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Many nouns in English are uncountable: they do not have plural
forms and cannot be
counted in the normal way (one ___
, two ___ , etc.). These nouns are often names for
materials that have
mass but cannot be separated
into units (for example, water,
sugar,
milk).
Because uncountable nouns
do
not have singular and plural forms, the articles a and
an cannot be
used with them. Quantifiers
such as some, any, a little, and a lot of are used instead.
Examples:
I want some
orange juice.
Do you have any
orange
juice?
No,
there isn't any
orange
juice.
I'd
like a little
orange juice.
We usually have a
lot of orange juice, but
we don't
have any
today.
Note:
Use any
in negative statements and in questions.
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Uncountable nouns can also be
used without quantifiers:
She doesn't like orange juice.
Orange juice tastes better
when it is fresh than when it is
frozen.
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