COUNT NOUNS AND MASS NOUNS

 LEARNING TIP

Some things can be "counted".   eg cars, children, apples...

Others cannot be "counted" .    eg  grass, milk, information...

A count noun can be singular or plural. We can say "a horse" or "two horses".

A mass nouns covers an entire concept which cannot be divided.

Mass nouns cannot take a/an. We cannot say * a bread or * two breads . .

Although they are neither plural nor singular, mass nouns always remain in the singular. If we want to say how much of  the mass, we use a count noun + of + mass noun .

           a)Two bottles of milk

           b)Three loaves of bread

           c)Four sheets of paper

          d)Two bits of information

          e)An item of news

TO THE FRENCH LEARNER

 Some things are "counted" in French and not in English.

         a)We had horrible weather. = Nous avons eu un temps épouvantable. (Notez l'absence d'article en anglais)

         b)You have pretty hair = Vous avez de beaux cheveux ( pretty hairs = de beaux poils!)

The same applies to :

        advice, information, equipment, fun, laughter, furniture, knowledge, luggage, baggage,  progress, rubbish, scenery, traffic, travel , transport, work, homework, housework, camping, spaghetti...  

These nouns are often not countable in English. Depending on what they mean, they want a count noun + of  in front of them, eg "Two pieces of furniture" = deux meubles.