Articles vs uncountable nouns

Please check for me :

  1. We ate a lot of food > food is an ucountable noun.
  2. They gave us a lot of information > information is uncountable noun.

I have learnt that “articles” shouldn’t come before an uncountable nouns but it seems here is not a reflection of that. Please assist thanks.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Mr. Adu:

I think that “a lot of” is a unit. It means “much.”

a. We ate much food.
b. They gave us much information.

James

P.S. “A lot of” can also mean “many”: He has a lot of friends.


If you are interested in the grammatical aspects of “a lot of.” I think that some people say that you COULD analyze it this way:

“a” is an adjective (determiner) that modifies the noun “lot.”

“of food/ information/ friends, etc.” is a prepositional phrase that modifies the noun “lot.” In other words: a lot of what?

But it is so much easier to analyze it as a unit that means “much” or “many.”

Thanks Mr.James for your explanations. May God bless you.
So can I say the following:

They gave us a piece of information. Just to treat ‘information’ as a countable noun? Please confirm.

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Mr. Adu:

I have found the answer for you.

“To talk about a limited quantity of something … we use a word … together with of, before an uncountable noun.”

“A piece / bit of news/ information.”


Thus, I believe that the word “information” remains an UNcountable noun. You are just referring to a “limited quantity” of it.

This answer comes from the 1995 edition of Mr. Michael Swan’s very popular Practical English Usage, entry 426.1 on page 436.

James

Dear Mr Ebenezer Adu.
Although I am neither good at English nor a native speaker, I think I can help you in your case. You are a little confused here.

Speaking of your example, the article “a” modifies “piece”, not “information”.

For instance:

Can you give me a piece of paper (of course “paper” is uncountable) (this means a small part of paper)

Also, you can examine this sentence:

I have a dozen eggs ( article “a” modifies “dozen”, not “eggs”. If you think “a” modifies “information” so “a” in this example modifies a plural noun?)

I would agree with Quang and James; “lot”, “piece” and “dozen” are all countable nouns and so can be preceded by an article.

Thanks all,
Luschen, so always should I expect ‘a’ to be preceded by countable nouns? Please confirm.

Besides, can I say the following: Give me “a piece of” fish( for one to give me a snippet of its flesh) or is “a piece of” only apportioned for uncountable nouns?.

Generally, “a” and “the” can only be used before countable nouns - is that your first question?

“A piece of” would mean something different if it preceded a countable noun. “I found a piece of tire on the side of the road.” means a part broken off from the whole.

I had thought it’s only uncountable nouns we must use “a piece of” or “a bit of” etc. BEFORE IT and not a countable noun instead. Please confirm.

You can usually use “a piece of” before “a” + countable noun. I really should have added the “a” above to make it more clear.

A piece of a car.
A piece of a gun.
A piece of a puzzle.

[quote=“Luschen”]
You can usually use “a piece of” before “a” + countable noun. I really should have added the “a” above to make it more clear.

A piece of a car.
A piece of a gun.
A piece of a puzzle.

LUSCHEN,

A piece of a car (does this means one car or a part of it).

A piece of a car means a small part of it. It implies that the part may not be readily identifiable. If you carefully take a car apart you end up with 1000 parts of a car. If you blow it up with a bomb, you end up with 1000 pieces of a car.

[quote=“Quang72”]
Dear Mr Ebenezer Adu.
Although I am neither good at English nor a native speaker, I think I can help you in your case. You are a little confused here.

Speaking of your example, the article “a” modifies “piece”, not “information”.

For instance:

Can you give me a piece of paper (of course “paper” is uncountable)
Hi, I have had a glimpse of the following somewhere

  1. Give me the paperS!. Here is it wrong to add S to this uncountable noun. Please confirm.

Paper is usually uncountable except when it refers to a written document or a newspaper. Blank paper is always uncountable.

Thanks, Luschen.
Then I am very sure Quang must be referring to a blank paper.

The articles became very important when we use the comparative “as…as” It isn’t all the same if the noun after the second as is a countable. uncountable, plural noun.

IF IT IS COUNTABLE IS EASY:
-as pretty as a picture
-as mad as a hatter
-as drunk as a lord

IF IT IS UNCOUNTABLE WE HAVE TO PUT NO ARTICLE
-as good as gold
-as large as life
-as pale as death
-as ugly as sin
-as clear as mud
-as wise as Solomon (here we compare with a person!)
-as right as rain
-as sure as death and taxes

If the noun is plural there isn’t article

-as scarce as hen’s teeth
-as thick as two short planks
-as hard as nails
-as thick as thieves

IF THE NOUN IS DEFINITE WE PUT 'THE"-MEANS ALL THE THINGS REFERRED TO BY A NOUN . Here: all the hills/ all the dodo/ all the dead/

-As old as the hill
-As dead as the dodo (dodo is extinct bird)
-as silent as the dead
-As plain as the nose on your face (Here is about a certain nose which is determined)
-as white as the sheet