Why are the abstract nouns in the following examples countable or uncountable? There seems to be no applicable rule

Question

I read through this website forum and others regarding abstract nouns and whether they are countable or uncountable. This link Abstract nouns: countable and uncountable provides an answer but it doesn't really help or provide a solid rule to make a decision on whether an abstract noun is countable or uncountable in all situations. Or at least most situations with obvious exceptions.

What I learned so far is that abstract nouns can be both countable and uncountable. And the distinction is whether the abstract noun is specific or general. If it's specific, then the abstract noun is countable and uncountable when it's general. But this rule doesn't help explain what is meant by a specific or general situation. Sometimes, this rules makes sense. For example, the government has taken steps to improve education in this country.

Here, education is used in a general sense because it applies to everybody's education. This can be contrasted with: she comes from a rich family and had a good education. Here education is specific to the individual in question so it's countable.

However, what about the following examples:

Please accept our apologies for the cold soup you were served in our restaurant. Why not please accept our apology?

She made her anger at the graffiti on the wall clear to everyone in the room. Here her anger is specific to her and it's for a specific situation i.e the graffiti on the wall. So why is this not her angers?

He's been having some trouble getting his computer to start all week. Why not troubles since the trouble is specific to his situation?

All these examples come from the English for Everyone Book 4 where students are required to choose one answer out of two. For example anger/angers, health/healths, apology/apologies. The specific and general rule distinction makes little sense when there's such variance in the application.

There are some threads on this forum regarding countable and uncountable nouns but none provide a clear understanding on when to choose a countable or uncountable noun in every abstract noun situation.

Answer 1

There is nothing "special" about any of the nouns you give as examples.

Nouns may be countable or uncountable depending on the context. There are probably no countable nouns that cannot be used uncountably, and very few uncountable nouns that cannot be used countably.

Abstract uncountable nouns describe class that comprises the entirety of an homogeneous concept. Within this concept, are all possible types of that noun. They become, for linguistic purposes, an infinite supply from which any amount of that noun may be removed without diminishing the supply:

"His expression held all the anger that it was possible to imagine, and so did hers."

NB Anger remains uncountable in "He looked at me with an anger that frightened me." This happens as, in "an anger", "an" is not quantitative in this context, but carries the meaning of "a type of anger" or "an example of anger." -- Adjectives and adjectivals are simply partitive (and dividing the infinite has no effect on the infinity.)

Please accept our apologies for the cold soup you were served in our restaurant. Why not please accept our apology?

Apology is countable in the sense of -> one statement of personal regret in respect of an incident, often given with contrition.

In the plural use, the implication is that the restaurant apologises for several separate failings individually: "We are sorry that the soup was cold; we are sorry that cold soup was given to you; we are sorry that your evening with us was ruined, etc." Each is an apology in its own right.

She made her anger at the graffiti on the wall clear to everyone in the room. Here her anger is specific to her and it's for a specific situation i.e the graffiti on the wall. So why is this not her angers?

Being specific does not affect the "countability" of a noun. "at the graffiti on the wall" is partitive - that anger that is caused by the graffiti, but the universal supply of anger remains undiminished.

The possessive (her) is irrelevant: Uncountable nouns cannot be counted - they may be owned (or associated with someone or something) which is why they are called "uncountable" and not "unpossessable."

He's been having some trouble getting his computer to start all week. Why not troubles since the trouble is specific to his situation?

You question contradicts itself. The word "some" is ambiguous in its meaning. Ignoring this confusion: the reason is that trouble can be used countably and uncountably: countably as one incidence of trouble and uncountably as the general concept of trouble.