2015-04-20
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Many non-count nouns combine with a set of nouns showing some part of material or abstract notion. Here are some typical partitives for material and abstract nouns:
  a slice of bacon
a slice of cake
| a piece a lump | of coal | ||
    a piece
a loaf
| of bread | a piece a lump | of sugar | |
  a piece
a stick
| of chalk | a blade of grass | ||
  a piece
a bar
| of chocolate | a piece a block | of ice | |
    a piece
a sheet
| of paper | a piece a strip | of land | |
  a grain of rice
| a piece an article | of furniture | ||
| a pile
a heap
| of rubbish | a piece of evidence a fit of passion a piece of research | ||
| a piece
a word
| of advice | |||
| a piece
an item
| of information, news | |||
§ 178. In some cases there is no obvious logical reason for the assignment of various English nouns to the count or non-count class. In Russian and English the attribution of the corresponding nouns may be different. Here are some cases when the classes of nouns in English and Russian do not coincide:
| English non-count nouns | Russian count nouns |
| advice (they gave us some valuable advice) news progress (they are making slow progress) research (do some research) knowledge (you have a fairlygood knowledge of the subject) | совет/советы новость/новости успех/успехи исследование/исследования, научная работа знание/знания |
| English singular invariable nouns | Russian plural invariable nouns |
| ink cream yeast money hair fruit applause chess | чернила сливки дрожжи деньги волосы фрукты аплодисменты шахматы |
Note:
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Hair is a count noun in the sense of волос, волосок. Fruit as a count noun means kinds of fruit: dried fruits keep long.
| English plural invariable nouns | Russian singular invariable nouns |
| sweepings clothes greens contents odds | cop одежда зелень (овощи) содержание преимущество (спортивное) |
