The language has an elaborate system of noun classification, with about 9 singular / plural pairings of prefixes and a class for mass nouns.
42.
There is a difference between the mass noun trees and the definite plural noun phrase the trees , but they re functionally the same.
43.
Roving can also mean a roll of these strands, the strands in general ( as a mass noun ), or the process of creating them.
44.
:: Perhaps a more useful way of putting it is that " trivia " is often treated as a mass noun, such as " sand ".
45.
In some languages, such as Japanese, it has been claimed by some that all nouns are effectively mass nouns, requiring a measure word to be quantified.
46.
It can either mean yellow potatoes as a whole, a mass noun or the yellow potatoes sitting on the table, as opposed to the red ones.
47.
The genitive variant is used more frequently when the mass noun is modified by an adjective : " ", " a cup of hot tea ".
48.
English also uses no article before a mass noun or a plural noun if the reference is indefinite, a thing that is not specifically identifiable in context.
49.
The concept of a " mass noun " is a grammatical concept and is not based on the innate nature of the object to which that noun refers.
50.
The individual / mass distinction is similar to the distinction between mass nouns and count nouns, but things that are normally counted can be considered as a mass.
