We investigate abstract nouns (thought, satisfaction, knowledge, experience) and verbal predicates of eventualities (walk, sleep, cross the street).

We find countability distinctions in both abstract nouns and predicates of eventualities:

• three thoughts/experiences vs. #three knowledges/satisfactions

• walk/sleep for an hour/#in an hour vs. cross the river in 10 minutes/#for 10 minutes

This project asks questions such as:

• What underpins such countability distinctions for abstract nouns and predicates of eventualities?

• To what can theories of countability for concrete nouns such as table, furniture, lentils, and mud be extended to shed light on the countability of predicates of eventualities and abstract nouns?

Intuitively, spatiotemporal criteria serve as a key factor in the individuation of physical objects denoted by concrete Ns. However, the identification/individuation of eventualities in the denotation of verbal predicates conceptually depends on certain parameters of eventualities, such as physical properties of their participants, temporal traces, locations and the like. The relation of abstract Ns to space-time is mysterious, and given that the class of abstract Ns is highly heterogeneous, identifying an overarching feature that accounts for just what makes an abstract N count, or mass, seems an elusive goal.