List of 130 Mass Nouns (Or Noncount Nouns) in English

List of 130 Mass Nouns (Or Noncount Nouns) in English Have you ever wondered why you can have two plates of spaghetti but not  two spaghettis? Or two bags of rice  but not two rices? Most nouns In English grammar are like the words plate and bag: they can be counted. Count nouns, as theyre called,  have both  singular  and  plural  forms, such as one  diamond and four  diamonds. But theres also a group of nouns  that cant be counted. These mass nouns  (which are sometimes called  noncount nouns)  usually have only singular forms- spaghetti, rice, and gold, for example. Count nouns in the singular can follow an indefinite article (or another determiner): a plate, a bag, one  diamond. Mass nouns, on the other hand, usually dont follow an indefinite article, though they can follow certain determiners (such as much or less). At times the distinction between count nouns and mass nouns gets a little fuzzy. For example, the word water is usually treated as a mass noun, but in some contexts water can take the -s ending: Hammerhead sharks are found worldwide in  warmer waters  along coastlines and continental shelves. The word chicken is another fuzzy example. When were talking about the meat (We had chicken again for dinner), chicken is a mass noun. But when were referring to the animal (The cat chased the chickens out of the garden), chicken is a count noun. Keep this fuzziness in mind as you review the following list of 130 mass nouns in English. In certain contexts, some of these nouns can take an -s ending. Also, note that a number of these words can be used as more than one part of speech. The sentences in parentheses illustrate how the words are used as nouns. admiration (I have a deep  admiration for  any writer whose books stay in print.)advice (As usual, my brother gave me some bad advice.)air (The air in the storeroom was musty and cold.)anger (Whenever you get angry, you poison your own system.)anticipation (Anticipation is usually greater  than realization.)assistance (I need your assistance with these problems.)awareness (Awareness of problems is  no guarantee they will be solved.)bacon (I associate  the smell of bacon  with Sunday mornings.)baggage (At the airport I lost my baggage but found a new friend.)blood (Churchill said, I have nothing to offer but  blood, toil, tears, and sweat.)bravery (It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.)chess (I played two games of chess with myself.)clay (The birds built their nests out of clay.)clothing (The vast majority of  donated clothing  is exported overseas.)coal (Coal was burned as a fuel in China more than 3,000 years ago.)compliance (The building was  not in compliance with local  fire codes.) comprehension (Comprehension cant take place when students are distracted.)confusion (If confusion is the first step  to knowledge, I must be a genius.)consciousness  (Nobody knows how  many fundamental  forms of consciousness  exist in the human brain.)cream (My favorite dessert is strawberries and cream.)darkness (Education is the movement from darkness to light.)diligence (The supervisors lack of diligence led to  disasters of gigantic proportions.)dust (Their faces were caked with orange dust.)education (Education is the movement from  darkness  to light.)empathy (Socially skilled people are adept at managing teams: thats their empathy at work.)enthusiasm (Even small rewards may spark the childrens enthusiasm and ambitions.)envy (She saw envy in the eyes of her friends.)equality (The  global challenge of achieving full gender  equality and human rights  for women remains enormous.)equipment (We used camels to carry all our equipment and provisions.)evidence (The investigators looked for evidence in the debris.) feedback (Negative feedback is better than no feedback at all.)fitness (Fitness and good health are the result of a change in lifestyle.)flattery (Sue wasnt deceived by their flattery and lies.)foliage (Late summer and fall bring bright  fruits and colorful foliage.)fun (Tom  liked being around our family for  the fun we had and our big fancy dinners.)furniture (Jane looked around at the bare walls and broken furniture.)garbage (The skunk fell asleep in the garbage bin.)gold (The crown was made of gold and precious stones.)gossip (The only time people dislike gossip is when you gossip about them.)grammar (I studied English grammar in grammar school.)gratitude (The hiker expressed her gratitude  to the boys who had rescued her.)gravel (The path to the beach was made of gravel.)guilt (If you do the right thing, you wont feel any guilt.)happiness (Happiness isnt something you experience; its something you remember.)hardware (Until its loaded with software, a computer is just a p iece of hardware.) hate (Hate cannot drive out hate, Dr. King said. Only love can do that.)hay (The children played in the hay all day.)health (Good health is something that most of take for granted.)heat (If you cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.)help (When he couldnt put out the fire by himself, John went