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This page suggests that we use much with only uncountable nouns whereas the use of many/several is limited to countable nouns only. So I conclude that money is uncountable noun as I've heard people saying phrases like

So much money!

But, We do count the money in our daily life then why is it that money is considered an uncountable noun instead of countable? What if I say

I have $500 to spend

Wouldn't the money be considered countable in this case?

Edit The question may be considered duplicate of the suggested question but, in my opinion, the question on that link itself is not answered properly.

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    You might want to check this: ell.stackexchange.com/questions/6296/is-money-a-countable-noun
    – shin
    Apr 12, 2016 at 7:49
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    @shin : That didn't answer my question.In fact it confused me. Every answer to that question has a different opinion and none of which explains why (or why not) money is uncountable. They simply state it.
    – 7_R3X
    Apr 12, 2016 at 8:55

3 Answers 3

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Sugar is uncountable: grains of sugar are countable.

Air is uncountable: oxygen molecules are countable.

Money is uncountable: dollars are countable.

Sometimes we want to use a collective term for stuff that you use to buy things with- that's money. When you want to start quantifying (counting) it, you have to use a currency- dollars, dinars, yen, euros.

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  • I figured that much out myself as I've mentioned in the question but how would I explain it to someone upon being asked? There's got to be some logic or explanation behind it.
    – 7_R3X
    Apr 12, 2016 at 9:02
  • The edited version explains it all. Just one last thing to ask - Is every currency considered as countable including Indian Rupee? I'm asking this because the answer here says otherwise. It says few Rupees doesn't make sense which inclines me to conclude that Rupees is not considered countable? @JavaLatte
    – 7_R3X
    Apr 12, 2016 at 9:20
  • If you read the whole sentence, he goes on to say is that "a few Rupees" would be a better way of expressing it. "few" and "a few" are both used for countable things, but have slightly different meanings.
    – JavaLatte
    Apr 12, 2016 at 9:45
  • I think the best way to explain it is that "money" the word is uncountable: you can't have "a money". Money the concept is countable. "Rupees" are money, but they're not the word "money". So you can have "five rupees" but not "five moneys".
    – stangdon
    Apr 12, 2016 at 12:40
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This is a very common problem for learners of all languages (and I've even seen some native-speaker English teachers make big mistakes with this in English lessons!).

We like to talk about things being countable, but really it is nouns that are countable (even when the noun may be both countable and uncountable).

The word money gives us the idea of general money. When we think about this idea, we don't think about numbers. This is the same way that we don't think about numbers when we think about water.

When we think about water, we can think about the amount of water we have. We think about litres (or pints or gallons). Now, we don't usually have a million waters, but we can very easily have a million litres of water. The same thing happens with money. We don't usually have a million moneys. But we can have a million pounds, or a million yen or a million dollars.

This may seem strange when you think about it. An easy way to understand it though is to think about your own language. What is the word for money in your language? Can you say: 5 money in your language? You can't!

What is the currency in your country in your language (dollars, yen, roubles, lira etc)? Can you say "5 (X)" —5 dollars, 5 yen, 5 roubles, 5 lira, 5 (currency)s— in your language?

Yes you can!

It works the same way in English too!

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I see how difficult it can be to convey simple ideas such as countable or uncountable to speakers of non-European languages.

You are right, you can count your money, but when counting you don't say I have one money or two or three moneys, you say I have one Euro/dollar/Rupie or two Euros/dollars/Rupees.

"money" is a collective noun as furniture and you can't say one/two/three moneys. If this idea is difficult for you to understand - which may absolutely understandable - you have to learn it mechanically.

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