Uncountable nouns are nouns that are impossible to count, whether because they name intangible concepts (e.g., information, animal husbandry, wealth), collections of things that are considered as wholes (e.g., jewelry, equipment, the working class), or homogeneous physical substances(e.g., milk, sand, air). Although most of these nouns are singular in form, because they refer to things that can’t be isolated and counted, they never take a or an. Uncountable nouns can be modified by indefinite adjectives like some, however. Consider the examples below for reference:
Incorrect: Please give me a water.
Water is an uncountable noun and should not be used with the indefinite article.
Correct: Please give me some water.
If you describe the water in terms of a countable unit (like a bottle), you can use the indefinite article to modify the unit.
Correct: Please give me a bottle of water.
Incorrect: Please give me an ice.
Correct: Please give me an ice cube.
Correct: Please give me some ice.
Note that depending on the context, some nouns can be countable or uncountable (e.g., hair, noise, time):
Correct: We need a light in this room.
Correct: We need some light in this room.
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