Mass nouns and count nouns (GE 3,4)

What do milk, coffee, sugar, salt and rice have in common? Of course, they are all edible. But they are all mass nouns, too!

Mass nouns name things that cannot be quantified or counted by a number. Thus, we cannot say two milks, three coffees, four sugars, five salts or six rices.

Instead, we can use certain words to indicate the quantity or amount of mass nouns.

For example, we may say a quart of milk, a cup of coffee, a teaspoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a sack of rice. In the preceding example, the words quart, bottle, teaspoon, pinch and sack are used as counters. Counters are used to show the quantity or amount of mass nouns, Counters may also take the plural form. For example, we may say two teaspoons of sugar or three sacks of rice. Below are examples of  mass nouns with counters.

* a kilo of chicken
*a scoop of ice cream
* a bottle of vinegar
* two bowls of soup
* three glasses of water
* two liters of water

Challenge yourself
In each number, choose and underline the mass noun that may be best quantified by the given counter on the left.

1. a bag of (flour, oil)
2. a spoonful of (meat,sugar)
3. ten kilos of  (chalk,rice)
4. two bars of (soap,ink)
5. strands of (sand,hair)
6. five  liters of (gasoline,salt)
7. a dash of (pepper,soup)
8. grains of (cloth,sand)
9. two loaves of (bread,fish)
10. ten sheets of (ice cream, paper)