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Nouns: countable and uncountable
Countable nouns.
Some nouns refer to things which, in English, are treated as separate items which can be counted. These are called countable nouns. Here are some examples:
a car , three cars
my cousin , my two cousins
a book , a box full of books
a city , several big cities
Singular and plural
Countable nouns can be singular or plural. They can be used with a/an and with numbers and many other determiners (e.g. these, a few ):
She’s got two sisters and a younger brother .
Most people buy things like cameras and MP3-players online these days .
These shoes look old now.
I’ll take a few magazines with me for the flight .
Determiners ( the, my , some , this )
Singular and plural nouns
Uncountable nouns
In English grammar, some things are seen as a whole or mass. These are called uncountable nouns, because they cannot be separated or counted.
Some examples of uncountable nouns are:
Ideas and experiences: advice, information, progress, news, luck, fun, work
Materials and substances: water, rice, cement, gold, milk
Weather words: weather, thunder, lightning, rain, snow
Names for groups or collections of things: furniture, equipment, rubbish, luggage
Other common uncountable nouns include: accommodation, baggage, homework, knowledge, money, permission, research, traffic, travel .
These nouns are not used with a/an or numbers and are not used in the plural.
We’re going to get new furniture for the living room.
Not: We’re going to get a new furniture for the living room . or We’re going to get new furnitures for the living room .
We had terrible weather last week.
Not: We had a terrible weather last week .
We need rice next time we go shopping.
Some nouns always have plural form but they are uncountable because we cannot use numbers with them.
I bought two pairs of trousers .
Not: I bought two trousers .
Other nouns of this type are: shorts, pants, pyjamas, glasses (for the eyes), binoculars, scissors .
Some nouns which are uncountable in English are countable in other languages (e.g. accommodation, advice, furniture, information ):
They can give you some information about accommodation at the tourist office.
Not: They can give you some informations about accommodations at the tourist office .
Can you give me some advice about buying a second-hand car?
Not: Can you give me some advices about buying a second-hand car?
A good learner’s dictionary will tell you whether a noun is countable or uncountable.
Quantity expressions ( a bit/piece )
To refer to one or more quantities of an uncountable noun , expressions such as a bit of, a piece of , an item of or words for containers and measures must be used:
He bought a very expensive piece of furniture for his new apartment.
Maggie always has some exciting bits of news when she comes to see us.
I think we’ll need five bags of cement for the patio.
There’s a litre of milk in the fridge for you. And I bought you a bar of chocolate .
Determiners ( my, some, the )
Uncountable nouns can be used with certain determiners (e.g. my, her , some, any , no , the, this, that ) and expressions of quantity (e.g. a lot of, (a) little ):
They gave me some information about courses and scholarships and things.
Have you heard the news ? Fran’s getting engaged.
She’s been studying hard and has made a lot of progress .
There’s no work to do here, so you can go home if you like.
This milk ’s a bit old, I’m afraid.
Countable phrases for uncountable nouns
We can sometimes use countable noun phrases to talk about an individual example of the thing an uncountable noun refers to.
Finding a place to live is difficult if you’re a student and you’ve got no money. (or Finding accommodation … )
Not: Finding an accommodation …
She brought two big suitcases and a rucksack with her.
Not: She brought two big luggages …
I read a poem once about someone riding a horse at night.
Not: I read a poetry …
We went on a trip to the Amazon when we were in Brazil.
Not: We went on a travel …
Countable and uncountable nouns with different meanings
Some nouns can be used either countably or uncountably, but with different meanings.
Uncountable nouns used countably
Measures and examples.
Sometimes uncountable nouns are used countably, to mean ‘a measure of something’ or ‘a type or example of something’:
Can I have two teas and one coffee , please? (two cups of tea and one cup of coffee …?)
A: How many sugars do you want in your tea? (How many spoonfuls/lumps of sugar?) B: Just one, please .
