Lesson 18. Oceanic odyssey reading: Oceanic Odyssey Speaking: Oceanic Odyssey

Uncountable nouns used countably
Measures and examples
Sometimes uncountable nouns are used countably, to mean ‘a measure of something’ or ‘a type or example of something’:
Can I have two teas and one coffee, please? (two cups of tea and one cup of coffee …?)
A:
How many sugars do you want in your tea? (How many spoonfuls/lumps of sugar?)
B:
Just one, please.
To some degree we tend to eat the foods that we ate as children. (i.e. types of food)
Abstract nouns
Some abstract nouns can be used uncountably or countably. The uncountable use has a more general meaning. The countable use has a more particular meaning.
Nouns of this type include: education, experience, hatred, help, knowledge, life, love, sleep, time, understanding.
Compare

uncountable use	countable use
Good education is the best investment in Britain’s future. (education in general)	The first daughter had a very expensive education at a private school in France. (the time one person spent at school)
Love is like a physical pain for some people. (love in general/all love)	I’ve always had a love of poetry, ever since I was a child. (a specific liking for something)
They have a quiz every week, with questions about generalknowledge. (all knowledge/knowledge in general)	The job requires a knowledge of statistics and basic computing. (a specific type of knowledge)
Time passes more and more quickly as you grow older. (time in general)	We had a great time in Ibiza. We didn’t want to come home. (a specific period of time)

Exercise 1. Decide whether these nouns are countable (C) or uncountable (U)

The children are playing in the garden.
I don't like milk.
I prefer tea. 
Scientists say that the environment is threatened by solution. 
My mother uses butter to prepare cakes. 
There are a lot of windows in our classroom. 
We need some glue to fix this vase. 
The waiters in this restaurant are very professional. 
My father drinks two big glasses of water every morning. 
The bread my mother prepares is delicious. 
Drivers must be careful; the road is slippery. 
Some policemen are organizing road traffic to avoid any accidents. 
I bought three bottles of mineral water for our picnic. 
I'd like some juice please! 
Successful candidates will join the camp later this year. 
A rise in oil prices is inevitable since there is more and more world demand for energy. 
The exercises on this website are interesting. 
Dehydrated babies must drink a lot of water. 
Adult illiterates learn through a special government program. 
I met some nice people when I was walking along the beach.