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Nouns are names of persons, places, and things. There are two main types of nouns: proper nouns and common nouns. Proper nouns are names of particular persons, places, or things: Spain, John Smith, Vancouver. They are usually unique. Common nouns refer to people, places, or things, but they are not the names of particular individuals. Books, courage, lung, and tiger are examples of common nouns.
There are two types of common nouns: count nouns and non-count nouns. Count nouns name things that can be counted: one man, nine apples. Non-count nouns generally name things that cannot be counted because they exist in a "mass" form. Non-count nouns in their normal meaning are not preceded by a or an, though they are often preceded by some or the.
I bought rice. NOT I bought a rice.
Let me give you some information. NOT Let me give you an information.
A non-count noun is followed by a singular verb.
Information is important.
Rice feeds thousands.
| Notice the following categories of non-count nouns and examples of them: |
| Abstractions |
advice, behavior, chance (luck), energy, evil, fun,
good, happiness, honesty, love, responsibility,
spontaneity |
| Activities |
bowling, dancing, football, hiking, soccer, tennis |
| Ailments |
AIDS, cancer, malaria, measles |
| Elements |
gold, magnesium, plutonium, silver, titanium,
uranium |
| Foods |
barley, beef, broccoli, candy, chicken, meat, rice,
wheat |
| Gases |
air, carbon dioxide, oxygen, smoke |
| Liquids |
coffee, gasoline, soda, water, wine |
| Natural phenomena |
aurora borealis, cold, electricity, ice, light, lightning,
rain, snow, thunder |
| Occupations |
construction, engineering, nursing, teaching |
| Particles |
dust, pepper, salt, sand, sugar |
| Subjects |
astronomy, business, English, history, Japanese,
physics, science, Spanish |
| Categories |
clothing, equipment, fruit, furniture |
We frequently make non-count nouns "countable" by adding a phrase which gives them a form, a limit, or a container.
| Non-Count Noun |
"Countable State" |
| furniture |
an article (piece) of furniture |
| lightning |
a flash (bolt) of lightning |
| meat |
a piece of meat |
| rice |
five grains of rice |
| sand |
a grain of sand |
| tennis |
a game of tennis |
| thunder |
a clap of thunder |
| water |
a cup of water |
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