Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Jacquie]

One of the teachers in my Teachers class was asking about this and I have no idea if there is a rule about it or not:

I like carrots vs. I like watermelon

Why is one plural and one is not? Some other examples:
I like spaghetti, pasta, ice cream, melon, pie, chocolate

I like dogs, cats, apples, ....

I am wondering if it has to do with countable/uncountable - but that doesn't seem to work.

Does anyone know?
Thanks!

[teachteach]

Because watermelon is a non-count noun, like water, coffee, ice cream.
Therefore, I like water/coffee etc.........

Count nouns would be apples, oranges etc........
Therefore, I like apples, oranges, etc.....

[Cornfed]

I figure anything that generally comes in whole number packages is treated as a count noun. Since you would generally buy/eat a whole orange or go to the petstore and buy a whole dog rather than parts of one, this would include oranges and dogs and so on. Anything that you often deal with in fractions (for example, you often buy/eat just a slice of watermellon) is treated as a mass noun.

[wings]

[Privateer]

It is to do with countable and uncountable.

Countable nouns in singular form require a determiner. Failure on the part of students to place a determiner in front of a singular countable noun forces us to interpret it as an uncountable noun, which is why 'I like movie' sounds so odd. And why 'I like apple' means apple as pulp, mush, or simply cut up, rather than the whole fruit in individual units.

The rule of thumb is for students to put countable nouns into plural form in front of 'like' unless they are talking about a specific item. So unless you mean a specific dog you say 'I like dogs'; otherwise you would say this or that dog. You could also say 'I like a dog' but it's indefinite so that sounds rather as if you're inviting students to play a guessing game.

If students get their heads around that - and good luck - then you could also try explaining that use of the indefinite article is permissable if qualified by a phrase or word that lends it definiteness. So 'I like a cup of coffee' (out of the blue) is odd, but 'I like a cup of coffee in the morning' is fine.

[Jacquie]

thanks!

[ernie]

yes, this is a count / non-count issue:

you can't count a noun if:
1. you pour it (water, beer)
2. you scoop it (sugar, snow)
3. you (always) cut it (meat, cheese, metal)
4. it's crazy to count (hair, love)

*** note this is english, there are sure to be exceptions!

in this case, you say 'carrots' because you don't always cut them. you can hold one in your hand and eat it (like an apple). you say 'watermelon' because you always cut a watermelon before you eat it.