.
Some nouns express an action when they are uncountable and the result of the action when countable
THE DIFFICULTY OF DECIDING NOUN COUNTABILITY
Being able to recognise whether nouns are “countable” or “uncountable” is fundamental for using them correctly (see 110. Nouns without “the” or “a”). Noun countability is thus a common topic in elementary English courses. However, it is also an aspect of English that continues to trouble even very proficient users, which is why it is the topic here. This is the first of four Guinlist posts about it. The others are 19. Activity Locations, 23. Subtypes and 43. Substance Locations.
Most readers will know that the terms “countable” and “uncountable” refer not to what nouns mean but to what they do. They tell us not about the ability or otherwise of the idea expressed by the noun to “be counted”, but rather about the grammar rules that the noun must follow. Only “countable” nouns, for example, can be made plural. Only “uncountable” nouns can be singular without an article. “Uncountable” nouns can follow all but not each or every (see 169. “All”, “Each” and “Every”); singular “countable” nouns cannot follow enough (see 189. Expressing Sufficiency). Countability can even affect vocabulary choices (see 81. Tricky Word Contrasts 2, #9).
The reason for calling these two types of noun “countable” and “uncountable” is that this can seem a useful means of recognising which nouns are which: many nouns that can be made plural are obviously able to be counted, and many that cannot be plural are obviously unable to be counted. The problem, however, is that there are also many nouns whose ability or not to be counted is unclear. Luggage, for example, can be thought of as either a collection of individual bags carried by travellers – an eminently countable concept – or as something travellers carry that has no fixed size or shape.
An interesting indicator of the subjectivity of “ability to be counted” is the fact that some noun meanings that are expressed by an “uncountable” noun in English are expressed by “countable” nouns in other languages with a similar way of classifying nouns. Examples are access, advice, information and research (all countable in French) and construction meaning “building” (countable in Italian and Spanish). It is also notable that some “uncountable” English nouns are much more likely than others to be incorrectly used in a “countable” way by speakers of languages with no countability distinction (e.g. *luggages, *punctuations).
In fact, even English recognises that many “uncountable” nouns do actually represent an idea that can as easily be thought of as able to be counted as unable. This is clear from the existence of a large number of “uncountable” nouns that can be combined with a “countable” noun in order to act in a “countable” way, as in pieces of luggage, forms of transport and research projects. The combinations commonly taught to elementary-level learners are only a small sample of the possibilities (see 180. Nouns that Count the Uncountable).
So what better way is there of discovering how to use individual English nouns? As with the transitivity of verbs (see 113. Verbs that cannot be Passive), the surest way is to find out from a dictionary. Failing that, however, a more sophisticated look could perhaps be given to the kind of meaning possessed by the noun. Ability to be counted can on occasion be helpful, and there is also some value in the common assertion that many “uncountable” nouns like flour and water represent a “mass” of something, with no fixed shape, rather than something discrete.
There is, however, a further type of meaning clue, which is not usually highlighted in grammar books. A very large number of nouns are sometimes used in a “countable” way and sometimes in an “uncountable” one, depending on their meaning, but the difference between the two meanings rarely has anything to do with ability to be counted or with shape. It is not always the same kind of difference, but some kinds are very common, so that there seems to be value in making them clear and indicating the nouns that possess them.
At least four major kinds of difference seem to be possible between the “countable” and “uncountable” meanings of individual nouns. This post is about one of these four: an “action” meaning when the noun is “uncountable” versus an “action outcome” meaning of the “countable” form. The other three meaning differences are the topics of the three similar posts to this that are listed above.
.
ACTIONS AND ACTION OUTCOMES
A large number of nouns express an action when they are uncountable and an action outcome when countable. Take creation. The action meaning may be illustrated as follows:
(a) Creation of new styles is a priority for fashion designers.
An indication that creation here is expressing an action is that it (and the following of) can be replaced by the verb creating. The fact that creation is uncountable is shown by its use in the singular form without any other word in front of it (see 110. Nouns without “the” or “a”). For some suggestions about using a noun rather than a verb to express an action, see 39. “Decide” or “Make a Decision”? and 131. Uses of “Action” Nouns.
