Count and Non-count Nouns

Count and Non-count Nouns

Common nouns are either count or non-count. COUNT nouns can be "counted", as follows:       one pen, two pens, three pens, four pens...   NON-COUNT nouns, on the other hand, cannot be counted in this way:        one software, *two softwares, *three softwares, *four softwares...   From the point of view of grammar, this means that count nouns have singular as well as plural forms, whereas non-count nouns have only a singular form.    It also means that non-count nouns do not take a/an before them:     Count Non-count a pen  *a software    In general, non-count nouns are considered to refer to indivisible wholes. For this reason, they are sometimes called MASS nouns.   Some common nouns may be either count or non-count, depending on the kind of reference they have. For example, in I made a cake, cakeis a count noun, and the a before it indicates singular number. However, in I like cake, the reference is less specific. It refers to "cake in general", and so cake is non-count in this sentence.