Definition Of Mass Noun
An uncountable noun a noun that cannot be made plural or used with a or an for example water bread and information.
Definition of mass noun. Definition of mass noun written for english language learners from the merriam webster learner s dictionary with audio pronunciations usage examples and count noncount noun labels. Definition and examples of associative meaning. Mass noun definition is a noun that denotes a homogeneous substance or a concept without subdivisions and that in english is preceded in indefinite singular constructions by some rather than a or an. A noun that is usually uncountable but can be made plural or used with a or an when you are talking about different types of something.
Meaning pronunciation translations and examples. For example bread is used as a mass noun in the shop sells several different breads. Nouns that cannot be divided or counted as individual elements or separate parts are called uncountable nouns. For example mandarin s usage of mass nouns predisposes its discourse to take a more holistic approach to the world than say english which demarcates objects more readily and i also wonder what happens when you have a noun that doesn t need a determiner at all for example mass nouns such as water or plural nouns.
In linguistics a mass noun uncountable noun or non count noun is a noun with the syntactic property that any quantity of it is treated as an undifferentiated unit rather than as something with discrete elements. A mass noun is a noun such as wine which is usually uncount but is used with a or. Definition and examples of count nouns. Non count nouns are distinguished from count nouns.
Given that different languages have different grammatical features the actual test for which nouns are mass nouns may vary. How to use mass noun in a sentence. Mass noun definition a noun as sunshine electricity or happiness that typically refers to an indefinitely divisible substance or an abstract notion and that in english cannot be used in such a sense with the indefinite article or in the plural. Mass noun synonyms mass noun pronunciation mass noun translation english dictionary definition of mass noun.
See mass noun in the oxford advanced american dictionary. These can be tangible objects or.