Uncountable nouns

[Poet123]

I told my students that I can't put indefinite articles "a/an" with the uncountable nouns but I sometimes find some expressions like " a good education" a universal weakness " lives a happy life" Although I told them that ( life/ education / weakness) are uncountable nouns. So I need explanation for this rule to convey it right to them.

 

[heypresto]

In these instances, life, education and weakness are countable, so it's perfectly correct to use the indefinite article.

See these WR Dictionary definitions:

life - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
weakness - WordReference.com Dictionary of English
education - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

 

[entangledbank]

Most uncountable nouns have countable uses. This is often to indicate specific varieties of the uncountable thing, such as French and German wines, or a good education or a university education.