Is “paper” a non-count noun?
In a textbook for my students it says you need to say “piece of paper, pieces of paper”.
But then I thought you can say “How many papers do you have to write?” and “He found his watch among the papers on his desk.” esl.about.com/library/lessons/bl … answer.htm
It’s both, rudeboy.
Rartid!
Is there a rule which dictates when to use which?
What he said, but it depends on the situation.
It’s both, but the meanings differ: paper as a writing material is uncounted; however, in the meanings of newspaper, school assignment, monograph or similar documents, it is countable.
what situations?
If it means “essay”, “article” or “thesis”, then it’s countable. (“I have three papers due next week.”) This is also true if “paper” is short for “newspaper”: “I subscribe to two papers.”
If it refers to physical sheets or pieces of paper, it’s uncountable. (“I need four sheets of paper.”)
[quote=“TaidongRudeboy”]Rartid!
[/quote]
I believe thats spelt “rahtid”, bredren… 
carry on
[quote=“Chris”]If it means “essay”, “article” or “thesis”, then it’s countable. (“I have three papers due next week.”) This is also true if “paper” is short for “newspaper”: “I subscribe to two papers.”
[color=red]If it refers to physical sheets or pieces of paper, it’s uncountable.[/color] (“I need four sheets of paper.”)[/quote]
Not quite, ownership of random pieces of paper… ‘Are these your papers?’ That sounds correct to me.
But generally, rudebox, Chris has explained it. Minus the best… Making a doobie/goofter/bifta… Rizla are ‘papers.’ One would ask, “You got any papers, I wanna skin up.”
[quote=“Funk500”][quote=“TaidongRudeboy”]Rartid!
[/quote]
I believe thats spelt “rahtid”, bredren…
carry on[/quote]
So is it ‘blood’ or ‘blud?’ Cheers bruv.
[quote=“Funk500”][quote=“TaidongRudeboy”]Rartid!
[/quote]
I believe thats spelt “rahtid”, bredren…
carry on[/quote]
or Rahted urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rahted
ah, this is real English
or even Raatid…
Yes… lets stop teaching the finer points of patois…
but to answer your question TH my rasta dictionary says “blood” is correct
What about vocabulary and vocabularies?
Vocabulary is a collection of words. We don’t say “I learned 200 new vocabularies today”; rather, it’s “I learned 200 new words today”. (As a result, my vocabulary is bigger.)
Amen, Brother! Misuse of the word “vocabulary” is one of my pet peeves.
But vocabulary is countable in the same way a pile is.
Amen, Brother! Misuse of the word “vocabulary” is one of my pet peeves.[/quote]
As is the use of “alphabets” to mean “letters”.
And don’t get me started on the dreaded “equipments”!!!
But we can say, for example, “As a result living in France and Italy, my French and Italian vocabularies have greatly expanded.” Right? 