Chihiro
How to remember countable / uncountable
Hi guys :) I've learned English for more than 20 years but distinction of countable noun / uncountable noun is still difficult for me.
My native language Japanese has no such concept as countable / uncountable. Neither has it articles.
As an English teacher, what would you recommend for a student like me?
"Don't worry about it that much" wouldn't work here since I need quite high score in TOEFL test. Article or countable / uncountable mistakes matter.
If you are a student who overcame the same problem as me, your advice is also appreciated.
2021年10月12日 09:16
回答 · 15
2
While I don't have any specific [resources] to recommend, there is something you can pay [attention] to, which is the singular/plural distinction. You might be reading something and suddenly the [information] looks suspicious...
[resources] was plural, but [attention] and [information] were not. To me that feels natural already, but if it makes you scratch your head, you have to rethink the meaning of the word. I saw your example of "furniture", and that is a good one. "Furniture" doesn't mean one object, but a type/concept of object. Once you see it like that, it makes little sense to count it. But if you specify with "a piece" of furniture, then "piece" is the countable noun that helps you to put numbers on things. There are a few tricky ones, like "news", which looks like a plural but is singular. Finally, "the" will not help much, but whether "a" is present or not is a good teller. I need a break. I need water. I need some water. (2 breaks is still awkward, but not wrong).
2021年10月12日
Hi! I found this note in my notebook. I hope It helps you
2021年10月12日
One of my teachers at school, explained it it like this. Eg: books. Can you go 1 book, 2 books, 3 books, so on? Yes, you can. So book is a countable noun. You can count them.
Now take water. Can you go 1 water, 2 water, 3 water? Not talking water bottles, I'm just talking water. No, you cant. You can't count it, so water is an uncountable noun.
2021年10月12日
I often recommend Raymond Murphy's 'English Grammar in Use' to my students, if they are having problems with basic grammar. Unit 69, 70, and 71. Maybe you are familiar with this classic textbook? It covers all the basics in English grammar with easy to use exercises and is good revision material if you are a taking a test :)
2021年10月12日
One of my teachers at school, explained it it like this. Eg: books. Can you go 1 book, 2 books, 3 books, so on? Yes, you can. So book is a countable noun. You can count them.
Now take water. Can you go 1 water, 2 water, 3 water? Not talking water bottles, I'm just talking water. No, you cant. You can't count it, so water is an uncountable noun.
2021年10月12日
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