Page 173 - English Vocabualry In Use 3 (Upper Intermediate)

83 Uncountable nouns

A What are uncountable nouns?

Countablenounscanbeusedwitha/anandmadeplural(e.g.ahat,twohats).Uncountable
nounsarenotnormallyusedwitha(n)ortheplural,e.g.information(NOTaninformationorsome
informations).Youcanlearnuncountablenounsingroupsassociatedwiththesamesubjectorarea.
Herearesomeusefulheadings.

B Travel

luggage accommodation money information transport
baggage (more currency
common than
luggage in AmE) Language help

Travel is an uncountable noun, e.g. Travel
C Food broadens the mind. If you want to refer to

Thewordfoodisusuallyuncountable,andsoaremany an individual occasion of travel, use
foodnames.Otheruncountablefoodwordscanbe journey or trip, e.g. It was a very long
addedtothislist. journey. (NOT a very long travel) She
was away on a business trip for three
sugar rice spaghetti butter bread days. (NOT a business travel)
flour soup

D Abstract uncountable nouns and nouns for activities

Shegavemesomeadviceonhowtostudyfortheexam.
Ipickedupsomeinterestingknowledgeonthatcourse.
She’smadealotofprogressinaveryshorttime.
Shehasdonesomeresearchonmarinelife.
They’vedonealotofworkontheproject.
Theteacheralwaysgivesushomeworkattheweekend.
Doyouhaveanyexperienceofworkingwithchildren?
Wealth[state of being rich]doesnotguaranteehappiness,butneitherdoespoverty.[state of
being poor]

E Material and resources
Formakingclothes,furniture,etc.:cloth(e.g.silk) leather Forenergy:coal oil
Forbuildings:stone brick plastic General:equipment software

F Other common uncountable nouns

Ihavesomenewsforyou:Henryisgettingmarried.
Whatlovelyweather!Let’sgoforawalk.

Common mistakes

Although you may have learnt these words and their meanings before, it is very easy to continue
making mistakes with them.
We say: What terrible weather! I have some news for you. We bought some new furniture.
(NOT What a terrible weather! I have a news for you. We bought some new furnitures.)
See Unit 86 for ways of making uncountable nouns countable.

172 English Vocabulary in Use Upper-intermediate