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Glite Dictionary
mass noun

mass noun

5.9
A word that names something you cannot count and usually has no plural form
  • noun
  • /mæs nɑn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : sustantivo de masa
  • The teacher explained that 'advice' is a mass noun and does not take a plural.

Examples

  • 'Water' is a classic example of a mass noun in English.

  • In grammar lessons, students often confuse mass nouns with count nouns.

  • In grammar lessons, students often confuse mass nouns with count nouns.

  • Many students struggle with mass nouns in English.

  • Can you give me an example of a mass noun?

  • 'Water' is a classic example of a mass noun in English.

  • The teacher explained that 'advice' is a mass noun and does not take a plural form.

Surface Forms

mass noun singular
mass nouns plural

Morphology

mass + noun

The definition ('a noun that refers to something that cannot usually be counted') is compositionally related to 'mass' + 'noun' because 'mass' evokes an uncountable substance and 'noun' names a word class. However, this is a specialized grammatical term and the abstract sense of 'mass' as 'uncountable' (and the concept of countability) may not be obvious to an average B1 learner who only knows the everyday meaning of 'mass', so full predictability is limited.

Etymology

Mass noun comes from the image of a single mass or lump of stuff, like a pile of sand or a bowl of water, that you cannot count piece by piece. That's why mass noun means a word for something you do not 'count' and that usually has no 'plural'.