What Are Mass Nouns? (with Examples)

A mass noun (or non-countable noun or noncount noun as it's also known) is a noun without a plural form.

A mass noun is one that cannot be counted. For example:

Mass Noun>	Attempt At Making It Plural
petrol	four petrols
furniture	four furnitures
lumber	four lumbers
gold	four golds

Non-countable nouns are singular.

Examples of Mass Nouns

Most mass nouns come under one of these categories:

Category	Example
Concept	gallantry, morality, information, aptitude, patience
Activity	homework, singing, reading, fishing
Food	bread, butter, cheese, fish, milk
Gas	air, helium, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, smoke
Liquid	beer, coffee, petrol, water, wine
Material	cloth, concrete, lumber, wood, metal
Item Category	clothing, furniture, luggage, money
Natural Phenomenon	gravity, heat, humidity, rain, snow, sunshine, thunder
Particles	flour, grit, salt, sugar

Pluralizing Mass Nouns

There are two methods to pluralize a concept expressed by a mass noun:

Method 1: Precede it with a [countable noun] + "of". For example:

• four loaves of bread
(Loaves is the countable noun.)
• four blocks of cheese
(blocks is the countable noun.)

Method 2: Make the mass noun an adjective to a countable noun. For example:

• four bread loaves
• four cheese blocks

Generally, mass nouns cannot be pluralized. However, when talking about categories of that noun, some can be pluralized. This happens most often with mass nouns in the food and liquid categories. For example:

• France is well known for its cheeses.
(Categories of cheese)
• There are several fine wines from Chile.
(Categories of wine)