Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
PITETI
2012
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:
dog, cat, animal, man, person
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Uncountable Nouns
What is an uncountable noun?
An uncountable noun cannot be counted.
For example, we can count cars, but we cannot count water. Water
is a substance.
Notice that sugar is an uncountable noun. We can count lumps of
sugar, but not sugar in general.
Note that people is a countable noun. Even though there is no s
ending, we can count people (3 people, 4 people etc)
*Note - Countable nouns are sometimes called count nouns and
uncountable nouns are sometimes called non-count nouns.
Uncountable nouns are often types of food, materials or abstract
concepts.
salt
sugar
information
work
wool
weather
butter
oil
advice
pepper
oxygen
milk
luck
meat
honesty
4
patience
knowledge
homework
happiness
honey
Exercise 1
Which of these words are uncountable?
Tick the words that are uncountable.
1 - methane
2 - advice
3 - smoke
4 - wool
5 - meat
6 - shoe
7 - target
8 - chocolate
9 - mustard
10 - mouse
11 - finger
12 - battery
13 - kid
14 - pasta
15 - cellphone
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
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Uncountable
dollar
money
song
music
suitcase
luggage
table
furniture
battery
electricity
bottle
wine
report
information
tip
advice
journey
travel
job
work
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View
scenery
When you learn a new word, it's a good idea to learn whether it's
countable or uncountable.
Uncountable
hair
light
noise.
house
has
r
seven roo
rooms.
is
one
time
Shakespeare's
greatest
works.
Drinks (coffee, water, orange juice) are usually uncountable. But if
we are thinking of a cup or a glass, we can say (in a restaurant, for
example):
Two teas and one coffee please.
Countable nouns refer to things that that can be counted. They
are usually tangible things, things that can be perceived by one
of our senses (taste, touch, sight, hearing, smell). These nouns
can be either singular or plural.
Concrete nouns can be countable.
Flowers, oranges, trees, houses, bricks, cars,
men,women, cats, birds
navy
was
commissioning
three
new
sense
because
air
can't
be
counted.
Myra
enjoyed
the
weather.
cannot be counted.
band
played
at
the
concert.
sand
rice
corn
rye
popcorn salt
lettuce
hair
flour
oats
dust
spinach
garlic
powder
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sugar
package, letter
slacks, shoes
food
cookie, cracker
fruit
pineapple,
banana
furniture
bed, chair
garbage
jewelry
ring, bracelet
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/pastries,
drink/drinks,
wine/wines,
bread/breads,
physics
geography
geology
music
advertising
medicine
grammar
mechanics
biology
economics
history
accounting
sociology
law
mathematics
linguistics
Abstract ideas
strength
equality
sadness
love
selfishness
anger
happiness
knowledge
patriotism
slang
wonder
hatred
laughter
peace
trouble
courage
health
laziness
permission
wealth
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crime
help
leisure
relaxation
wisdom
Liquids
oil
water
milk
gasoline
syrup
coffee
vodka
juice
tea
soda
molasses saliva
Gases
helium
methane
air
oxygen
ether
ozone
carbon
hydrogen
monoxide
lava
wood
pork
wool
plastic
fire
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lamb
beef
cloth
glass
lead
silver
ice
coal
gold
meat
soap
bread
concret
e
cheese ice
steel
archery
aerobics
badminto
n
bridge
swimmin
jogging
checker Monopol
tag
chess
Scrabble tennis
baseball
football soccer
bowling
hockey surfing
water
polo
volleyball
Natural Phenomena
snow
cold
darkness
dew
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fog
frost gravity
hail
humidity
light lightning
thunder
Medical Conditions
An article does not precede terms for general medical conditions.
When referring to specific instances of a medical condition or
disease, some uncountable nouns use the; others do not use any
article.
General statement: Measles is a childhood disease.
Specific statement: He has the German measles.
arthritis
hiccups
cancer
polio
tuberculosis
AIDS
flu
measles
smallpox
lupus
electroshock
fission
fusion
sonar
radar
dissectio
n
dialysis
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Articles
Notice that this, that, these, and those have been included
because like the word the, they mark a definite noun rather than
a general one.
a, an
Countab
le
singular
the
Countabl
e singular
this,
these,
no
that
those
article
Counta
ble
singular
Counta
Countabl
ble
e plural
plural
Countable
plural
Uncounta
Uncounta
ble
ble
Countable Singular:
She peeled the orange.
