Some nouns are UNCOUNTABLE. That means that they don’t have a plural form and cannot be used with an indefinite article. The most common uncountable nouns are liquids, but there are others too.
So, how do we quantify an uncountable noun? We give it a unit!
- MILK – a glass or milk, a bottle of milk, a carton of milk, but never a milk*.
- WATER – a glass of water, a pitcher of water, but never a water*.
- TEA – a packet ot tea, a cup of tea, a pot of tea, but never a tea*.
- BREAD – a slice of bread, a loaf of bread, but never a bread.
*NOTE: There are time when you can order something in a restaurant without a unit, but in those cases the unit is understood without being spoken. Look at this example:
“We’d like a tea and a coffee please.”
It would be understood that you are ordering a cup of tea and a cup of coffee.
If you have any questions or doubts, please ask in the comments or send me a private message.
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