Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

Is "fire" an uncountable noun? There are times when you can say "fires" too, right?

Answer
VerifiedVerified
479.4k+ views
Hint: A noun is a term that describes someone, somewhere, or something. A word represents all we can see or talk about. Nouns can be categorised into a number of distinct groups.

Complete answer:
Countable nouns: Countable nouns are objects that can be counted, even if the number is extremely large (like counting all the people in the world, for example). Articles like a/an and the, as well as quantifiers like a few and many, can be used with countable nouns.
Example: Here is a dog.

Uncountable nouns: Uncountable nouns are nouns that exist in a condition or amount that is difficult to count; liquids, as well as objects that function like liquids, are uncountable (sand, air). Uncountable are abstract concepts like creativity and bravery. Uncountable nouns are usually singular, and they can be used alone or with some, any, a little, and a lot.

Example: An I.Q. The test is used to measure the intelligence of the people.
Here, intelligence is an uncountable noun.

Now look at the given question,
The word "fire" has a variety of meanings. It is uncountable if this term is used as the name of an element (such as water or air).
Example: Because of the strong wind, the fire spread fast.

It can also be used in the sense of 'campfire,' in which it is a countable noun.
Example: Soldiers sat beside fires all across the camp.
Example: The old chimney had safely contained thousands of fires despite years of neglect, and its last one was the fire that destroyed the entire house.

Thus, depending on the context, "fire" might be countable or uncountable.

Note: Depending on the context of the phrase, some nouns might be countable or uncountable. Light, hair, room, gear, art, and science are examples of these flexible words. For instance, Did you have a good time at her house?