Nouns that do not fit into the basic singular ~ plural dichotomy are uncountable nouns: sugar, beer, isolation, advice, information. The notion of singular versus plural is irrelevant to uncountable nouns. By default, however, they are treated as singular nouns. When functioning as Subject, for example, an NP with an uncountable head noun combines with a singular verb: All my luggage was lost. (AEG Ch. 3)
ungrammatical, see grammatical
unit noun, see unitizer
unitizer
A unitizer (or unit noun) is a countable noun which can be used to form a complex NP with an uncountable noun, in essence rendering the uncountable noun countable: a bar (two bars) of soap, a blade (several blades) of grass. Piece is a common unitizer: a piece of furniture, a piece of advice, a piece of information. (AEG Ch. 3)
