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by KevinRocci » Fri Apr 25, 2014 11:37 am
shrutikasat2703 wrote:Which one is correct :

A. What is matter?
B. What is a matter?

Here matter is anything that occupies space and has a mass.
Howdy! I can help! :)

The first one is correct! :)

We don't need to use an article in front of uncountable nouns. :) I talk about this a little bit in this video. :)

Happy studying!
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by [email protected] » Fri Apr 25, 2014 2:50 pm
Hi shrutikasat2703,

The issue of "countable" vs. "non-countable" is a minor grammar rule that you'll likely be tested on once (but possibly more than once) in the GMAT Verbal section.

"Countable" nouns (eg. chairs, people, books, etc.) can be referred to with the words "fewer" and "number" (among others).
"Non-countable" nouns (eg. air, sleepiness) can be referred to with the words "less" and "amount" (among others).

Kevin points out that you don't need an article in front of a non-countable noun, which is true (since matter is "non-countable", it falls into that category - you might refer to "less matter" or an "amount of matter").

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Rich
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