Is the word "life" countable or uncountable?
I saw two sentences in the dictionary.
1. A life without a friend is a life without a sun.
(I wonder if I can say "Life without a friend is life without a sun.". Is this sentence correct? When should I put the "a" before "life"?)
2. With close friends in their lives, people develop courage and positive attitudes.
(You see the phrase "in their lives", and I want to know why "life" is in plural from in this sentence. Can I say "in their life"?)

I'm a little confused. Can you help me?

Question

Is the word "life" countable or uncountable?
I saw two sentences in the dictionary.
1. A life without a friend is a life without a sun.
(I wonder if I can say "Life without a friend is life without a sun.". Is this sentence correct? When should I put the "a" before "life"?)
2. With close friends in their lives, people develop courage and positive attitudes.
(You see the phrase "in their lives", and I want to know why "life" is in plural from in this sentence. Can I say "in their life"?)

I'm a little confused. Can you help me?

Answer

It can be both countable and uncountable.
If it's countable, it refers to a single instance of life. 'Lives' refers to multiple lives.
If it's uncountable, it refers to the concept of life in general.

The same applies to a lot of nouns.

You could say "Life without friends...". In that case, the sentence still works whether or not 'life' is countable (as long as you make 'friend' appropriately plural or singular).

Answer

Life as a general concept is uncountable. The sentences you've found give an example of a person's life, so in this context you can treat "life" as countable.

Answer

Nanan？

Answer

I'd go with 9;D

Answer

Doesn't a cat have 9 lives? :-D