6 Minute Vocabulary - Uncountable nouns

This is the BBC . This podcast is supported by advertising outside the . This is a download from BBC Learning English to find out more . Visit our website , six minutes from BBC Learning English dot com . Hello and welcome to Six Minute Vocabulary . I'm Neal . And I'm Catherine . And in this show , we're talking about uncountable nouns , we are so that's nouns that you can't count , like water , money and research . We'll show you plenty of examples . And we'll also bring you a top tip for recognizing uncountable nouns . But let's start by listening to Colin . He's a travel agent . While you listen , think about this question . What might you need from your bank before you go abroad ? Here's Colin . It's time to start planning your summer travel . Do some research before you go . Are there good reviews of the accommodation ? How much baggage can you take ? And what's the best way to take money abroad ? Do you need to get some advice from your bank ? Will the traffic be bad on the way to the airport ? So that was . We asked you what might you need from your bank before you go abroad ? And the answer is you might need some advice . That's right . Some advice . Advice means ideas and suggestions about what to do now . Did you notice that advice is not plural ? We never say in English because advice is an uncountable noun . You can't make advice plural , like you can in some other languages . And with uncountable nouns we don't use articles are or aren't we say some advice , not an advice . Now listen out for three more uncountable nouns in this clip . It's time to start planning your summer travel . Do some research before you go . Are there good reviews of the accommodation and the uncountable nouns ? In that clip were travel research and accommodation and activities like travel , work and homework are usually uncountable information . Words like research , information and advice are uncountable too . Yes , they're not usually plural in English , but we can add the words a piece of to lots of uncountable nouns if we like , so we can say a piece of information or two pieces of advice . That's right . The other uncountable noun in that clip was accommodation . Accommodation means places to live or spend the night , like rooms , flats and houses . So accommodation describes the group of places that you can stay like flats , houses , student halls of residence and group words are often uncountable , so there's no plural form . Fruit , food and weather are group words too . We don't usually say fruits , foods and wethers . That's right . Now , let's have another clip . Can you spot any more uncountable nouns ? How much baggage can you take and what's the best way to take money abroad ? Will the traffic be bad on the way to the airport ? And we had baggage , money and traffic in some languages . These words are often plural , but not in English . In English they are all group words . right . So baggage means a group of bags . It's money for coins or notes and traffic for cars , lorries and buses . And we are talking about uncountable nouns . We've seen that some activity nouns are uncountable and some group nouns are uncountable . Shall we now talk about more types of uncountable nouns ? Catherine , go on then . So we've got liquids and gases . Water and air are uncountable . And yes , they are materials and substances like wood and salt are uncountable too . Then there are words for feelings and ideas . So happiness and education and also subjects like history and biology . That's right . But be careful with subjects like physics or economics . Yes , they end with the letter S. So they look plural , but in fact they're usually uncountable too . So we use them with a singular verb , just like other uncountable nouns . Physics is complicated and economics isn't easy . Oh , six minutes vocabulary from BBC Learning English and it's quiz time . No one is the word furniture countable or uncountable . And the answer is it's uncountable . It's a group word like baggage . It means things like tables and chairs . Very good . And number two , is this sentence correct or wrong ? Please , can you give me some informations ? That is not correct . Information is uncountable . So it's some information without an S. . Not some information's very good . And the last one , which is correct , , it was beautiful weather on Saturday or B , it was a beautiful weather on Saturday . And the answer is , A , it was beautiful weather on Saturday . And that's the end of the quiz . Well done to you if you got them . All right . But before we go , here's a tip . When you see a noun , think carefully about whether it belongs to one of these types of activity words , information , words or group words . If it does , then it's probably uncountable . There's more about this ABC Learning English dot com . Join us again for six minute vocabulary by six minutes from the BBC .