I - Those
nouns are invariable in form ; they are never preceded by a (an)
and cannot be quantified by one, two, three, etc.
When the
alarm clock rang, there was complete chaos
He showed great courage
You should follow his advice
We should
use many and few with plural countable nouns ...
We didn't take many photographs
I have a few jobs to do
...and much and little with uncountable nouns
We didn't do much shopping
I have a little work to do
II - A number
of uncoutable nouns are singular, they are followed by the singular
form of the verb and pronominalised by it.
Among them :
->Most nouns referring to matters : milk, butter, steel (l'acier),
wool (la laine), ice, fruit, gold, silver, jam (confiture), tea,
petrol (l'essence), etc.
->baggage des bagages), luggage (les bagages), furniture (les
meubles), rubbish (les ordures), applause (les applaudissements),
weather (le temps),information (les renseignements), hair (des
cheveux), toast (du pain grillé), advice (des conseils),
blackmail (le chantage), etc.
->most abstract nouns expressing notions, qualities, faults,
feelings : beauty, wisdom (la sagesse), courage, hope (l'espoir),
love, friendship, intelligence, progress (le progrès),
chaos, etc.
->nouns depicting human activities (among them sports) : cricket,
darts (les fléchettes), billards (le billard), draughts
(le jeu de dames), cooking (la cuisine), travel (les voyages),
shopping (les courses), leisure (les loisirs), etc.
->names of languages : Spanish, French, etc.
->most diseases : tuberculosis, chicken-pox (la varicelle),
measles (la rougeole), mumps (les oreillons), etc.
->colours : yellow, red, etc.
->News (les nouvelles, les informations)
->nouns expressing a set of elements : clothes in the case
of nouns formed with -wear, and goods in the case of nouns formed
with -ware : sportswear (les vêtements de sport), software
(les logiciels), etc.
exemples
All luggage
that is left unattended will be destroyed.
Darts is a predominantly British game.
The news was devastating (cette nouvelle a fait l'effet d'une
bombe).
That information has proved wrong.
No news is good news.
Your toast is ready.
Your hair is dirty.Wash it!
III - Other uncountable nouns are plural ; they are followed by
the plural form of the verb and pronominalised by they.
->the
following nouns are plural ; they refer to dual objects : bermudas
(un bermuda), binoculars (des jumelles), compasses (un compas),
glasses (des lunettes), jeans (un jean), pyjamas (un pyjama),
scales (une balance), scissors (des ciseaux), shorts (un short),
trousers (un pantalon), etc.
pyjamas are
tacky. (Le pyjama c'est ringard.)
his jeans were torn.
They can be preceded by a pair of.
->nouns
referring to a general group or category are plural : cattle (le
bétail), poultry (la volaille), police (la police), clergy
(le clergé), people (les gens), etc.
The police
are investigating the case. La police enquête.
The clergy are badly paid. Le clergé est mal payé.
->the
nouns : brains (le cerveau, l'intellect), customs (la douane),
goods (les biens), looks (l'apparence), manners (la conduite),
remains (les restes, la dépouille), stairs (les escaliers),
wages (le salaire), morals (la morale), etc.
Her looks
are stunning but her manners are very poor.
Elle a vraiment de l'allure mais sa conduite laisse à désirer.
Joël Le Deroff/Maëlla Beddou
IV - uncountable nouns being exclusive of the indefinite article,
the means of distinguishing units is the use of " splitting
indicators " such as a piece of, an item of, etc.
