UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
These are strange creatures that confuse many students and even a few teachers. Uncountable nouns refer to items that normally cannot be counted such as:
Sand
Hair
Equipment
Water
Sugar
Salt
Uncountable nouns are treated as being singular:
e.g.That girl has long hair. Not long hairs. ‘You must comb your hair. Not hairs.
The staffroom is full of computer equipment. Not equipments.
The bath is full of water. Not waters.
But, as always with English there are exceptions. You can sometimes make the uncountable, countable. For example, you can put water in glasses and count the number of glasses.
So we can say, ‘I have five glasses of water.’ Or, ‘I would like two teaspoons of sugar.’
Other confusing items are those that have two identical parts
Such as trousers that have two legs, glasses that have two arms and scissors that have two blades.
Even though these words a appear plural they can be treated as singular.
Example: ‘ I am wearing my trousers today.’ This refers to only one pair of trousers.
‘Mrs. Kafare is wearing her glasses today.’ It is only one pair of glasses.
‘Can I borrow your scissors.’ This refers to only one pair of scissors.
A K10 canteen voucher will be given on Monday morning for the best Haiku that contains the words, scissors, trousers and glasses.
Comments