He drove the car.
Did they see this movie?
Countable Plural:
I love to watch the squirrels play.
Does Patricia want these videos?
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Plural
uncountable
countable noun
noun
uncountable Use
Uncountable
countable use
Use
Beauty is in the eye of the I have heard about the
beholder.
beauties
of
the
French
countryside.
He brought four
double-
last
year
school.
at
Exercise 2
Are the following sentences grammatically correct? If not, try to
think of a way to
correct them.
1. Can you pass a salt?
2. Could you pass the salt?
3. This sugar is lovely.
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(countable
or
uncountable,
meaning)
Usually paper is uncountable:
22
depending
on
the
(uncountable
or
countable,
depending
meaning)
Work, homework and housework are all uncountable.
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on
the
(uncountable
or
countable,
depending
on
the
on
the
meaning)
Time, in general is uncountable:
I dont have much time.
Time, when it means occasion, is countable:
How many times have you watched that movie?
Hair
(uncountable
or
countable,
depending
meaning)
When referring to strands (pieces) of hair, the word is countable,
but hair is usually a group word, referring to all the individual hairs
on a persons head.
She has beautiful hair.
Theres a hair in my salad!
Fish
(countable
or
uncountable,
depending
on
the
meaning)
When 'fish' describes the food, it is always uncountable:
We ate some delicious fish.
To describe the living creature, this word is countable but is usually
spelled
without -es:
There were three fish in the pond.
There were three fishes in the pond. (correct, but less common)
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Exercise 3
This exercise will test you on the previous two points:
Difficult and special cases
Adding -s to uncountable nouns
Circle the correct options:
Can you help me to move the _________? furnitures furniture
We bought some new _________ for the factory. equipments
equipment
She wears a lot of _________. jewelry jewelries
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Container Words
We often make nouns countable by using them together with
container words.
For example, we cant say two soaps but we can say two bars of
soap.
The most common container word is piece; for instance, a piece
of news.
Some uncountable nouns can be used with more than one
container word:
A cup of coffee
A jar of coffee.
More examples.
A slice of cheese.
A slice of toast.
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A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
A
sheet of paper.
bar of soap.
bar of chocolate.
blade of grass.
bolt of lightning.
pinch of salt.
tube of toothpaste.
grain of sand.
packet of rice.
drop of water.
loaf of bread.
member of staff.
moment of time.
pint of milk.
herd of cattle
piece of news.
piece of furniture.
piece of cake.
piece of chocolate.
piece of luck.
piece of jewelry.
piece of advice.
Exercise 4
Complete the phrases without looking back at the notes:
1 a _______ of cheese
2 a _______ of grass
3 a _______ of advice
4 a _______ of bread
5 a _______ of jewelry
6 a _______ of news
7 a _______ of sand
8 a _______ of toast
9 a _______ of chocolate
10 a _______ of staff
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Exercise 5
Final exercise
Circle the correct option:
1. Which of these words is countable? chair furniture
2. Which of these words is countable? equipment machine
3. Which of these words is countable? rice cookie
4. Can you pass me a _______ of paper? sheet slice
5. I have so _______ homework to do. much many
6. Have you made _______ progress? many any
7. I need _______ advice. an some
8. Is _______ milk fresh? this these
9. Most of this food _______ tasty. is are
10. Lets order a couple of _______ and have a chat. coffees coffee
11. I bought some chewing _______. gums gum
12. I dont have enough _______ to finish this assignment. time
times
13. I enjoyed all the _______ we went dancing together. time times
14. Which of these words is uncountable? garbage can
15. Which of these words is uncountable? flour flower
16. A _______ of cheese. bar slice
17. A _______ of soap. slice bar
18. I have _______ good news to tell you. some a
19. I can lend you _______ money if you need it. a few a little
20. I can lend you _______ dollars if you need some money. a little a
few
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Answer key
Exercise 1
Which of these words are uncountable?
Words in bold are uncountable:
1 & methane
2 & advice
3 & smoke
4 & wool
5 & meat
6 - shoe
7 - target
8 & chocolate
9 & mustard
10 - mouse
11 - finger
12 - battery
13 - kid
14 & pasta
15 - cellphone
Exercise 2
Sentences in bold are correct:
1 Can you pass a salt? (the salt)
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