THE NONCOUNT NOUN RECOGNIZE A NONCOUNT NOUN WHEN YOU SEE ONE.

Nouns name people, places, things, and ideas. Most nouns have a singular and plural form. a surfer/ two surfers a pickle/ two pickles Some nouns, however, have only a singular form; you cannot add a number to the front or an s to the end of these words. This group of nouns is called NONCOUNT NOUNS.

Examples: After two months of rainstorms, Chris carries his umbrella everywhere in anticipation of more bad weather. rainstorms = count noun weather = noncount noun Because Big Toe Joe has ripped all four chairs with his claws, Rachel wants to buy new furniture and find the cat a new home. chairs = count noun furniture = noncount noun

Know the different categories of noncount nouns.

Abstractions Example: We practice patriotism by celebrating the Fourth of July. advice, courage, enjoyment, fun, help, honesty, information, intelligence, knowledge, patience, etc.

Activities Example: We played Monopoly for six hours last Saturday. homework, swimming, housework, music, Scrabble, Monopoly, reading, singing, sleeping, soccer, tennis, work, etc.

Food Example: Grandma Brown baked homemade bread for dinner. beef, bread, butter, fish, macaroni, meat, popcorn, pork, poultry, toast, etc.

Particles or Grains Example: Do you like pepper on your french fries? corn, dirt, dust, flour, hair, rice, salt, sugar, wheat, and pepper (black, white or ground, but not green or bell)

Gases Example: Exhaust from cars can cause pollution. air, exhaust, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, pollution, smog, smoke, steam, etc.

Groups of Similar Items Example – Katy placed her suitcase on the rack with her family’s luggage. NoncountCount luggagesuitcase clothingshirt furniturechair mailletter jewelrynecklace moneydollar

Things Made of Small Pieces Example: Mr. Brown was unhappy when his wife insisted they plant more grass in the front yard. grass, sand, gravel, dirt, clay, etc.

Liquids Example: Sam tried to fill the pool by pouring water from a bucket. blood, coffee, gasoline, milk, oil, soup, syrup, tea, water, wine, etc.

Natural Events Example: When he first moved to Wisconsin, Jose liked snow, but after five years he was missing sunshine. electricity, gravity, heat, humidity, moonlight, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder, weather, etc.

Materials Example: We had a big stack of lumber in the back yard. aluminum, asphalt, chalk, cloth, concrete, cotton, glue, lumber, wood, wool, etc.

Understand that some nouns are both noncount and count! Sometimes a word that means one thing as a noncount noun has a slightly different meaning if it also has a countable version. Remember, then, that the classifications count and noncount are not absolute.

Time is a good example. When you use this word to mean the unceasing flow of experience that includes past, present, and future, with no distinct beginning or end, then time is a noncount noun. Read this example: Time dragged as Simon sat through yet another boring chick flick with his girlfriend. Time = noncount because it has no specific beginning and, for poor Simon, no foreseeable end.

When time refers to a specific experience which starts at a certain moment and ends after a number of countable units [minutes, hours, days, etc.], then the noun is count. Here is an example: On his last trip to Disney World, Joe rode Space Mountain twenty-seven times. Times = count because a ride on Space Mountain is a measurable unit of experience, one that you can clock with a stopwatch.

Kobe Bryant uses a basketball (count noun)to play the game of basketball (noncount noun).