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6.15 Uncountable nouns

A countable noun is something you can count – one apple, two apples . An uncount-
able noun is something that, at least in English, you cannot count. You cannot say
an information, these informations etc. Information is considered a mass, and for
English speakers it is not easily split into different parts.

Spinach leaves can be clearly separated and counted, but when cooked they become
one big mass. You cannot clearly and easily identify cooked spinach as separate
parts – so you cannot say these spinaches taste very good , but only this spinach
tastes very good . Similarly, you can count cars but not traffi c , steps forward but not
progress , comments but not feedback .

These kinds of subtleties do not normally cause problems. But when an uncountable
noun is referred to in a later phrase with a plural pronoun ( they, these, those ) or
adjective ( many, few ) it can create confusion for readers.

S1. *Such feedbacks are vital when analyzing the queries. At subsequent stages in the
procedure, for instance after steps 3 and 4, they are also useful for assessing …
S2. *Such feedbacks are vital when analyzing the queries. At subsequent stages in the proce-
dure, for instance after steps 3 and 4, many of them are also useful for assessing …

Note: feedback is uncountable, so it has no plural form. S1 and S2 are thus not
correct English.

In S1, a native speaker would think that they must refer to queries , since queries is
plural. In S2, the reader would be totally confused and would probably be unable to
understand what many of them refers to. Possible revised versions of S1 and S2 are:

S3. Such feedback is vital when … At subsequent stages … it is also useful for …
S4. Such feedback is vital when … At subsequent stages … much of it is also useful for …

Pronouns are in any case a constant source of ambiguity in English, so the best solu-
tion is to repeat the noun that the pronoun refers to.

S5. Such feedback is vital when … At subsequent stages … (a lot of) this feedback is also …