According to Grammar Party Blog, non-countable nouns which are also called “uncountable nouns” and “mass nouns,” are nouns that cannot be divided into separate parts. There is no definite quantity of a non countable noun.These fall into the following categories of non countable nouns: ideas: advice, motivation, existentialism, mathematics. On the other hand, uncountable nouns are nouns you cannot count—for example, water, rice, and air. So you can’t count them as one water, two rice, or nine air. Grammar rules. Use a determiner (a/an), if needed, with a countable noun. For example, an apple or a table. Uncountable nouns may identify abstract nouns. Uncountable nouns name elements that cannot be divided in units or counted individually. For example: calor - heat, lluvia - rain, naturaleza - nature and arroz - rice. We always refer to rice -arroz - as a whole, never as individual rice grains: a bag of rice, a pound of rice, a bowl of rice, etc. Gente- people is a collective noun and First off, in your example sentence, paper is uncountable. The expression a number of can only be used with countable nouns. So, your book is right. Your options are to change from a number of to the more suitable a quantity/amount of, which can be used with uncountable nouns. An uncountable noun is also known as a mass noun. This name can help you better visualize this idea. Nouns that can’t be counted are difficult to separate from their group. They are a mass or distinct group that cannot be easily divided into individual pieces. Proper nouns are also all uncountable. We use less with uncountable nouns and fewer with countable nouns. 'Pirates' is a countable noun. Therefore, the first sentence is correct. Note that not all native speakers use standard grammar forms all the time, so you may well hear people using less with countable nouns. It may be that the language will change in the future, but for now the Irregular plural nouns either change their endings or stay the same as their singular forms. From “party” to “parties” or “moose” to “moose,” they work differently than your standard nouns. Several words that make uncountable foods countable relate to the action you use with them. For example, we can talk about a squeeze of lemon juice, a grind of pepper, a sprinkling/dusting of icing sugar (UK)/confectioner’s sugar (US), cocoa powder, etc. and a drizzle of olive oil, honey, etc. Give the risotto a few good grinds of pepper. This list shows some common measure words like "a bar of" or "a piece of" that we use to "measure" uncountable nouns. a bag of flour | rice | gold dust. a bar of chocolate | gold | soap. a bottle of Coke | milk | water | wine. a bowl of cereal | rice | soup. a box of cereal | paper. Countable nouns are those that can be counted and used with a or an. They have a plural form. For example, “boy” is a countable noun: two boys, a boy. In contrast, uncountable nouns are not counted, made plural or used with a or an. An example of an uncountable noun is “furniture.”. You cannot say. water, ice, coffee, carbon. powders lpf55a.