Staff Site Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta NON COUNT NOUNS
UN COUN TABLE N OUN S
I . N ames of Subst ances
Br ead
Beer
Clot h
Cof f ee
cr eam
dust
glass
oil
gold
ice
j am
st one
paper
sand
soap
wood
t ea
wat er
wine
2. Abst ract N ouns
Advice
Beaut y
Cour age
Deat h
ex per ience
f ear
help
hope
hor r or
inf or mat ion
knowledge
mer cy
pit y
r elief
suspicion
wor k
3. Also considered uncount able:
Baggage
f ur nit ur e
luggage
weat her
Experience meaning ‘somet hing which happened t o someone’ is count able:
He had an ex cit ing ex per ience/ some ex cit ing ex per iences
(=advent ur e/ s).
Work meaning ‘occupat ion/ employment / a j ob/ j obs’ is singular :
He’s looking f or wor k/ f or a j ob.
I do homewor k.
Works can mean ‘f act or y’ or ‘moving par t s of a machine’.
Works can be used of lit er ar y or musical composit ions:
Shakespear e’s complet e wor ks.
Some abst r act nouns can be used in a par t icular sense wit h a/ an, but in
t he singular only:
My childr en ar e a gr eat help t o me.
I t was a r elief t o sit down.
He had a good knowledge of mat hemat ics.
I t ’s a pit y you wer en’t t her e.
I t ’s a shame he wasn’t paid.
a love of music
a hat r ed of violence
Uncount able nouns ar e always singular and ar e usually not used wit h a/ an:
I don’t want (any) advice or help. I want (some) inf or mat ion.
He has had no ex per ience in t his sor t of wor k.
These nouns ar e of t en pr eceded by some, any, no, a lit t le, or by nouns
such as bit , piece, and slice of :
A bit of news
A cake of soap
A dr op of oil
a gr ain of sand
a pane of glass
a piece of advice
a pot of j am
a sheet of paper
I . N ames of Subst ances
Br ead
Beer
Clot h
Cof f ee
cr eam
dust
glass
oil
gold
ice
j am
st one
paper
sand
soap
wood
t ea
wat er
wine
2. Abst ract N ouns
Advice
Beaut y
Cour age
Deat h
ex per ience
f ear
help
hope
hor r or
inf or mat ion
knowledge
mer cy
pit y
r elief
suspicion
wor k
3. Also considered uncount able:
Baggage
f ur nit ur e
luggage
weat her
Experience meaning ‘somet hing which happened t o someone’ is count able:
He had an ex cit ing ex per ience/ some ex cit ing ex per iences
(=advent ur e/ s).
Work meaning ‘occupat ion/ employment / a j ob/ j obs’ is singular :
He’s looking f or wor k/ f or a j ob.
I do homewor k.
Works can mean ‘f act or y’ or ‘moving par t s of a machine’.
Works can be used of lit er ar y or musical composit ions:
Shakespear e’s complet e wor ks.
Some abst r act nouns can be used in a par t icular sense wit h a/ an, but in
t he singular only:
My childr en ar e a gr eat help t o me.
I t was a r elief t o sit down.
He had a good knowledge of mat hemat ics.
I t ’s a pit y you wer en’t t her e.
I t ’s a shame he wasn’t paid.
a love of music
a hat r ed of violence
Uncount able nouns ar e always singular and ar e usually not used wit h a/ an:
I don’t want (any) advice or help. I want (some) inf or mat ion.
He has had no ex per ience in t his sor t of wor k.
These nouns ar e of t en pr eceded by some, any, no, a lit t le, or by nouns
such as bit , piece, and slice of :
A bit of news
A cake of soap
A dr op of oil
a gr ain of sand
a pane of glass
a piece of advice
a pot of j am
a sheet of paper