to get help.)hesitation (When the alarms went off, Bruno acted without hesitation.)homework (Jorge decided to finish his homework before going out.)honesty (A good relationship is based on honesty.)honor/honour (Our parents deserve our honor and respect for giving us life itself.)hospitality (I thanked Maries mother for her hospitality.)hostility (New immigrants are sometimes  met with hostility  from older immigrants.)humanity (Though Earl had been mistreated, he never lost his faith in humanity.)humility (Gratitude and humility are the true keys to success.)ice (Franklins ship was stuck in the ice.)immortality (The key to immortality is living a life worth remembering.)independence ( Texas declared independence in  1836 and joined the U.S. in 1845.) information (There is  too much information and not  enough time.)integrity (The most important character trait of a leader is integrity.)intimidation (The boss  used intimidation to keep his staff in line.)jargon (The doctors jargon confused the patient.)  jealousy (Passion can quickly turn into jealousy.)jewelry (Jennifer left her jewelry on the dressing table.)justice (Justice delayed is justice denied.)knowledge (A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.)literacy (My parents gave me the gift of literacy.)logic (Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.)luck (Dans luck ran out when his van ran out of gas.)lumber (A truckload of  lumber was stolen from  the sawmill.)luggage (The airline lost my luggage.)mail (The letter carrier delivered my mail to the wrong address.)management (Poor management leads to low morale and inefficiency.)merchandise (The expensive merchandise sat on the shelves gathering dust.)milk (Drinking too much milk can spoil a chil ds appetite.)morale (Poor  management  leads to low morale and inefficiency.) mud (The detective noticed that the suspect had mud on his shoes.)music (I cant listen to music while Im trying to write.)nonsense (Its nonsense to think that you can lose weight just by taking a pill.)oppression (Sooner or later, oppression leads to rebellion.)optimism (Optimism is an important part of good leadership.)oxygen (The diver ran out of oxygen before reaching the surface.)participation (Participation in school sports often has a positive effect on childrens grades.)pay (The strikers demanded higher pay.)peace (We wanted only to be  left alone, to live in peace.)perseverance (With perseverance and passion you can achieve your goals.)pessimism (Jill couldnt put up with Wills unrelenting pessimism.)pneumonia (Winston has just  recovered from a bout of pneumonia.)poetry (Peters poetry is pretty awful.)police (Mrs. Sanchez  called the police last night.)pride (Johns pride was hurt by Joans sarcastic remarks.)privacy (J.D. Salinger valued his privacy.)propaganda (Propagan da helps people to deceive themselves.) public (The young violinist lacked the confidence to perform in public.)punctuation (Punctuation is the written expression of pauses and gestures.)recovery (The insurance agency assisted in the recovery of the stolen jewels.)rice (Rice is the  most important food crop in the developing world.)rust (Achilles  scraped the rust off the  head of his spear)satisfaction (Success is finding satisfaction in giving a little more than you take.)shame (Imagine  the shame of being caught cheating!)sheep (Merino  sheep are an important source of high-quality wool.)slang (Slang is a sport that belongs essentially to the young.)software (Until its loaded with software, a computer is just a piece of  hardware.)spaghetti (Pauls favorite food is spaghetti.)stamina (It takes stamina and persistence to succeed in any sport.)starvation (The early American colonists faced the risk of starvation.)steam (Steam was the  first great power source of the industrial age.)steel (In 1943 all  penni es in the U.S. were made of steel.) stuff (Nobody was allowed to touch my Dads stuff.)support (Maria knew that she could depend on the support of her mother.)sweat (Churchill said, I have nothing to offer but  blood, toil, tears, and sweat.)thunder (Thunder rumbled over the  western hills.)timber (Basswood is the best timber for building pulpits.)toil  (Churchill said, I have nothing to offer but  blood, toil, tears, and  sweat.)traffic (The traffic was so bad that we had to give up and go back home.)training (Birdie injured her knee while  she was in training  for a marathon.)trash (The dog had emptied the trash all over the kitchen floor.)understanding (I have only a limited understanding of basic physics.)valor (The soldiers exhibited  valor in the face of  extreme peril.)vehemence (John was surprised by the vehemence of Joans response.)violence (Violence never achieves peace)warmth (She felt the warmth of the breeze on her arms.)waste  (Poor planning led to an enormous waste of time and money.)w eather (Bad weather slowed the recovery efforts.) wheat (Wheat is the most  important source of vegetable protein in our food.)wisdom (When the fight started, Pete had the wisdom to call a time-out.)work (The fire was the work of a careless burglar.)