There is a rule not use the article ‘a’ with uncountable nouns. Unless, we talk about a particular kind of the uncountable noun. For example, ‘a dreadful anger’, ‘a fragile calm’, ‘a great enthusiasm’ etc…
“A and The Explained: A Learner Guide to Definite and Indefinite Articles” by Seonaid Beckwith identifies a limited number of uncountable nouns which can never take ‘a/an’ such as advice, fun, health, information, luck, news, progress, trouble, weather, work, furniture, homework, jewellery, luggage, and money: ‘beautiful furniture’, expensive jewellery’, ‘terrible luck’ etc…
Are there any other uncountable nouns, in addition to the aforementioned list, that are never used with ‘a/an’?
The reason I ask this questions is that I’ve come across a phrase where the author did not use ‘a’ before ‘physical examination’:
On physical examination, there were no abnormalities.
Although ‘examination’ is an uncountable noun, I thought the article ‘a’ was warranted simply because of the adjunct ‘physical’. Does ‘examination’ belong to the above mentioned list of uncountable nouns that never take ‘a/an’ or the author made a mistake by omitting ‘a’?