Countable or uncountable nouns. Thanlk you for your help.

Question

Dear all,

I am confused about when I should use countable or uncountable nouns in the following sentence. Thank you for your explaination.

1. which do you like, coffee or tea?

Coffee and tea are uncountable, but we still can say" two coffee or three teas'? Am I right?

a) Which do you like, pizza or noodle?

b) Which do you like, pizzas or noodles?

Which sentence is correct or better usage?

c) Which do you like, a computer or a bicycle?

d) Which do you luike, computers or bicycles?

e) Which do you like, dogs or cats?

f) Which do you like, a dog or a cat?

I read (e) sentence in my textbook. I was wondering whether "cats and dogs" here refer to the whole kind of cat and dog. Like "Lions are fierce." But I want to know whether (f) sentence could be correct in specific contexts. Maybe a father wants to buy a pet for his child and ask his child which do you like, a cat or a dog? Does my explaination make sense?

Thanks again.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

adonis10131. which do you like, coffee or tea?
Coffee and tea are uncountable, but we still can say" two coffee or three teas'? Am I right?

Yes. As a countable, a coffee is just a way of saying a cup of coffee. (Same for tea.)

adonis1013a) Which do you like, pizza or noodle?
b) Which do you like, pizzas or noodles?
Which sentence is correct or better usage?

b).

adonis1013c) Which do you like, a computer or a bicycle?
d) Which do you luike, computers or bicycles?

d)

adonis1013e) Which do you like, dogs or cats?
f) Which do you like, a dog or a cat?

e)

adonis1013I read (e) sentence in my textbook. I was wondering whether "cats and dogs" here refer to the whole kind of cat and dog. Like "Lions are fierce."

I don't quite understand your question. In "Lions are fierce", lions is the subject. Something is being said of all lions. When asked if you like dogs or cats, nothing is being asserted of either dogs or cats, so the comparison to the lions sentence doesn't work. You're being asked if there are some dogs that you like and/or if there are some cats that you like. You don't have to like every dog or every cat in the whole world to answer that you like them. Just consider how you feel about the majority of dogs (or cats) that you have some experience of.

adonis1013But I want to know whether (f) sentence could be correct in specific contexts. Maybe a father wants to buy a pet for his child and ask his child which do you like, a cat or a dog? Does my explaination make sense?

I understand exactly what you want to say, but that sentence doesn't say it. You need one of these:

Would you like a dog or a cat?
Do you want a dog or a cat?

Which pet would you rather have? A dog or a cat?
Should we buy a dog or a cat?

CJ

Countable or uncountable nouns. Thanlk you for your help.

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