[Grammar] Countable or Uncountable Nouns

[ronan200]

Hi everyone,

I've been asked to select the nouns from a few sentences and say weather they are countable or uncountable nouns.

I worked out all of them except for this one:

Ikea sells furniture.

I know furniture is uncountable, but what about Ikea. Is Ikea a countable or uncountable noun?

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi everyone,

I've been asked to select the nouns from a few sentences and say [STRIKE]weather[/STRIKE] whether they are countable or uncountable nouns.

I worked out all of them except for this one:

Ikea sells furniture.

I know furniture is uncountable, but what about Ikea. Is Ikea a countable or uncountable noun?

Think about other sentences like this where a brand name or the name of a company is included. What do you think? Is it possible to say how many branches of Ikea there are, for example?

 

[ronan200]

I think Ikea is uncountable.

For instance, when saying there are five Ikea stores in Ireland, you are counting the stores.

 

[Chicken Sandwich]

NOT A TEACHER

I have found this sentence on COCA:

Nearly 20,000 Muscovites descended on Ikea that day, helping make it tenth in volume of sales out of 163 Ikeas worldwide.

Here's another one:

Dozens of inflatable SpongeBob SquarePants balloons were stolen from Burger Kings across the country this month.

 

[ronan200]

So Ikea is a countable noun.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Tdol]

I'd say it's an uncountable noun that is sometimes used countably.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd say it's an uncountable noun that is sometimes used countably.

I agree entirely. If I had to back that up I would say that Ikea stores are countable but the company (or at least the proper noun Ikea) itself is uncountable (although of course there is only one company called Ikea as far as I know!)