1. Count (countable) nouns: (a) singular: one object
Concrete Nouns : nouns referring to objects (e.g. things, animals and people) and substances with physical existence
Count (countable) nouns:
(a) singular: one object
(a star, one star, a single star)
(b) plural: more than one object (two stars, three stars, ten stars, etc.)
(c) group: a set of objects, may be singular or plural
(one group of stars, three groups of stars)

2. A special group noun is used with certain kinds of objects:
an army (of soldiers)
a crew (of sailors)
a crowd (of people)
a gang (of thieves, bandit, etc.)
a herd (of cattle)
a pack (of cards, of cigarettes)
a flock (of sheep)

3. Many group nouns refers to a group of people having a special relationship with one another, or brought together for a particular reason:
tribe, family, committee, club, audience, government, administration, team, etc.
The choice of using a singular or plural verb depends on your meaning:
- the group as a unit OR
- the sum of its members
e.g. The audience is/are enjoying the show.
e.g. The HK government never makes up its mind/make up their minds in a hurry.

4. NOTE: people is not a group noun, but the plural of person.

5. Mass (uncountable) nouns refer to substances whether liquid or solid:
oil, water, butter, wood, leather, iron, rock, glass
Mass nouns are always SINGULAR: it makes no sense to “count” the quantity of a mass substance which is not naturally divisible into separate objects
E.g. There’s some milk in the refrigerator.
E.g. There are two bottles of milk in the refrigerator.

6. Some mass nouns should “really” be count because the “substance” is divisible into separate things.
By Unit:
e.g. a pieces of furniture; a blade of grass; a block of ice; a pile of rubbish; a lump of sugar; a sheet of paper; a bar of chocolate; a load of hay

7. By Depth: a foot of water
By Area: an acre/a hectare of land
By Length: a yard/meter of cloth
By Weight: an ounce of tobacco; a pound/kilo of butter; a ton of coal
By volume: a pint of beer; a quart of milk; a gallon/litre of oil
By types or species: Teak is a type of wood; a Toyota is a make of car; A lion is a species of mammal
Either the singular or plural of a count noun follows a plural species noun:
e.g. I like most kinds of dog/dogs (more informal)

8. A number of nouns can be both count and mass:
e.g.Wood (count): a forest; Wood (mass): the material of which trees are composed.
Many food nouns are count (whole state) but mass (food in the mass)
e.g. She baked a cake
Would you like (some) cake?
I bought a dozen eggs.
There’s some egg left on the plate.

9. In many cases in English has a separate count noun and a separate mass noun referring to the same thing:
Count Mass
a pig pork
a leaf foliage
a loaf bread
a meal food
a job (informal) work
a vehicle traffic

10. Abstract nouns: nouns refer to states, events, feelings
In general, abstract nouns can be either count or mass.
To events and occasions (count)
e.g. I had a talk with Harold
e.g. The committee had three meetings.
But “talk” (like sound, thought) can be a mass noun;
e.g. I dislike idle talk.
e.g. He was deep in thought

11. Other abstract nouns tend to be mass nouns: honesty, happiness, information, progress, etc.
e.g. Happiness is often a product of honesty and hard work.
e.g. I have some homework to finish.
e.g. He is engaged in scientific research.
The following nouns are mass nouns:
advice, anger, behaviour, chess, conduct, courage, dancing, harm, moonlight, news, parking, poetry, safety, shopping, smoking, sunshine, violence.

12. Amount/Quantity (Quantifiers)
Quantifiers like all, some and none can be applied to both count and mass nouns:
Applied to singular count nouns:
e.g. all of the cake (=the whole of the cake); some of the cake (=part of the cake); none of the cake
Applied to plural nouns:
e.g. all (of) the stars; some of the stars; none of the stars

13. Applied to mass nouns:
e.g. all of the land; some of the land; none of the land
NOTE these relations of meaning between all, some and none:
e.g. Some of the stars were invisible
=Not all (of) the stars were visible
e.g. None of the stars were visible
=All (of) the stars were invisible

14. With Count Nouns
With Mass Nouns
A Large Amount
Many [formal]
A lot [informal]
A large amount
Much [formal]
A great deal
A Small Amount
A few
A small number
A little
Not a Large Amount
Not many
few
Not much
little

15. NOTE: Few and little without a have a negative bias. Compare:
A few (= a small amount) of the students passed the test.
Few (= not many) of the students passed the test.

16. COUNT MASS (Uncountable) All/every all most most many much some some
more
More
many
much
Fewer
less
Less
some
some
several
A few
A little
few
little
No(ne)
Any

17. Mass Count Personal Non- personal Frequency Duration Degree all
All, every, each
Everyone, everybody
everything
always
Always, for ever
Absolutely, entirely, etc
Much,
A lot (of)
Many,
(many people)
(many things)
Often, frequently
(for) a long time
Very, (very) much
Some
Someone,
somebody
something
Sometimes
(for) some time
Rather, somewhat, quite
A little
A few
(a few people)
(a few things)
Occasional-ly
(for) a while
A little,
A bit
little
few
(few people)
(few things)
Rarely, seldom
Not…(for) long
Scarcely,
Hardly
No(ne)
No one, nobody
nothing
never
------
Not…at all
any
Anyone, anybody
anything
ever
At all

18. Any Any can sometimes replace all and every in positive sentences:
Any (= all, every) good teacher studies his subject carefully.
But:
You can paint the wall any (= red or green or blue or..) colour you like.
Every colour (=red and green and blue)
Any can be used with mass and plural count nouns:
Any land is valuable these days.
You’re lucky to find any shops open on Sunday.