Academic Writing

3 Uncountable nouns
(a) Most nouns in English are countable, but the following are generally uncountable (i.e.
they are not usually used with numbers or the plural ‘s’).
accommodation
data information
advice
education knowledge
behaviour
equipment money
commerce
furniture news

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permission
scenery
trouble
progress
staff
vocabulary
research
traffic
weather
rubbish
travel
work
Many of these can be ‘counted’ by using an extra noun:
A piece
of advice
Three patterns 
of behaviour
An item
of equipment
Six members
of staff
(b) Another group of uncountable nouns is used for materials:
wood/rubber/iron/coffee/paper/water/oil/stone
Little wood is used in the construction of motor vehicles.
Huge amounts of paper are needed to produce these magazines.
Many of these nouns can be used as countable nouns with a rather different meaning:
Over twenty daily papers are published in Delhi.
Most woods are home to a wide variety of birds.
(c) The most difficult group can be used either as countable or uncountable nouns, often
with quite different meanings (further examples: business/capital/experience):
She developed an interest in genetics. (countable)
The bank is paying 4 per cent interest. (uncountable)
Other nouns with a similar pattern are used for general concepts (e.g. love/fear/hope):
Most people feel that life is too short. (uncountable – in general)
Nearly twenty lives were lost in the mining accident. (countable – in particular)
4 Practice A
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Choose the correct alternative in these sentences.
(a) Little/few news about the accident was released.
(b) He established three successful businesses/business in 2011.
(c) Substantial experiences/experience of report writing are/is required.
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