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saeiiiid
Countable or Uncountable
Hi
Are the following words countable or uncountable :
" Europe"
"English"
"Chinese"
"World"
"Million"
Thanks in advance
27 paź 2018 19:35
Odpowiedzi · 9
2
There is only one continent called Europe, it is unique, so in normal use it would be uncountable. It could only become countable in certain unusual contexts, such as political discussions about the future of Europe, if two different visions of the future were proposed it might possibly be said "two different Europes were discussed" or 'I want to live in a Europe that is free and equal' - but this would be highly unusual and certainly for all intents and purposes Europe is unique and hence uncountable. Much the same could be said about World, if world is being used as a synonym for 'planet Earth' then it is unique and uncountable. However astronomers sometimes refer to some other planets as 'worlds' and so might use it countably, however this is also unusual, in general terms in is uncountable because it is unique.
If by English and Chinese you mean the languages, they are also unique and so uncountable, although occassionally you will hear English (and I suspect Chinese as well) used in a countable way if varieties or dialects of the language are being referred to. E.g. 'There are many different Englishes used in the world' again this is rare and it is normally uncountable because it is unique.
Finally 'Million' can be countable or uncountable. It used to be common to hear the number 6,000,000 referred to as 'six millions' but this is somewhat archaic now. But in an unspecified way million might be pluralised 'millions of people' and one million is often referred to as 'a million'
In summary I would say that all your words are normally uncountable, but, in unusual circumstances can become countable.
27 października 2018
2
" Europe" is a name, so it is neither countable nor uncountable. I guess you could say something like, 'There are two Europes, east and west', which means it could be countable, but that would be unusual.
"English" and "Chinese" are adjectives, so they're neither countable nor uncountable.
"World" is countable. One world. Many worlds.
"Million" is countable. One million. Two million. Many millions.
27 października 2018
1
Europe is a name, or "proper noun". Proper nouns are neither countable nor uncountable: they have their own rules.
proper: I like Europe.
countable: I like dogs.
uncountable: I like water.
proper: I saw New York
countable: I saw a dog
uncountable: I saw some water.
For "English" and "Chinese", if you are talking about the languages, they are also proper nouns, so they are neither countable nor uncountable.
"I am studying Chinese."
If you are talking about the nationalities, they are adjectives, not nouns.
"He is English" NOT "He is an English"
"I saw five Chinese people" NOT "I saw five chineses"
If nationalities end in -an or -i, they can be countable nouns
If they end in -ese or -ish, they can only be adjectives, not nouns
GOOD: "I saw five Koreans"
GOOD: "I saw five Pakistanis"
BAD: "I saw five Japaneses"
GOOD: "I saw five Japanese people"
"world" is countable: "Humans and Martians live on 2 different worlds." However, we usually only talk about the world we are on, and call it "the world".
"million" is an enumerator, not a noun. It follows its own rules.
Good: a million dogs
Good: two million dogs
BAD: two millions of dogs.
27 października 2018
Hi
We have two classes of nouns :
Countable nouns : car (s ) / book (s)
Uncountable nouns : water / milk
27 października 2018
What do you mean by countable or uncountable... Your question does not make sense.
27 października 2018
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saeiiiid
Znajomość języków
angielski, perski
Język do nauczenia się
angielski
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