English Café: Contents and Content

Advanced Details: Content and Contents

Content (uncountable)

Content as a singular noun is uncountable. It means the gathered-together ideas that are contained in a piece of writing, such as in a report or a technical article. It can also mean the ideas in a speech, film, or a presentation.

• This slideshow has much subsurface geophysical content, and therefore is not suitable for all staff.
• His speech was very flowery amusing, but it lacked serious content and was quite superficial.
• The content of that PTTEP training class is excellent – many staff found it to be very useful.

Content can also mean the amount of a particular substance contained in something:

• These hamburgers have a high fat content; they’re not good for you.
• That vessel has a very high gas content. We have to be very careful when working on it.

Contents (plural)

The contents of a book is the list of chapters or articles or parts that are in the book, with the number of the page they begin on. We also use contents for things that are in something like a container or for sections of a publication (e.g., book chapters in a “table of contents”).

• If you look at the (table of) contents, you’ll see there’s a chapter on passenger safety.
• The contents of Sombat’s bag spilled all over the floor.
• Be sure to shake the contents of the fruit juice drink before you open the can.
• The contents of the offshore storeroom were mainly old and damaged equipment.
• PTTEP security officer said, “Please show me the contents of your backpack.”