Practice with Uncountable Nouns - English Grammar with JenniferESL

Let me help you gain more practice with uncountable nouns.

I'd like to read a text for you. See if you can spot three mistakes.

Do you see three mistakes?

Here they are.

Now do you think we can fix them?

Let's try.

A "lie" is a countable noun, so either we need the indefinite article with the singular noun - a white lie

- or the zero article with the plural noun - white lies.

"Truth" is a noun with both countable and uncountable meanings.

Here I’m referring to the general or abstract concept, so let’s take off that plural ending -s

and use the uncountable noun “the truth” with a singular verb.

Lastly, in this sentence the main subject here is “honesty,” another abstract concept. It’s a quality.

Don't let the prepositional phrase confuse you.

We have only one subject - "honesty."

"Kindness" is part of the prepositional phrase.

Also, note the use of a quantifying phrase with "kindness."

How much kindness is needed? A healthy dose. A good amount.

[title]

Let's review the seven guidelines I shared in my earlier lesson, and along the way I'll give you some practice.

First, there are different grammar terms for nouns we can't count. What are they?

Take a look.

There are three terms you might hear: uncountable nouns, noncount nouns, mass nouns.

Second, you need to remember subject-verb agreement.

Uncountable nouns take a singular verb.

I'll now give you sentences to complete.

If the subject is uncountable, use a singular verb.

Here are the answers. [reads]

Do you see the two sentences with plural nouns as subjects?

Here they are.

Third, some nouns have uncountable and countable meanings.

I'll now show you pairs of sentences. You need to identify which sentence in each pair has the uncountable noun.

[reads]

I just showed you nouns with uncountable and countable meanings.

To help you identify and remember the difference, let me remind you of my fourth guideline.

Uncountable nouns are often used in a general or abstract sense.

The countable meaning is usually more specific and concrete.

Look at sentences c and d again.

The difference is specific vs. general, concrete vs. abstract.

Another clue can be the use of quantifiers.

In sentence a, I use "a little," and we can only use that with uncountable nouns.

In e there's a quantifying phrase that often combines with uncountable nouns that refer to food - "a slice of."

Remember that the indefinite article "a" or "an" refers to one.

Sentence b uses "an," so you know I'm using "adventure" in the countable sense.

"an adventure" = one adventure

Sentence f uses the indefinite article "a" to refer to a specific kind of cheese.

One kind, so it's a countable noun.

Fifth, we can place uncountable nouns in common categories,

and knowing these categories helps us recognize and understand any uncountable noun.

Can you sort some uncountable nouns into groups?

There will be six groups, and I'll ask you to identify the categories,

but please know that this list of categories is not complete. There are definitely more.

But let's practice using these six.

Ready to see the answers?

Here they are.

What are the categories? I'd suggest these labels:

materials, events, liquids, occupations, activties, weather...

How did you do?

Sixth, remember we can use quantifying phrases to make uncountable nouns countable.

We'll now practice using several quantifying words and phrases.

I'll ask you to make some matches. You'll have to know which quantifying words and phrases combine only with uncountable nouns.

Answers. [reads]

Now let's focus on uncountable nouns only.

Make the most logical and natural-sounding matches.

Answers. [reads]

My seventh guideline was: Don't confuse uncountable nouns with collective nouns.

Do you remember the difference?

Remember that a collective noun refers to a group that has parts or members.

Examples include: committee, staff, family, team.

Unlike uncountable nouns, collective nouns can have singular or plural meanings depending on the context.

But in American English, collective nouns are almost always singular.

Also, collective nouns themselves can help us quantify other nouns.

I'll now ask you to match the collective noun to the plural noun it can quantify.

Make the most common matches.

Answers. [reads]

I bet you can think of other examples with these collective nouns.

I hope you found this additional practice helpful.

That's all for now. Thanks for watching and happy studies!