To some degree we tend to eat the foods that we ate as children. (i.e. types of food)
Abstract nouns
Some abstract nouns can be used uncountably or countably. The uncountable use has a more general meaning. The countable use has a more particular meaning.
Nouns of this type include: education, experience, hatred, help, knowledge, life, love, sleep, time, understanding .
Word of the Day
rescue centre
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a place where animals who are ill, injured, not cared for, or badly treated can be taken and given treatment and care
Binding, nailing, and gluing: talking about fastening things together
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English EFL
Countable and uncountable nouns.
It's important to distinguish between countable and uncountable nouns in English because their usage is different in regards to both determiners and verbs.
COUNTABLE NOUNS
Countable nouns are for things we can count using numbers. They have a singular and a plural form. The singular form can use the determiner "a" or "an". If you want to ask about the quantity of a countable noun, you ask "How many?" combined with the plural countable noun.
- She has three dogs .
- I own a house .
- I would like two books please.
- How many friends do you have?
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They may be the names for abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are too small or too amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.). Uncountable nouns are used with a singular verb. They usually do not have a plural form.
We cannot use a/an with these nouns. To express a quantity of an uncountable noun, use a word or expression like some, a lot of, much, a bit of, a great deal of , or else use an exact measurement like a cup of, a bag of, 1kg of, 1L of, a handful of, a pinch of, an hour of, a day of . If you want to ask about the quantity of an uncountable noun, you ask "How much?"
- There has been a lot of research into the causes of this disease.
- He gave me a great deal of advice before my interview.
- Can you give me some information about uncountable nouns?
- He did not have much sugar left.
- Measure 1 cup of water, 300g of flour, and 1 teaspoon of salt .
- How much rice do you want?
TRICKY SPOTS
Some nouns are countable in other languages but uncountable in English. They must follow the rules for uncountable nouns. The most common ones are: accommodation, advice, baggage, behavior, bread, furniture, information, luggage, news, progress, traffic, travel, trouble, weather, work
- I would like to give you some advice .
- How much bread should I bring?
- I didn't make much progress today.
- This looks like a lot of trouble to me.
- We did an hour of work yesterday.
Be careful with the noun hair which is normally uncountable in English, so it is not used in the plural. It can be countable only when referring to individual hairs.
- She has long blond hair.
- The child's hair was curly.
- I washed my hair yesterday.
- My father is getting a few grey hairs now. (refers to individual hairs)
- I found a hair in my soup! (refers to a single strand of hair)
Course Curriculum
- NOUN GENDER 15 mins
- Singular and Plural Nouns 25 mins
- Countable and Uncountable nouns 30 mins
- Compound Nouns 25 mins
- Capitalisation Rules 25 mins
- Nationalities 30 mins
- 1.1 Etymology
- 1.2 Pronunciation
- 1.3.1 Hyponyms
- 1.3.2 Derived terms
- 1.3.3 Translations
- 1.4 References
- 2.1 Alternative forms
- 2.2 Etymology
- 2.3 Pronunciation
- 2.4.1 Synonyms
- 2.5 References
English [ edit ]
Etymology [ edit ].
From Middle English assignement , from Old French assignement .
Pronunciation [ edit ]
- Rhymes: -aɪnmənt
Noun [ edit ]
assignment ( countable and uncountable , plural assignments )
- The act of assigning ; the allocation of a job or a set of tasks . This flow chart represents the assignment of tasks in our committee.
- ( LGBT ) The categorization of persons as belonging to the male or female sex .
- An assigned task . The assignment the department gave him proved to be quite challenging.
- A position to which someone is assigned. Unbeknownst to Mr Smith, his new assignment was in fact a demotion.
- ( education ) A task given to students, such as homework or coursework . Mrs Smith gave out our assignments , and said we had to finish them by Monday.
- ( law ) A transfer of a right or benefit from one person to another. The assignment of the lease has not been finalised yet.
