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Ana Laura Arfelli
When do we say "a coffee" and "some coffee"? Is coffee countable or uncountable?
2014年9月22日 21:05
回答 · 10
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Alexander
4
"...Interestingly, you don't normally say 'a tea' for a cup of tea in the same way. I am a British English ( New Zealand) speaker..." Believe it or not, people do say 'a tea'. That's how you'd order a cup of tea at Starbucks. 'I'll have a green tea'. Outside Starbucks, I can't imagine saying that.
2014年9月22日
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Lyndle
Yes... and now I realise I might say 'I'll have an earl grey tea' too. There you go, change in action. I wouldn't say 'do you want a tea', but ask me in ten years.
2014年9月23日 · 回复
Lyndle
Oh and Starbucks is getting a run for its money here in New Zealand, from our local coffee culture. We're still holding out against the worldwide domination!
2014年9月23日 · 回复
L
Lyndle
3
Most of the time these are interchangeable in common usage. "Would you like some coffee?" (Referring to the substance, uncountable). "Would you like a coffee?" Is really short for "would you like a cup of coffee" and refers to the cup, (countable). I think this is a fairly modern usage. If you are referring to coffee before it is made up (beans or ground coffee), you would always say 'some coffee'. "When I go to the shops I'll buy some coffee'. Of course, here it is uncountable (or in the case of beans, practically uncountable!) I think that's the key - "a coffee" means a cup of coffee, so you can use it whenever you might say 'a cup of coffee' . I can't think if an occasion when some coffee would be wrong. You might say "i tried a nice coffee the other day" - here this is short for 'a nice type of coffee'. Even here "some" would sound fairly natural. Interestingly, you don't normally say 'a tea' for a cup of tea in the same way. I am a British English ( New Zealand) speaker.
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2014年9月22日
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Philip
Interesting point about the tea.
2014年9月22日 · 回复
La Liseuse
As a British tea-drinker, I'd agree, but I've noticed 'a tea' is creeping into the language even here. This is possibly due to the coffee shop culture. Three of you go to Starbucks, and you order 'Two cappuccinos (or whatever) and .... a tea.' The language is changing all around us.
2014年9月22日 · 回复
L
La Liseuse
3
It depends on the sentence. If you say; Coffee is bad for you. Coffee comes from Brazil. Can I have some coffee? the word 'coffee' is uncountable. It is a singular noun with no article. However, if you say: 'There are many different coffees for sale in that store', you mean different types of coffee, so in this case it's a plural noun, and therefore countable. and if you say: 'How many coffees did you order?' you mean 'How many cups of coffee?', so here again you are using the word as a plural noun, and it's countable. So you can say either: 'Can I have a coffee?' (countable, meaning a cup of coffee) or 'Can I have some coffee?' (uncountable, meaning an unspecified amount of a liquid) So, as you can see, either is possible, so long as the internal grammar of the sentence is consistent.
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2014年9月22日
Ana Laura Arfelli
Thank you!
2014年9月23日 · 回复
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Ana Laura Arfelli
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