Learn English: Measure Words with Non-count Nouns, Part I

Measure words in English. In English there are a lot of non-count nouns. For example, water. Water without form is uncountable. We don't usually say one water, two waters, etc. However, we often count the amount or the container water comes in. For example, a drop of water, a bottle of water. Counting the uncountable. We can also count the amounts or containers. For example, two drops of water, two bottles of water. In this video we will refer to these as measure words. Some examples of measure words are a bowl of rice, two glasses of milk. Categories. Part 1. We will divide measure words into five categories. Liquid, food, stationary, personal items, and sewing items. Let's start with liquid. We'll start with the smallest measure words. A drop of water, a drop of rain, a drop of blood. Two drops of water, etc. A cup of coffee, a cup of tea, a cup of cocoa. Note, cups can also be used for non-liquid substances. For example, a cup of sugar, a cup of flour. A pint of blood, a pint of cream or ice cream. A pint of beer, a quart of milk, juice, or oil. A quart is about one liter in the metric system. A gallon of gas or gasoline, a gallon of punch, a gallon of milk. Note, these measurements are from the American system or what they used to call the imperial system. In the metric system we use liters. For example, a liter of soda or a liter of soda pop or a liter of pop, a liter of oil, three liters of soda pop. Other liquid measures. A bottle of water, two bottles of milk, a can of soda pop, a can of soup. Sometimes people say a tin of soup. Can can also be used for non-liquid items. A glass of milk, two glasses of milk, a pitcher of orange juice. That's the big container. A jug of water, a very big container. Also a tank of gas. This is a big container inside of your car. Let's move on to food. How do we make food countable? Well, there are many ways. We'll start with the dishes. A bowl of rice, a bowl of soup, a plate of spaghetti, a dish of spaghetti, a plate of seafood, a teaspoon of cocoa powder, a tablespoon of salt, a spoonful of sugar, a scoop of ice cream, two scoops of ice cream. A scoop is an individual ball of ice cream. Now let's look at containers. A box of cereal, a box of brown sugar, a box of baking soda, a bag of flour, a bag of rice, a package of pasta, a package of candy, a pack of gum. Individually, we can say a stick of gum or a piece of gum. A carton of ice cream, a carton of milk. What's the difference between a carton and a bottle of milk? A carton is usually square and made of cardboard. A jar of peanut butter, a jar of jam, a jar of honey, a loaf of bread, a slice of bread, a slice of pizza. We can also say a piece of pizza, a piece of pie, a piece of cake, a piece of candy. By weight, we can say a pound of cheese or two pounds of meat. In the metric system, they use kilos and grams. A cube of ice or an ice cube. A cube of sugar. Tiny amounts. A dash of salt. A pinch of cinnamon. Special cases. Vegetables. Some vegetables are non-count. Perhaps it's because they are cut as a section from the main plant. For example, a head of lettuce, a head of cabbage. Note, most fruits and many roots are countable. For example, apples, carrots, beets, and peaches. Other food measures. Parts of vegetables. For example, an ear of corn, two ears of corn, a kernel of corn, or a grain of corn. This is the tiniest seed. We can also say a grain of wheat, a grain of rice. Other parts of vegetables. A clove of garlic. There are a few other non-count vegetables. For them, we can count individual segments. These are not very common. For example, a stalk of celery, a spear of asparagus, a floret of broccoli. Hope that was helpful. This is Part 1 of Using Measure Words in English. Be sure to check out Part 2. See the link below for more. See you in the next video. Thanks for watching. Remember to subscribe to get our newest updates. And check out our websites for more information and resources. YouTube.com at EnglishFree4U and eslgold.com slash h-u-m-i-x and our new site, Siri.net. Siri stands for Say It Right in English.