Why can't you count "funiture"?

Question

This is a wonder which I have been bearing but why is funiture uncountable?

Saying that I have three funitures, pointing a chair, a bureau and table in my room, seems to be possible to me. I memorized the rule that funiture is an uncountable noun but I didn't get the reason. Native speakers of English cognize funiture is an unbouded stuff like water, salt and butter?

The question from a native speakers of Japanese(=me), the language which doesn't have the concept of countable/uncountable.

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

I know hearing "we do it that way just because we do it that way" is not a very satisfying answer, but there are other nouns in the same category, like luggage, cattle, or advice.

You have a piece of luggage, a head of cattle, and bit of advice... even though you can have a suitcase and garment bag, it's not "two luggages," nor is hearing good advice from three people good advices.

Englishmaven · Answer

In English, we have these two categories of nouns: count and non-count. The items listed as furniture are countable, but the term furniture is not. So you are right that you are pointing at countable items, but you are also labeling them as part of the non-count group or category "furniture." There is no logical reason for this, actually. It is just the way English works.

Other non-count items are information, research, and milk. We can count the units by which we measure them, but not actual category. We don't say informations, researches, or milks. We say a lot of information or sixteen pages of information, three cups of milk. That is the way it is. You need to learn which words are count and non-count when you learn English.

So you can't have three furnitures as you mention in your question.

CalifJim · Answer

aramahosiwhy is funiture uncountable?

For the same reason that equipment is uncountable. It's a generalized category of stuff. Furniture is the general category to which chairs, tables, desks, etc. belong. Think of it as a grammatical feature of the word "furniture" instead of anything that's supposed to make sense logically!

Don't you have "classifiers" in Japanese? Think of "furniture" as a word that requires the "classifier" piece of if you want to use it as countable.

There are three pieces of furniture in the room.

CJ

Aramahosi · Answer

Thanks for the answers, Grammar Geek, Englishmaven and CalifJim:)

EnglishmavenOther non-count items are information, research, and milk.

Apart from information and research, the reason why milk is uncountable is that milk is liquid and then unbounded, isn't it? For the same reason that water is uncountable.

CalifJimFor the same reason that equipment is uncountable. It's a generalized category of stuff. Furniture is the general category to which chairs, tables, desks, etc. belong.

Think of it as a grammatical feature of the word "furniture" instead of anything that's supposed to make sense logically!

But you can count animals, can't you? The word "animal" is the general category to which dogs, cats, foxes, etc. "I have three animals in the house. Two dogs and a cat."
CalifJimDon't you have "classifiers" in Japanese? Think of "furniture" as a word that requires the "classifier" piece of if you want to use it as countable.
Yes, we have the classifiers called jyosushi (???). Unlike the English classifiers jyosushis is used for all the Japanese nouns when we count things. When you count "cat" in English, you say "four cats" without any classifier. On the contrary when we count "cat" in Japanese, we say "yon hiki no neko(????). Yon is the numeral for 4. Hiki is the jyosushi used for small~medium sized animal. No is genitive particle. Neko is a noun meaning cat. That is, we treat all the Japanese nouns as uncountable noun even if they have an obvious outline.

CalifJim · Answer

aramahosiYes, we have the classifiers called jyosushi

OK. So now all you have to do is think of "piece(s) of" as the required English jyosushifor "furniture" if you want to count furniture!

... four pieces of furniture ...

English has very few cases where it is similar to Japanese in this way, but "furniture", "equipment", and "information" are some of them.

CJ

Why can't you count "funiture"?

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