virgo - 13 May 2009 02:26 AM
For example, I am asked to describe myself to a person. Of course, I will say, “ I am fair-skinned. I have pointed nose and I have a long hair. Long hair? Is it correct to say, “I have a long hair” ? Isn’t hair a mass or non-count noun? Should I use article “a” to modify long hair? Some help here, please… 
You can’t say “a long hair” in your sentence. The article “a” is usually omitted in mass or non-count nouns. In other languages like French, they do have an article to indicate an indefinite quantity of a mass noun. It’s called partitive article. The English language doesn’t use this kind of article, although the word “some” can function like that.
ex. You have some hair in your dress.
You can have the article “a” if you will change your sentence. For example, “I have a long strand of hair”. In this case, the article “a” functions as an indefinite article.