On the other hand, the action-outcome meaning might be illustrated like this:
(b) The designer was showing off one of her creations.
Creations here is not an “action” noun: it cannot be replaced by creating. Rather, it refers to something remaining after the action, in other words its outcome. The fact that it is countable is clear from the plural -s ending.
Many other nouns express an action when uncountable and an action outcome otherwise. Possession, for example, means “taking ownership” (or “having ownership”) in its uncountable form, but “something owned” when countable. Uncountable injury means “the creation of physical damage”, while countable an injury just means “physical damage”. See also development in 201. Words with Complicated Grammar.
Nouns meaning either an action or an action outcome are usually derived from verbs. Examples are:
VERB DERIVED NOUN
create creation
possess possession
injure injury
close closure
improve improvement
prefer preference
increase increase
analyse analysis
choose choice
compare comparison
reverse reversal
These nouns are typically made by adding a characteristic suffix: -tion, -sion, -age, -y, -ure, -ment, -ence/-ance, -al, or nothing at all (see 249. Action Noun Endings).
The action/outcome contrast is a very useful way of deciding countability, but unfortunately it is not completely reliable, as some nouns behave exceptionally. For a detailed survey, see 280. Alternative Meanings of “Action” Nouns. To give a flavour, here are a few examples.
Some exceptional nouns – legislation, motivation and research, for instance – are uncountable with both the “action” and the “action outcome” meaning (for details of motivation, see 276. Tricky Word Contrasts 11, #2). Others, such as rise, fall, increase, decrease and many of their synonyms (for a list, see 115. Surveying Numerical Data) are countable in both cases.
Other nouns have only one of the two meanings. Discrimination, storage and emergence (all 100% uncountable) only express an action (for details of emergence, see 157. Tricky Word Contrasts 5, #3). The action outcome of storage is expressed by the different (countable) noun a store.
On the other hand, advice (always uncountable) only expresses an action outcome, as does edition (always countable), its action being expressed by publication (see 197. The Language of Bibliographies). Always-countable -ing nouns like building, clearing and painting likewise refer only to an action outcome, the action itself being expressed by the related verb in its “gerund” form (see 240. Nouns that End with “-ing”).
Finally, note that many nouns, such as carriage, do match an action and a non-action meaning with uncountable and countable usage, but their non-action meaning is not an action outcome. For details, see 19. Activity Locations.
.
PRACTICE EXERCISES (ACTION OUTCOMES
The first of the two exercises below aims to develop familiarity with nouns expressing action outcomes. The second is about identifying the correct noun meaning in a text.
Exercise 1
Here are some more nouns derived from verbs. They nearly all have both an action and an outcome meaning. Can you find one among them which usually has only the action meaning?
ADAPTATION, DISCOVERY, INTRODUCTION, GROWTH, MEASUREMENT, INJURY, SUPPORT, STATEMENT, ASSISTANCE, IMPLICATION, RECEIPT, LOSS, CHOICE, SALE, PURCHASE.
The exceptional noun here is assistance (= the action of assisting). We cannot usually say *an assistance.
.
Exercise 2
This exercise is taken from my book Grammar Practice for Professional Writing. You have to compare the two CAPITALISED nouns in each sentence pair below, and choose the sentence where the noun stands for an action (answers below).
.
1. (a) The RECEIPT for goods must be kept.
(b) RECEIPT of goods must be recorded.
2. (a) Creatures can survive in a new environment through ADAPTATION.
(b) Creatures acquire ADAPTATIONS in order to survive in a new environment.
3. (a) Try to speak without REFERENCE to your notes.
(b) A job application usually needs to include a REFERENCE.
4. (a) Airlines should be informed about LOSS of luggage.
(b) If there is a LOSS in the accounts, it should be visible.
5. (a) SUCCESS in business will lead to wealth.
(b) Abba were A SUCCESS in music because of their harmonies.
6. (a) Costs may prevent any DISCOVERY from being marketed.
(b) Costs may prevent any DISCOVERY.
.
ANSWERS: 1(b) – note the different prepositions, of showing the action; 2(a); 3(a); 4(a); 5(a); 6(b).
guinlist 