Examples
:
advice (des conseils) a piece of advice (un conseil) Work (du
travail) A piece (a stroke) of work
Blackmail (du chantage) A piece of blackmail un chantage) Business
(les affaires) A business deal (une affaire)
Cloth (du tissu) A piece of cloth (un tissu) Transport (les moyens
de transport) A means of transport (un moyen de transport)
furniture A piece of furniture Weather (le temps qu'il fait) A
spell (of rainy) weather =un temps pluvieux
Information (des renseignements) A piece of information (un renseignement)
Clothing (les vêtements) An article of clothing (un vêtement)
Luck (de la chance) A piece of luck (une chance) Dust (de la poussière)
A speck of dust (une poussière)
Music (de la musique) A piece of music (une musique) Toast (du
pain grillé) A slice of toast (une tartine grillée,
un toast)
News (les informations) An item (a piece) of news (une information)
Grass (de l'herbe) A blade of grass (une herbe)
Laughter (le rire) A peal of laughter (un rire) Rain (de la pluie)
A shower of rain (une pluie)
Smoke (de la fumée) A trail (a puff, a wreath) of smoke=une
fumée Lightening (la foudre) A flash of lightening (un
éclair)
Thunder (le tonnerre) A peal of thunder (un roulement de tonnerre)
Abuse (les insultes) A word of abuse (une insulte)
Chalk (de la craie) A piece of chalk (une craie) Sugar (du sucre)
A lump of sugar (un sucre)
In certain
instances, English resorts to a different noun compatible with
a (an) :
Drama (le
théâtre) A play (une pièce de théâtre)
Progress (des progrès A step forward/an advance/an improvement
(un progrès)
Work (du travail) A job (un travail) People (des gens) A person
(une personne)*
Poetry (la poésie) A poem (une poésie, un poème)
Police (la police, des agents de police) A policeman/ a policewoman
Money (de l'argent) A coin (une pièce), a note (un billet)
Abuse (des insultes) An insult (une insulte)
*Increasingly
people tends to be used as the plural of person, instead of persons.
NB :
1-"Indicators" also are used in order to express the
plural :
I saw several
flashes of lightening.
I gave him two or three pieces of advice.
2-they are
also used with plural uncountable nouns :
Jeans /A
pair of jeans Pyjamas/A pair of pyjamas
Trousers/A pair of trousers Scissors/A pair of scissors
V - Some nouns function at times like "countables" and
at other times like "uncountables" :
In current
usage, the shifts are frequent from one class to the other, according
to the global meaning of the nominal group in which the noun is
found. Nouns referring to matters like : beer, cereal, cheese,
coffee, fruit, tea, wood, etc., may function like " countables"
when they express the idea of "varieties of".
Examples :
Tea, please ! Du thé, s'il vous plaît ! / Three teas,
please ! Trois thés, s'il vous plaît !
Yes, madam, we have nearly all the teas here. Nous avons presque
toutes les variétés de thé.
I had fish for lunch. J'ai eu du poisson au déjeuner.
I have two goldfish. J'ai deux poissons rouges.
Beer is a
bitter drink. La bière est un breuvage amer.
I think I ordered two beers. Il me semble avoir commandé
deux bières.
A new hope
was taking shape in his heart. Un nouvel espoir naissait dans
son coeur.
His loves were varied and many. Il avait des amours nombreux et
divers.
He did it with a courage that surprised everyone.
VI - There exist nouns the meaning and grammatical functioning
of which are different even when their forms are identical :
People (les gens) A people (un peuple) Business (les affaires)
A business (une entreprise, un commerce)
Youth (la jeunesse) Two youths (2 jeunes gens) Paper (du papier)
A paper (un journal)
Glass (du verre) A glass (un verre)
My glasses (mes lunetttes) Work (du travail) A work (of art)=une
œuvre (d'art)
Iron (du fer) An iron (un fer à repasser) Country (la campagne)
A country (un pays)
REMARKS :
1- Uncountable
nouns ending in -ics are followed by the singular form of the
verb when they refer to the science : Mathematics is an exact
science. Les mathématiques sont une science exacte.
They are followed by the plural form of the verb when they refer
to a specific attitude or situation : What are your politics ?
Quelles sont vos opinions politiques ?
2- An interesting
example of such a shift from one class to the other can be found
in nouns refering either to animal or meat : obviously the animal
is countable (a few chickens, many rabbits, three lambs, etc .),
but when it refers to the meat the noun is uncountable :
I am very
fond of rabbit. J'aime beaucoup le lapin.
Chicken is getting expensive. Le poulet devient cher.
In order
to refer to certain kinds of meat, different nouns are used for
animal and meat:
Pig/pork
ox/beef calf/veal (veau) sheep/mutton.
