A carton of milk, a piece of information, etc

A A carton of milk

a carton of milk two tins of soup kilo of sugar a piece/slice of bread a loaf of bread

Milk, soup, etc are uncountable nouns. We cannot use a or a number in front of them. We do not usually say a milk or two soups. But we can say a carton of milk or two tins of soup. Here are some more examples.

CONTAINER

a carton of orange juice a tin of paint a bottle of water a box/packet of cereal

a jar of jam a tube of toothpaste a glass of water a cup of coffee

MEASUREMENT

a kilo of cheese five metres of cable twenty litres of petrol half a pound of butter

a bar of chocolate a loaf of bread

PIECE, SLICE, ETC/

a piece of wood a piece/slice of bread a piece/sheet of paper

We can also use this structure with a plural noun after of.

a packet of crisps a box of matches three kilos of potatoes a collection of pictures

B A piece of information

Advice, information and news are uncountable nouns. We cannot use them with a/an or in the plural.

Can I give you some advice? NOT an advice

We got some information from the tourist office, NOT some informations

That's wonderful news! NOT a wonderful news

But we can use piece of, bit of and item of.

Can I give you a piece of/a bit of advice?

There are two pieces/bits of information we need to complete the questionnaire.

There's a bit of /an item of news that might interest you.

These nouns are uncountable in English, although they may be countable in other languages: accommodation, baggage, behaviour, equipment, fun, furniture, homework, housework, litter, luck, luggage, progress, rubbish, scenery, traffic, travel, weather, work.

Some countable nouns have similar meanings to the uncountable nouns above.

COUNTABLE UNCOUNTABLE

There aren't any jobs. There isn't any work.

It's a long journey. Travel can be tiring.

There were sofas and chairs for sale. There was furniture for sale.

We've booked a room. We've booked some accommodation.

I've got three suitcases. I've got three pieces of luggage.