大家知道，不可數名詞沒有表示復數的“-s”標志，因此前面不可有數目字，只可以有數量詞。例如我們可以說①， 不可以說②：

①There is not much furniture in the office.

②There are not many furnitures in the office.

這是不是說不可數名詞就不可數呢?不然。相反的，不可數名詞也是可數的，主要方法是借重單位詞(unit word)，如：

a piece of, a cup of, a drop of, a lump of, a handful of, a flash of, a blade of, a head of, a bar of, an ear of等。

如果數目是超過“一”，就以確實數目取代“一”。例如：

two pieces of, three cups of 和 five lumps of 等。

現在試試把上述這類單位詞和適當的不可數名詞連用。

① Mr Li has just bought a piece of new furniture.

② Give me a cup of cold water, please.

③ Please put two lumps of sugar in my coffee.

④ The boy picked up two handfuls of sand from the beach.

⑤ We saw a flash of lightning in the sky.

⑥ The gardener pulled out blades of wild grass from the garden.

⑦ She gave bars of chocolate to the visiting children.

有些名詞如 scissors, trousers, spectacles, tongs, pliers 等，都以復數形式出現，如：

⑧ The scissors are lying on the table.

⑨ The spectacles fit me nicely.

如果要給這些名詞表示單數“一”的意思，就要借重單位詞了。例如：

⑩ Mary has just bought a pair of scissors.

(11) The mechanic repaired the machine with a set of pliers.

現代英語注重簡潔，合成形容詞便應運而生，其中有一種是用來表示數目的，方法是：

“數目+名詞”，如：a five-year plan, a ten-dollar note, a two-hour meeting, a three-day conference等。

必須注意的是，這種合成形容詞中的名詞，只能以單數形式出現。如果用復數，就錯了，如：

a five-years plan, a ten-dollars note, a two-hours meeting, a three-days conference.

這類錯誤，雖然頻率不是很高，但也是要留意才好。

如果沒有把握，不妨用完整的表達方式，如：

a five-year plan→a plan of five years, a ten-dollar note→a note of ten dollars, a three-day conference→a conference of three days 等。