"Contents" are physical. "The contents of the box I received were damaged in shipment."


"Content" designates something non-physical. "The content of this paragraph is thin. I would reinforce it with examples."

Or: "All style and no content (=substance)."

@Jim Tucker: My "Concise Oxford English Dictionary" has a "Contents" page providing a summary of the content (??) of the book.

Yes of course you are right. I neglected this. Maybe you could call it an exception.

I would say that the difference is reflected in the use as either a countable or an uncountable noun.

If it's uncountable, such as an abstract notion, we say "content". Eg the content of the book/of the paragraph/of his speech - meaning the intellectual ideas, arguments, etc. contained in this book/paragraph/speech.

If it's countable, or measurable, we say "contents". E.g. the contents of the tin of fruit (it can be weighed, or measured by volume, or counted, if there are pieces); the contents of the book (the list of chapters, which we can count - they are enumerated).

But this also shows that Jim is right with his theory of physical (contents) and abstract or non-physical (content). "The content of the book" is not the same thing as "the contents of the book."

contents: Inhalt
content: Gehalt (beispielsweise)

I'm not sure about the countable/non-countable distinction. For example, if I am carrying a bag with only one apple, and a policeman stops me (don't ask where I'm getting this), s/he might ask to see the contents of the bag. Even after it becomes clear that there is only one apple in the bag, we still speak of its contents.

An apple is countable, you say? Well, even if the bag is empty, we still describe its contents as "none."

@Jim: An apple is countable. One apple. (Two apples. Three apples....)
You can ascertain countability of nouns by asking the question."How many?" - "How many apples are in the bag?". "None" is also a legitimate answer to this question.
To ascertain uncountability you can ask "How much?" - "How much beer did you drink last night?" - "Oh, about 4 litres." (Or also, "None.")

Another indication of countability is the possibility of forming the plural of the noun in question (and using a plural verb). "There are ten apples in the bag." "There are twelve chapters in the book." "The book's contents are listed on page 3".

Uncountable nouns do not have a plural . e.g. snow, water, information,... and content. "Water is precious in the desert." "The content of this book is not suitable for young children."

If a plural form is made out of an uncountable noun, this changes the meaning: e.g. "waters" does not mean the same thing as "water". And the situation is similar with "contents" and "content".

That is the logic behind my argumentation. You can find it in any beginner-to-intermediate-level English-teaching manual.

Naah. The bag's contents? (content? nyet!) Snow!

The contents (not content, surely)of the glass? Water!

The countable/non-countable thing doesn't come into play here.

Jim, I see what you are trying to say (although your style of communication verges on rudeness):

The contents themselves/the content itself may be countable or uncountable - that is correct.

Nonetheless, "content" is an uncountable noun, and "contents" is a plural noun, and therefore, countable.

@Jim Tucker
Mary is correct in her arguments.

what are the contents of your bag? - is a typical question when one doesn't know in advance whether what the bag contains is countable or not.

the correct questions would be:
the bag's content - snow
the glass's content - water
the shaker's content - sugar
the shaker's contents - 2 million grains of sugar

the bag's content - snow
the glass's content - water
the shaker's content - sugar

Disagree. At most, both "content" and "contents" are possible, but surely the latter is more widespread.

To illustrate this point, I picked a context on Google where a container (tank) holds something that is clearly uncountable (water, oxygen, etc.)

Some of these hits are pretty authoritative (like NASA)

840,000 hits (not saying they all apply, but still...)


http://www.google.co.hu/search?hs=v2j&hl=hu&c...

If the aforementioned doesn't work on your browser, just Google "empty the tank of its contents"

Support Jim.

Agree with Jim. I have never heard anyone say anything like "Empty the bag of its content." Sounds plain silly to be.

I have heard that said.

Google this:

"empty the bag of its content"

And all you will find is "contents" in this context.

I never said you could say "empty the bag of its content". Jim just doesn't get what I am talking about. That's not my problem.