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.
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.
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
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？）
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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