Countable and Uncountable Nouns

1. Countable and Uncountable Nouns

2. What are countable nouns? Countable nouns are individual objects, people, places, etc. which can be counted. A countable noun can be both singular • a friend, a house, etc. • or plural - a few apples, lots of trees, etc.

3. Use the singular form of the verb with a singular countable noun: • dog, cat, animal, man, person • bottle, box, litre • coin, note, dollar • cup, plate, fork • table, chair, suitcase, bag Countable nouns can be singular or plural: • My dog is playing. • My dogs are hungry.

4. Countable nouns have a plural form • Singular: a car • an eggplant • three • Plural: some dolls • many

5. 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:

6. Uncountable Nouns • music, art, love, happiness • advice, information, news • furniture, luggage • rice, sugar, butter, water • electricity, gas, power • money, currency

7. We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular : We use a singular verb. For example: • This news is very important. • Your luggage looks heavy. You can count uncountable nouns if you use: • A piece of… cheese • A bowl of… soup • A cup of… tea • A bottle of…wine • A carton of…milk • A bar of… chocolate

8. Here are some of the most common containers / quantity expressions for these uncountable nouns: advice - a piece of advice baggage - a piece of baggage bread - a slice of bread, a loaf of bread equipment - a piece of equipment furniture - a piece of furniture garbage - a piece of garbage information - a piece of information knowledge - a fact luggage - a piece of luggage, a bag, a suitcase money - a note, a coin musica – a song, a piece news - a piece of news pasta - a plate of pasta, a serving of pasta research - a piece of research, a research project travel - a journey, a trip work - a job, a position

9. Here are some more common uncountable food types with their container / quantity expressions: • liquids (water, beer, wine, etc.) - a glass, a bottle, a jug of water, etc.cheese - a slice, a chunk, a piece of cheesemeat - a piece, a slice, a pound of meatbutter - a bar of butterketchup, mayonnaise, mustard - a bottle of, a tube of ketchup, etc.

10. EXERCISES

11. Identify the following objects as countable or uncountable. 1. Q: Information4. Q: Money a) countable a) countable b) uncountable b) uncountable 2. Q: Rules5. Q: Rice a) countable a) countable b) uncountable b) uncountable 3. Q: Sheep6. Q: Bottles Of Wine a) countable a) countable b) uncountable b) uncountable

12. Put in order the countable and uncountable nouns cup, plate, fork, sugar, salt, bottle, cheese, coin, water, milk, box, litre, tea, coffee, suitcase, bag, ham, cake, dollar, animal, man, person, equipment, traffic, talent, web site, clothes, music, desert, land, nation, fish, pollution, food.

13. EXERCISES KEY

14. Identify the following objects as countable or uncountable. 1. Q: Information4. Q: Money a) countable a) countable b) uncountable b) uncountable 2. Q: Rules5. Q: Rice a) countable a) countable b) uncountable b) uncountable 3. Q: Sheep6. Q: Bottles Of Wine a) countable a) countable b) uncountable b) uncountable

15. Put in order the countable and uncountable nouns