Teacher Discussion Forums

This is something I know very little about, but that has never stopped some of us before, has it?

"It's a pity " "What a shame"

"A profit" "A loss" "Profits" "Losses"

"The profits that the company has made are being reinvested"

"Pity" is an abstract concept, like "hope" and "a pity" is one example of something to be pitied, I suppose. But I can't have "pities". Let alone "nine pities".

* "Three profits"

Does countable mean that "the word has a plural form in front of which a number can be put"? Are these words countable nouns, though they certainly can't be counted?

Or is the heat getting to me?

You should have included a poll when you created the thread. I would have voted, yes the heat is getting to you. Google returns 18 hits for "countable profits" and 46 hits for "uncountable profits".

I think that's as good as any reason for classifying these nouns as uncountable. Like other difficult classifications, these words appear to occupy a middle ground, with "profits" being the more eligible candidate for countability. It takes a plural verb form.

Perhaps like other grammatical terms, "countable" may not be a literal term. Consider "perfect aspect" and "adverbs" that modify adjectives. In any case, I recommend gin and tonic for the heat exhaustion.

I don't think that finamcial expressions like "countable profits" or "uncountable profits" can affect this matter. After all "money" is impeccably uncountable, except in that oddity "monies" which anyway is another candidate for a plural you can't put a number in front of. Nevertheless money is something that we can count, in the non grammatical sense.

In Spanish, and presumably Italian, spaghetti is (are) countable, but I'd like to see you try.

So yes, the terms can't be used too literally. But if countable/uncountable don't mean "You can/can't put a number (including "one" or "a") in front of them and and an ---s after them" then what do they mean?

Of course gin and tonics (gins and tonic?) are uncountable, after about six.