Grammar Handbook: Mass and Count Nouns

来源：

http://www.cws.illinois.edu/workshop/writers/massnouns/

Every noun can also be distinguished as count or mass.

名词分两种：可数、不可数。

Count Nouns

Count nouns are nouns that can be quantified or counted with a number.

可数名词：试一下，能不能板着手指数一下？看看下面的例子。应该容易看懂。

A few examples:

·      Names of persons, animals, plants, insects, and their parts:  a boy, a kitten, a rose, an ear, three boys, seven kittens, twelve roses, two ears

·      Objects with a definite shape: a building, a balloon, a house, an octopus, four buildings, six balloons, four houses, two octopi

·      Units of measurement and words of classification: a gram, a pound, a piece, a lump, an item, a bit, a family, a state, a language, a phrase, a word

·      Some abstract words: a hindrance, a scheme, an idea, a plan, a taboo, a rest

评论：可数名词难在“抽象名词”上。比如：a hindrance, a scheme, an idea, a plan, a taboo, a rest。下面四条可以用来检验某名词是否可数。 

Tests for Count Nouns:

• Count nouns can be quantified by a number.

• They have singular and plural forms.

• They can use a, an, or one as a modifier.

• They can use "many" as a modifier.

Mass Nouns

Mass nouns are uncountable by a number. Mass nouns are quantified by a word that signifies amount. 

不可数名词：你没有办法用手指头数的。看看下面的例子。

A few examples:

·      Materials, food, metals, and natural qualities: bread, cotton, wood, lightness, adolescence

·      Names of liquids, gases, and substances made of many small particles: cappuccino, oil, smoke, oxygen, rice, sugar, salt, cement, gravel

·      Names of languages: English, Spanish, French, Latin, Sanskrit, Chinese

·      Most gerunds: looking, listening, swimming, running, anticipating

评论：显然，不可数名词比可数的难多了。它还包括动名词。

Remember that a number can not be used to quantify a mass noun. Incorrect: four woods, one rice, three courages.

评论：不可数名词，不能用数字：four woods, one rice。也不能加s：three courages。

那，应该如何表达我有多么富有呢？看看下面的例子。

To measure or classify mass nouns, use "of" after a measurement: 

a foot of wood, 

a pound of rice, 

an ounce of courage, 

a bar of chocolate, 

a piece of music, 

a bag of money （哇塞！Where？Where？）

下面四条可以用来检验某名词是否可数。

Tests for Mass Nouns:

• Mass nouns are quantified by an amount rather than a number.

• They have only one form (singular).

• They cannot have "a," "an," or "one" before them as modifiers.

• They can use "much" as a modifier.

希望你现在有了一点点收获。

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