- ( law ) A document that effects this transfer. Once you receive the assignment in the post, be sure to sign it and send it back as soon as possible.
- ( programming ) An operation that assigns a value to a variable .
Hyponyms [ edit ]
- ( programming ) : augmented assignment
Derived terms [ edit ]
- assignment operator
- frequency assignment
- Procrustean assignment
- time-assignment speech interpolation
- understand the assignment
Translations [ edit ]
References [ edit ], chinese [ edit ], alternative forms [ edit ].
- asm ( pseudo-acronym )
From English assignment .
- Cantonese ( Jyutping ) : aa 6 saai 1 man 4
- Jyutping : aa 6 saai 1 man 4
- Yale : ah s ā ai màhn
- Cantonese Pinyin : aa 6 saai 1 man 4
- Guangdong Romanization : a 6 sai 1 men 4
- Sinological IPA ( key ) : /aː²² saːi̯ ⁵⁵ mɐn ²¹ /
- ( Hong Kong Cantonese ) assignment ; homework ; coursework ( Classifier : 份 c )
Synonyms [ edit ]
- Bauer, Robert S. ( 2021 ) ABC Cantonese-English Comprehensive Dictionary , Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, →ISBN , page 10
- English Loanwords in Hong Kong Cantonese
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aɪnmənt
- Rhymes:English/aɪnmənt/3 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Education
- en:Programming
- English 3-syllable words
- en:Directives
- Cantonese terms borrowed from English
- Cantonese terms derived from English
- Chinese lemmas
- Cantonese lemmas
- Chinese nouns
- Cantonese nouns
- Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chinese terms written in foreign scripts
- Hong Kong Cantonese
- Chinese nouns classified by 份
- English entries with topic categories using raw markup
- English entries with language name categories using raw markup
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how much assignment vs. how many assignments
- Thread starter hydsky
- Start date Nov 24, 2014
Senior Member
- Nov 24, 2014
Which one should I use in the sentence below... Look how much assignment my professor gave us today! Look how many assignments my professor gave us today!
hydsky said: Which one should I use in the sentence below... Look how much assignment my professor gave us today! "assignment" is countable. Look how many assignments my professor gave us today! Click to expand...
I thought assignment can be both countable and uncountable, isn't it?
As far as I know, an assignment in the context of schoolwork is always countable. The questions that you must answer by Thursday are one assignment. The lab report that you must complete by Monday is one assignment. You have two assignments.
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Definition of assign verb from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
Questions about grammar and vocabulary?
Find the answers with Practical English Usage online, your indispensable guide to problems in English.
- 3 [ usually passive ] assign somebody to somebody/something to send a person to work under the authority of someone or in a particular group I was assigned to B platoon.
- 4 to say that something has a particular value or function, or happens at a particular time or place assign something to something Assign a different color to each different type of information. assign something sth The painting cannot be assigned an exact date.
- 5 assign something to somebody ( law ) to say that your property or rights now belong to someone else The agreement assigns copyright to the publisher. She has assigned the lease to her daughter.
Nearby words
Definition of 'assignment'
Video: pronunciation of assignment
assignment in British English
Assignment in american english, examples of 'assignment' in a sentence assignment, cobuild collocations assignment, trends of assignment.
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- assigned randomly
- assigned risk
- assimilability
- assimilable
- All ENGLISH words that begin with 'A'
Related terms of assignment
- seat assignment
- tough assignment
- writing assignment
- challenging assignment
- difficult assignment
- View more related words
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[countable] a task or piece of work that somebody is given to do, usually as part of their job or studies. Students are required to complete all homework assignments. You will need to complete three written assignments per semester. a business/special assignment ; I had set myself a tough assignment.
From Longman Business Dictionary assignment as‧sign‧ment / əˈsaɪnmənt / noun 1 [countable] a piece of work that someone is given My assignment was to save the company, whatever it took. 2 [uncountable] JOB when someone is given a particular job or task, or sent to work in a particular place or for a particular person With the agreement ...
