Study materials
Ukrainian can hand out three advices quite happily. English cannot: the word advice does not take a count.
three advices → three pieces of advice
English splits all nouns into two groups: those that exist as units and those that exist as a mass. The article, the plural and the form of the verb all depend on it.
Two groups
Countable words name separate things you could point at one by one. Uncountable words name a substance, a material or an idea.
| Counted in units | Not counted |
|---|---|
| a banana, two bananas | milk |
| a chair, four chairs | furniture |
| an idea, many ideas | information |
Mostly the split matches common sense. The trouble is only in a handful of words where English thinks differently from us.
The words that catch us out
Here is the short list of exceptions worth simply memorising. Ukrainian counts them; English does not.
advice, information, news
money, furniture, homework
bread, rice, cheese
All of them behave as singular, even where Ukrainian would use a plural.
The money is on the table.
What changes in the sentence
Three things depend on the group at once: the article, the plural and the form of be.
There is an orange.
There are three oranges.
The water is cold.
Remember the main point: a and an go only in front of a singular countable word. They never appear before an uncountable one.
How to count the uncountable
Counting is still possible, but through a middleman: a container, a piece or a unit. The plural then goes onto that middleman.
a glass of water, two cups of coffee
a piece of advice, three pieces of information
a loaf of bread, a kilo of rice
Notice that the word after of never changes. Only what stands in front of it does.
The mistakes everyone makes
The first is putting an article in front of an uncountable word.
I need an information. → I need some information.
The second is adding an s where no plural exists.
He gave me two advices. → He gave me two pieces of advice.
The third is taking a plural verb out of Ukrainian habit.
The money are mine. → The money is mine.
All three are caught by one question. Can I say "one of these, two of these"? If not, the word is uncountable and must be treated as singular.
Try it right now
Look in your fridge or at your desk and name three things in English that are counted and three that are not.
Then count one of the uncountable ones through a container or a piece.