Count? or Non-count? These are the REAL Questions

 

Nouns in English are divided up as to whether they are things that can be COUNTED or NOT COUNTED.

For example, the word THINGS — I have 1 thing but 2 things. Therefore I can count the word THING.

COUNT NOUNS can have an “-S” added to the end to mean PLURAL. But NON-COUNT NOUNS CANNOT HAVE “-S”

For example, the word STUFF — STUFF is plural (you can never have “one stuff”). But it CAN’T HAVE “-S” because you just can’t count STUFF.

Another good check on whether a noun is COUNT or NON-COUNT is if we can add MANY or MUCH to it.

For example, “There are many things in this room.” (“Many things” means I could count just HOW MANY there are.

But I CANNOT SAY, “There are many stuff in this room.” 

I can say, “There’s too much stuff here!” (MUCH describes NON-COUNT NOUNS)

So, if I can count the noun, I use “MANY”.

If I can’t count it, I use “MUCH”.

Some NON-COUNT NOUNS are

• A mass: work, equipment, homework, money, transportation, clothing, luggage, jewelry, traffic.
• A natural substance: air, ice, water, fire, wood, blood, hair, gold, silver.
• Food: milk, rice, coffee, bread, sugar, meat, water.
• An abstract concept: advice, happiness, health, education, research, knowledge, information, time.