5.5 Nouns That Can Be Both Count and Noncount

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1. The Pilgrims wanted to find freedom in America.

2. They had poor during their first winter in America.

3. The American Indians gave the Pilgrims a lot of about how to grow food.

4. Squanto taught them to plant .

5. The first winter was hard. It was cold, and there was a lot of .

6. Learning American agriculture was hard for the Pilgrims.

7. In the beginning, there was between the Pilgrims and the American Indians.

8. Cranberries are very sour, so the Indians added .

EXAMPLES (NC) Life in America was difficult. (C) The Pilgrims had difficult lives. (NC) The Pilgrims had a lot of trouble their first winter. (C) The American Indians’ troubles began when the Europeans arrived. (NC) I like to spend time with my family on the holidays. (C) My neighbors invited me for dinner many times. (NC) American Indians had experience with American winters. (C) The first winter for the Pilgrims was a bad experience. We put some fruit in the cranberry sauce. We prepare a lot of food for Thanksgiving.

Oranges and lemons are citrus fruits. American Indians used cranberries as a food and as a dye.

We ate some pie for dessert. We eat turkey on Thanksgiving.

My friend brought three pies to the Thanksgiving dinner. One turkey is enough for the whole family.

EXPLANATION The meaning or use of a noun determines whether it is count (C) or noncount (NC).

When we talk about fruit or food in general, these words are noncount nouns.

When we are referring to kinds or categories of food or fruit, these words are count nouns. When a noun refers to a part of the whole, it is a noncount noun.

When a noun refers to the whole, it is a count noun.