry, luggage, machinery, mail, money, music, news, poetry, pollution, research, scenery, traffic, transportation, violence, weather, weight, work.
Some uncountable nouns (except for concepts) can be turned into countable nouns by preposing a phrase to them (two bottles of wine, a bar of soap, a piece of information, an act of violence, a burst of anger, a piece of evidence).
e.g. The defendant's lawyer is sure the judge will accept new evidence in this case.
vs. The defendant's lawyer is sure the judge will accept three new pieces of evidence in this case.
Some uncountable nouns can be used in the plural, but their meaning changes:
experience / experiences: e.g., He had to rely on experience / I lived unforgettable experiences in this house.
light / lights: e.g. The apartment didn't have much light / The bus did not stop at the (traffic) lights.
paper / papers: e.g. This office is wasting too much paper / I submitted all my papers yesterday.
HOW CAN I DISTINGUISH BETWEEN USING A DEFINITE OR AN INDEFINITE ARTICLE WITH A COMMON NOUN WHEN I AM NOT SURE WHICH ONE IS CORRECT.
If you are unsure whether to use a definite (THE) or an indefinite article (A, AN) with a common noun, you should ask yourself the following questions:
|
Is the Noun Singular? |
Yes
Is the noun definite? |
Yes
use THE
e.g., The report he submitted was exhaustive. |
No
use A/AN
e.g., His fax consisted of a letter and a flyer. |
No
Is the noun definite? |
Yes
use THE
e.g., (Pl.) The reports to my office were not clear.
eg., (Unc.) The information that the officers got was accurate. |
No
0 (No article)
e.g., (Pl.) The police sent detailed reports on the case.
e.g., (Unc.) There was a serious leakage of information on the case. |
Remember: If the Noun is definite (whether it is singular, plural or uncountable), it takes THE.
SOME COMMON ERRORS TO AVOID:
• Sometimes non-native speakers of English use "A" or "AN" with plural or uncountable nouns:
|
a cases (wrong) |
instead of |
a case |
|
an information (wrong) |
instead of |
a piece of information |
• Some multilingual writers use no article at all for a singular noun:
|
I saw accident (wrong) |
instead of |
I saw an accident |
|
I am lawyer (wrong) |
instead of |
I am a lawyer |
• Sometimes non-native speakers use two determiners together when they are not supposed to:
|
The some criminals were hurt during the incident. (Wrong) |
|
instead of: |
|
Some criminals were hurt during the incident. |
|
or: The criminals were hurt during the incident. |
• Another common error is to pluralize uncountable nouns:
|
The plaintiff bought a bread at the Waltmann's bakery. (Wrong) |
|
Instead of |
|
The plaintiff bought a loaf of bread at the Waltmann's bakery. |
|
The detainee provided a very useful information. (Wrong) |
|
Instead of |
|
The detainee provided very useful pieces of information |
• Sometimes, multilingual writers use the indefinite articles A/AN with count nouns in some prepositional phrases that are idiomatic expressions such as on vacation, by plane, by car, at home, at school, in school, to bed, in bed, to college, at night, in court.
e.g. The witness testified that he had seen the defendant take the child to school[and NOT to THE school] himself.
THE USE OF ARTICLES WITH PROPER NOUNS
Proper nouns refer to specific people, places, and things (Martin Luther King, New York City, St. Patrick's Cathedral). However, even though these nouns are inherently definite, the definite article THE is not used with most SINGULAR proper nouns.
The Susan Brown was considered a troubled woman. (Wrong)
Instead of
Susan Brown was considered a troubled woman.
(This is also a source of errors, since the use of the definite article with proper nouns is allowed in other languages)
In English, you use the article THE with proper nouns:
- to emphasize the uniqueness of that entity:
e.g. It's THE Barbra Streisand.
- to specify what singular entity you were referring to:
e.g. THE Elvis I got to know was a defeated king.
- to accompany PLURAL proper nouns, including the plural form of a family name:
e.g. THE Johnsons will go to court today.
The United States
The United Nations
- with proper nouns containing the word OF or a political word like 'kingdom', 'union', or 'republic', or organizational words like 'institute', 'foundation', or 'corporation'.
e.g. The city of New Orleans
The Republic of Korea
the City University of New York
The Fulbright Foundation
the Chase Corporation
The Commonwealth of Virginia
But:In phrases that have 2 proper noun names, use THE only if the form contains OF: THE School of Law of the City University vs. CUNY Law School
THE University of Oxford vs.Oxford
THE city of New Orleans vs. New Orleans
THE Republic of Korea vs. Korea
- before the names of specific geographic regions of most bodies of water:
e.g. The Mississippi River
The Atlantic Ocean
the Middle East
In English you DO NOT use the definite article THE:
- before nouns in the possessive case ('s) if the noun does not take THE.
e.g. The plaintiff learned of THE Mary Brown's responsibility in the theft by reading the defendant's diary. (Wrong)
Instead of
The plaintiff learned of Mary Brown's responsibility in the theft by reading the defendant's diary.
- before most singular proper nouns, including names of most countries, cities, states, continents, streets, parks, and persons.
e.g. The corpse was found in Yosemite National Park.
He was part of an expedition to Argentina, Brazil and Peru.
THE USE OF ARTICLES WITH PROPER NOUNS
|
Do's |
Don'ts |
- geographical areas (the South, the Middle East, the Far West)
- names of seas, oceans and rivers (the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Hudson)
- gulfs, peninsulas, forests, and deserts ( the Persian Gulf, the Valdez Peninsula, the Black Forest, the Sahara)
- points on the globe (the Capricorn, the South Pole)
|
- names of countries (Argentina, Ireland, Iraq), but the US and the Netherlands
- names of continents (America, Africa)
- names of states, towns or cities (Illinois, Edison, Philadelphia)
- names of streets (Main St., Astoria Blvd., Jewel Ave.)
- names of islands (Fire Island) but: the Hebrides, the Faroe Islands (island chains)
- names of mountains (Mount Sinai, Mount Fuji) but: the Andes or the Alps (ranges of mountains)
- names of lakes and bays (Lake Ontario, San Francisco Bay) but: the Great Lakes (a group of lakes)
|
Now it's time for you to practice! Please select one of the following two exercises by clicking on the blue link. Be sure to read the instructions for each exercise carefully.
follow the next reply
Articles a, an , the
(if no article applies). Use capital letters only at the beginning of the sentence. Press the submit button when you are finished to check your answers.