English Grammar: 7 Things You Should Know about Uncountable Nouns

Can you tell if someone's lying?

What signs are there?

You blush. You...your hands sweat. Your forehead sweats. Your armpits sweat.

And you, um, and you might laugh or giggle.

Or you just don't look at them. Like you look down, or you look to the other side.

If they repeat themselves...

If they don't make eye contact...

Maybe they talk too fast.

What's a white lie?

A small lie where lying isn't too serious.

Can you give an example?

If you had a bad day and someone asks, "How was your day?"

You say it was fine.

How about you? Do you ever tell white lies?

Do you think it's always best to tell the truth?

In this lesson, we'll look at countable nouns like "signs" and "lies."

And we'll figure out how a noun like "truth" is different.

Do you already know?

Is truth countable or uncountable?

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There are different names, different grammar terms for nouns we can't count.

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Some common signs of lying are uncountable nouns.

Like "laughter"..."eye contact"...or "no eye contact."

We can't count these things.

Uncountable nouns take a singular verb.

Here are some examples.

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So did I just give the answer to an earlier question?

Is "truth" an uncountable noun?

Well, often yes. But let's go on to my third point and you'll get a complete answer.

Some nouns can be both uncountable and countable.

I just gave the example: Was there any truth to what he said?

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Both examples are correct.

The first is an uncountable noun.

The second is countable. It's a plural noun: truths.

Specific facts can be called truths.

With the countable meaning we often use the plural noun.

The uncountable noun "truth" is more general and abstract.

"The truth" refers to the general concept of what is real and what is true.

"Truth" is also a quality, the quality of being true.

The uncountable noun "truth" takes a singular verb.

There's a well-known quote from the American TV series The X-Files.

The famous tagline is "The truth is out there."

Often when we have noun with both meanings, the uncountable noun is more general or abstract.

The countable noun is usually more specific in nature.

Here are additional examples of nouns with countable and uncountable meanings.

As I list the sentences, see how quickly you can identify the countable and uncountable nouns. Ready?

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Challenge yourself to think of other words with uncountable and countable meanings.

Can you see the difference between abstract and specific (concrete)?

Think of words like adventure and video.

One way to help identify uncountable nouns is to remember common categories these nouns belong to.

A few years back, I had the amazing experience of co-authoring a grammar book (for classroom use).

Next Generation Grammar 3.

And the appendix has a list of these categories.

I'll share some with you.

Nouns like LAW, BUSINESS, and SALES are occupations or fields.

In the abstract sense, they're uncountable.

What field do you work in? Business? Education? Engineering?

Similarly, subjects we study are uncountable nouns.

Anthropology, art, history.

What did you study in college? Or what do you want to study?

Nouns like paper, plastic, glass, and wood are materials.

And they're uncountable when we use them in the general or abstract sense.

What are you wearing right now? Cotton, silk, nylon?

Names of sports and activities are often uncountable, and they take a singular verb.

Baseball, dancing, yoga, hockey.

What are your favorite activities? Reading? Hiking?

We use uncountable nouns to refer to events in our lives or in history.

Birth, death, marriage. But if we get specific, we can use these nouns with a countable meaning.

For example, we can talk about having multiple marriages. Marriages to different people.

Nouns that refer to food or drink are countable if we're referring to specific ones or specific types.

But if we're using these words in the general sense, then they're uncountable.

Like bread, tea, cereal, milk. What do you drink at breakfast?

Coffee, tea, hot cocoa?

We can use quantifying phrases to make uncountable nouns countable.

There are some quantifiers that you can use with countable and uncountable nouns.

Here are some you likely know, but it's good to review them.

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Then there are quantifying phrases you can only use with uncountable nouns.

See if you know these.

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In English we also use some very specific words to refer to an amount of something.

Let's see if you're familiar with some of these quantifying phrases.

I'll share some now and some more on Facebook.

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Make the most logical and natural-sounding matches.

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Don't confuse uncountable nouns with collective nouns.

Uncountable nouns are often abstract or just a mass of something.

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But a collective noun refers to a group. A group of something. A group that has members.

Here are some examples of collective nouns.

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Unlike uncountable nouns, collectives nouns can have a singular or plural meaning, depending on the context.

But in American English, collective nouns are almost always singular (in meaning - take a singular verb).

Truthfully, American English speakers may choose to avoid using collective nouns with a plural verb.

See these sentences?

Here's how I'd prefer to rewrite them.

So it's safe to say that both uncountable nouns and collective nouns take a singular verb in American English.

Do they use the same quantifiers? The same quantifying phrases?

No. First of all, we can usually make collective nouns plural:

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So we can talk about several committees or several teams, but we can't talk about several "advices."

"Advice" remains an uncountable noun. No -s.

Second, collective nouns themselves can help us quantify things.

I'll share some examples now and some on Facebook.

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Make the most common matches.

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Well, I hope you picked up some new information and learned a few new quantifying phrases.

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