COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:

COUNTABLE NOUNS
The most		De todos el que más
More ---------than-------		Más que
The fewest		El que menos de todos
Fewer-----------than------		Menos que
AFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE		INTERROGATIVE
There  are  many…	There  aren’t  many…..		Are there  many….?
Children, flats, books, chairs, metres, room, floor, dollar, song, bottle,  view, journey, suitcase, battery, table, report, tip, job, dog, cat, man, person, box, cup, animal, plate, fork, bag, rug, lamp, dress, bin, fridge, oranges, snake, skirt, gloves, shoes, hat, flower, bird, house, phone, violin, bed, match, movie, country, train, moustache, tail, street, clock, hand…

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

• My dog is playing.
• My dogs are hungry.

We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:

• A dog is an animal.

When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:

• I want an orange. (not I want orange.)
• Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)

When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:

• I like oranges.
• Bottles can break.

We can use some and any with countable nouns:

• I've got some dollars.
• Have you got any pens?

We can use a few and many with countable nouns:

• I've got a few dollars.
• I haven't got many pens.

"People" is countable. "People" is the plural of "person". We can count people:

• There is one person here.
• There are three people here.

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
The most		De todos el que más
More -----than-------		Más que
The least		El que menos de todos
less---------than------		Menos que
AFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE		INTERROGATIVE
There  is a lot of …	There  isn’t  much…..		Is  there  much….?
Time, hair, fruit, water, furniture, traffic, Money, space, land, cheese, pasta, work, travel, scenery, advice, information, electricity, music, luggage, power, happiness, news, art, love, rice, sugar, gas, currency, butter, wood, garbage, knowledge, research, equipment, progress, bread, baggage, accommodation, meat, beer, ketchup, understanding, snow, milk, food, pride, wealth, blood, education, cotton, honey, fiction, grass, gold, forgiveness, chewing gun, flour, air, experience

We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:

• This news is very important.
• Your luggage looks heavy.

We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:

• a piece of news
• a bottle of water
• a grain of rice

We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:

• I've got some money.
• Have you got any rice?

We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:

• I've got a little money.
• I haven't got much rice.

UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS	COUNTABLE NOUNS
WATER BREAD CHEESE I always have sugar in my tea I haven’t got time My hair is blonde	A glass of water, a bottle of water A pound of bread, a slice of bread  A piece of cheese Three sugars in my milk, please We have a good time There’s a hair in my tea

EXERCISES

Elementary

Elementary

How many, little, much, few

Elementary. Much or many

Elementary. A lot of, much, many

Intemediate