Mass Nouns

What Are Mass Nouns?

A mass noun (or non-countable noun or noncount noun as it's also known) is a noun without a plural form. Put another way, a mass noun is one that cannot be counted.

Mass Noun	Attempt At Making It Plural
petrol	four petrols
furniture	four furnitures
lumber	four lumbers
gold	four golds

Mass nouns are singular. Show Me More Mass Nouns

Common Categories of Mass Nouns

Non-countable nouns usually fall into one of the following categories:

Category	Example
Concept	gallantry, morality, information, aptitude, patience
Activity	homework, singing, reading, fishing
Food	bread, butter, cheese, fish, milk
Gas	air, helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, smoke
Liquid	beer, coffee, petrol, water, wine
Material	cloth, concrete, lumber, wood, metal
Item Category	clothing, furniture, luggage, money
Natural Phenomenon	gravity, heat, humidity, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder
Particles	flour, grit, salt, sugar

Mass Nouns vs Countable Nouns

Mass nouns contrast with countable nouns, which can be pluralized. Here are some examples of countable nouns:

• ant, beaver, cat, dodo, earwig, fence, gannet, horse, inkwell
(Note that these all have plural forms, e.g., "ants," "beavers," "cats.")

Show Me More Countable Nouns Read more about the term "plural".

Some Nouns Can Be Countable or Non-countable

As a general rule, mass nouns cannot be pluralized. However, some can be pluralized when talking about categories of that noun (e.g., varieties or measures of the noun). This is most common with mass nouns in the food and liquid categories. For example:

• Israel is famous for its baby cheeses.
(Varieties of cheese)
• Chile is well known for its many fine wines.
(Varieties of wine)
• Can I have four coffees?
(Measures of coffee)

Why Mass Nouns Are Important

Here are two noteworthy points related to mass nouns.

(Point 1) Making Mass Nouns Plural

Here are two methods to pluralize a concept expressed by a mass noun:

Method 1:

Precede it with a [countable noun] + "of."

For example:

• three loaves of bread
("Loaves" is the countable noun.)
• six pieces of gold
("Pieces" is the countable noun.)

Method 2:

Make the mass noun an "adjective" to a countable noun.

For example:

• three bread loaves
• six gold pieces

(Issue 2) Using the Right Quantifier with a Mass Noun

Use "amount of" with a mass noun. The terms "quantity of" and "number of" are used with countable nouns. For example:

• Amount of patience
• Quantity of lumber

Read more about using "amount of," "quantity of," and "number of." Read more about countable nouns.

Key Point