Topic 10 Material Nouns
* refer to names of chemicals, drinks, foods,
gases, liquids,
materials / metals
* uncountable noun
* singular form
(without indefinite article ‘a / an’ /P2/ other
determiners)
I. Forms
1. Names of the chemical
elements
hydrogen nitrogen oxygen
2. Names of drinks and foods
beef | beer | bread | butter | cheese | chicken | coffee | fish
| flour | fruit | ham | honey | meat | milk | mutton | pork |
rice | salt | sauce | soup
| sugar | tea
vinegar | wheat | wine
3. Names of gases and liquids
air | ice | ink | oil | rain | smoke | snow | water
| wind
4. Names of materials
brick | cloth | cotton | earth | glass | ivory | paper | sand |
silk | stone | wood |wool
5. Names of metals
aluminium | copper | gold |
iron | lead | silver | steel | tin
6. Others
chalk | coal | money | soap
II. Functions
1.
In a general
way (without ‘a / an / the’ / P2/ other
determiners)
[Air,
water and food] are vital
to life
[Ice]
is cold to touch.
[Gold] is /a valuable metal/. (Gold
–general; a valuable
*metal --specific)
[He] usually has (cheese and bread) for (breakfast).
2. In a specific way (with the definite article ‘the’)
[James] does not like
to eat (the bread on the table).
3. Parts of the whole
Words of quantity
(quantifiers) -- for uncountable nouns
much little a little
some any
[Much of the land in Sarawak] is covered with forests.
[She] has (little money) to spend daily.
[Leena] has (a little furniture) in (her house).
[I] need (some rice flour) to make (a yam cake).
[He] doesn’t have
(any mutton) to cook.
4. Modifier -- as
an adjective to modify a countable noun to indicate the material used
a) It is a
gold necklace.
b) I like a
cotton dress. It is made from cotton
material. 22
Note: gold
Versus golden (like gold)
golden hair
a golden sunset
a golden opportunity
the golden age
golden hours
5. As a S/P Countable Noun (Common Noun)
Material nouns Versus
S/P Countable Nouns
a)
brick / bricks
[The kennel] is made of (brick). (material--general)
[This] is /a brick/. (S/P Countable
Noun --specific)
[She] is going to buy (20 bricks).
b) chicken / chickens
[We] have (chicken) twice a week.
(material – general)
[My mother] keeps
(some chickens) in (the backyard).
(countable)
c) iron / irons
[This bridge] is
made of (iron). (material -- general)
[This]
is /an iron/. (countable)
There
are [irons of different brands] in (that
electrical shop).
d) tin / tins
[This box] is
made of (tin).
[This] is /a tin/.
There
are [many tins] in (the
storeroom).
e) wine / wines
[Drinking too much wine] is bad for health.
[This] is /the wine/ {that I have been looking
for}.
There are [different wines] on the shelf.
Material nouns are uncountable. You don’t use articles ‘a / an / the’ /
number one, two, three…… before them. To
show the amount / quantity, you may use the container,
length, shape, weight to express the unit of measurement.
1. container /
receptacle
a bottle of oil / water / wine
a box of chocolate
a cup of tea / coffee
a glass of milk / water / wine
a spoonful of salt / sugar / vinegar
2. based on the shape
a bit of glass
a cake of soap
a loaf / slice of bread
a piece of chalk / paper
a sheet of paper / water
3. based on the length / weight
a foot of water
a metre / yard of cloth
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