Very recently Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that “money doesn’t grow on trees” during his speech to the nation where he defended his economic reforms. If the popular saying is changed to “Monies don’t grow on trees”, does the meaning change? Yes, it does. If the term ‘money’ is used in the plural form, it means different types of money. Is the word ‘money’ a countable or an uncountable noun? It can be used either as a countable or an uncountable noun. The noun ‘money’ is an uncountable noun as in the following examples:
• He is known for spending too much money on entertainment.
• Can I lend some money to you?
• Why don’t you invest your money in real estate?
It can also be used a countable noun if the meaning is a type/types of money. For example:
• His hobby is collecting monies.
• Whenever he goes abroad he carries American, English and Japanese monies with him.
• If you are in need of US dollars, you can sell the other monies you have.
In the sentences above, the plural form of ‘money’ is used and it means different kinds of money like US Dollar, GB Pound, Japanese Yen, etc. Here are sentences in which some common uncountable nouns are used as countable nouns and are preceded either by ‘a’ or ‘an’.
1. Take the three bottles of oil (coconut oil, olive oil and sunflower oil) and mix all the three oils.
2. Take an oil from the shelf (any type of oil).
3. Open the refrigerator and take both the breads (white bread and wheat bread).
4. Buy a bread (any type of bread).
5. These burger patties are made of chicken, mutton and beef meats.
Here is a list of common uncountable nouns that can be used as countable nouns: absence, analysis, age, behaviour, cancer, capacity, childhood, calculation, concern, economy, death, democracy, depression, design, environment, education, energy, experience, failure, fashion, fear, fire, food, history, growth, industry, light, life, philosophy, loss, paper, organisation, power, policy, purity, sand, strength, time, technology, trouble, waste, water and wind.
Remember that when an uncountable noun is used as a countable noun, it means different kinds or types of it.
• The policies of various successive governments in Tamil Nadu have affected the industrial growth in the state.
• The use of different technologies in rural areas has contributed to our economic growth.
• I have tasted the wines of all European countries.
We can’t count uncountable nouns and so the phrase ‘how much’ is used in the question as in the following:
• How much sugar is there in the container?
• How much furniture is there?
The answers to the above questions are:
• There is a lot of sugar.
• There is some furniture.
A creative person knows how to use his language creatively.
— rayanal@yahoo.co.uk