an ice cream

[boboy234567]

Would you like an ice cream?



Can I use "ice cream" as a countable noun?

Thank you

[OddThomas]

An ice cream (or two, or so) means a serving of ice cream.

This is frequently done with other non-countable foods, for example: a beer, two sodas, three cotton candies, one popcorn, and so forth. Cotton candy is a large fluffy, spun sugar confection wrapped around an individual paper handle, and popcorn is exploded corn kernels. Cotton candy is a mass; popcorn is millions of individual pieces taken as a whole. One popcorn is not one kernal but one serving.

One french fry is similar to one popcorn, but not identical. Here the food is french fries, plural. They are sticks of sliced and deep fried potatoes considered as a mass. One french fry means one serving.

You can quickly learn how to order food wherever you are by listening to the locals. If you hear "I'd like two fries and an onion ring" you'll know what to do when it's your turn. Likewise, when you hear "May I have a serving of ice cream, please?" you'll also know what to say.