The noun assignment can be countable or uncountable. In more general, commonly used, contexts, the plural form will also be assignment . However, in more specific contexts, the plural form can also be assignments e.g. in reference to various types of assignments or a collection of assignments. Find more words!
assignment in American English. (əˈsainmənt) noun. 1. something assigned, as a particular task or duty. She completed the assignment and went on to other jobs. 2. a position of responsibility, post of duty, or the like, to which one is appointed. He left for his assignment in the Middle East.
Nouns: countable and uncountable - English Grammar Today - a reference to written and spoken English grammar and usage - Cambridge Dictionary
A countable noun is one that refers to any countable person, place, object, or event. Spoon, orange, and books are examples of countable nouns. Countable nouns can be singular nouns or plural nouns. For example, we can say apple for one apple and apples for more than one apple. We can also say chair and chairs, song and songs, and cup and cups.
Common nouns can be categorized as countable or uncountable; they can also be singular (a student) or plural (the students). A collective noun names a ... In the same way, homework is not the particular assignment or assignments a student does. It is the general idea of students doing assignments. When a student says, "I have to do my
Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They may be the names for abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are too small or too amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.). Uncountable nouns are used with a singular verb. They usually do not have a plural form.
The countable sense is likely not appropriate, unless the speaker is talking about the book as "a reading [assignment]" assigned by a teacher. Otherwise, the uncountable sense of "material that can be read" is much more appropriate. As FumbleFingers points out, if the speaker wanted to use a countable word, "an essential read" is more natural.
assignment - WordReference English dictionary, questions, discussion and forums. All Free.
Examples of nouns that can be countable or uncountable; Type of noun Uncountable Countable Other examples; Abstract concepts: He rarely feels fear.: A fear of spiders is known as arachnophobia.: Concepts can often be countable or uncountable: weight, love, courage, strength, time, beauty, pressure, vision, business.
assignment (countable and uncountable, plural assignments) English Wikipedia has an article on: homework assignment. Wikipedia . English Wikipedia has an article on: sex assignment. Wikipedia . English Wikipedia has an article on: assignment (computer science) Wikipedia . The act of assigning; the allocation of a job or a set of tasks.
Traditionally, it is not countable, and most dictionaries list it as such. However, the Merriam-Webster thesaurus (although not the Merriam-Webster dictionary) does have an entry for homeworks. Moreover, the plural form is used by at least some groups of educated native speakers. One's best bet is to try to find out if one's audience belongs to ...
Eddie Kal. 18.9k 27 89 184. asked Jan 13, 2016 at 3:51. meez54. 4. In the US "homework" is considered to be a "mass" noun and articles are not used. (May be different in the UK or India.) A "homework assignment" is an individual piece of homework and does take an article. - Hot Licks.
As far as I know, an assignment in the context of schoolwork is always countable. The questions that you must answer by Thursday are one assignment. The lab report that you must complete by Monday is one assignment. You have two assignments.
1 to give someone something that they can use, or some work or responsibility assign something (to somebody) The two large classrooms have been assigned to us. The teacher assigned a different task to each of the children. assign somebody something We have been assigned the two large classrooms. The teacher assigned each of the children a different task.
7 meanings: 1. something that has been assigned, such as a mission or task 2. a position or post to which a person is assigned.... Click for more definitions.
De nition 3.1. A set Ais said to be countably in nite if jAj= jNj, and simply countable if jAj jNj. In words, a set is countable if it has the same cardinality as some subset of the natural numbers. In practise we will often just say \countable" when we really mean \countably in nite", when it is clear that the set involved is in nite.
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A set is countable if there is a bijection between it and a finite set or between it and N N. (a) you have three cases: A and B are finite, just one of them is finite, both of them are not finite. let n be the cardinality of A be n and the one of B m. Then you have a bijection f: {0, …, n − 1} → A f: { 0, …, n − 1 } → A and a ...