Writing great business copy is hard, especially when you’re not writing in your native language. You want your business writing to be error-free, and so do we.
One common error made by English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) speakers is confusion between count and non-count nouns.
You may not even know the difference between count and non-count nouns in your native language. Most English speakers couldn’t tell you what they are.
A count noun refers to a thing that exists as a distinct individual unit. A count noun can be expressed in the plural form. In English, this is typically achieved through using the plural suffix -s. For example, the plural of cat is cats and the plural of baby is babies. There are some irregular nouns in English that have plurals that are formed differently. For example, the plural of goose is geese and the plural of mouse is mice.
A non-count noun refers to a thing that can’t be counted because it is thought of as a whole that can’t be cut into parts. A non-count noun typically cannot be expressed in the plural form. For example, the plural of money is not moneys and the plural of milk is not milks.
This gets even more complicated when you add articles to the nouns. Singular count nouns can use the articles a, an, the, this, and that. Plural count nouns can use the articles the, these, those, or no article at all. noncount nouns can use the, this, that, or no article at all.
So, you can have a cat or this cat. You can have the cats, these cats, or cats. And, you can have the money, this money, or money.
To complicate things even further, certain types of adjectives have different usage depending on whether the noun is count or not. Singular count nouns can use each, every, any, and one. Plural count nouns can use some, any, most, more, all, a lot of, no, none of the, many, both, several, few/fewer/fewest, a few, one of the, and a couple of. Non-count nouns can use some, any, most, more, all, a lot of, no, none of the, much, less, little, a little, and very little.
So, you can have every cat or one cat. You can have some cats or few cats. And, you can have some money or less money.
Confused yet? Language can be very confusing. Alphabetix has experts on staff who can help you with the nuances of language and help you get your message across clearly. Have no fear; Alphabetix is here!
