Countability / uncountability
You have already passed this section on 2015-02-22 at 14:17.
As you know, nouns in English can be divided into two basic groups – those that are
COUNTABLE nouns
are by far the larger group. They are separate things, people, ideas, etc. Examples of countable nouns include boy, tree, cat, apple, etc. Here are a few ways to tell if a noun is countable:
1) As you might have guessed, you can count it. Any noun that you can put numbers in front of is a countable noun:
one dog, two dogs, three dogs...
2) You can put an -S or -ES or -IES on the end of it to form the plural:
My dogs are named Elvis and Sinatra.
Batman and Spiderman were my favorite comics book heroes when I was young.
Waiter, there are three flies in my soup.
UNCOUNTABLE nouns
are things such as liquids, materials, abstract ideas, collections, etc., that are not seen as separate objects. Some common examples include rice, water, bread, advice, and music. They tend to cause problems because:
1) You CANNOT count them. It is NEVER OK to say "One music", "Two advice", etc. DO NOT put numbers in front of these nouns, ever!
2) You CANNOT put an -S or -ES on them. They are mostly singular concepts, and cannot be thought of as plural. (NOTE – there are some exceptions this rule, they will be discussed below).
A / AN
A / AN can be used with singular, countable nouns to indicate that you mean one of them. A is used before consonants (B, C, D, F, S, T, etc., including Y), and AN before vowels (A, E, I, O, and U):
Can I have a hamburger and an ice cream sundae, please?
There was an accident on the road – a car and a motorcycle collided.
A / AN is commonly used to describe what kind of thing something or someone is:
My father is a doctor. (Not "My father is doctor" or "My father is the doctor").
A whale is a mammal, not a fish.
SOME / ANY
SOME and ANY can be used with:
1) Plural Countable nouns. SOME is for positive statements, ANY is for negative statements and questions:
We ate some bananas for lunch.
Do you have any bananas for sale?
Sorry, I don't want any bananas.
2) Uncountable nouns:
I gave him some advice on his new business.
Did you receive any information about the party?
At this time, we don't have any information to give you.
3) SOME has two meanings:
SOME can mean a number of, a few of, or a pair of:
I read some great books in university.
Some of the reports will be presented next week.
I have some new jeans – I'm going to wear them to the party tonight.
SOME can also mean some but not all:
Some people are allergic to dogs.
Some guys have all the luck.
MUCH / MANY & LITTLE / FEW
MANY and FEW are used with plural countable nouns:
There aren't many bears left in the forest around here.
There are only a few bears left in the forest around here.
MUCH and LITTLE are used with uncountable nouns:
There is much work to do before we are finished.
We have little information at this time.
A LOT can be used in both cases, meaning MANY or MUCH:
A lot of my friends are football players.
A lot of that information you gave me was incorrect.
COUNTING UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
It is always possible to form an expression that allows you to count uncountable things or ideas. The standard form for this is A...OF
Can I have a glass of water, please?
I would like a bowl of soup.
You have a spot of dirt on your chin.
For beverages, you can normally use A GLASS OF, A CUP OF, or simply A:
Can I have a glass of milk, please?
Can I have a cup of coffee, please?
Can I have a beer, please? Oh, and a cola too.
Many uncountable nouns have their own special unit for counting (this will be discussed in a later lesson). The most commonly used unit is A PIECE OF:
I would like a piece of bread and three pieces of cheese.
These are the most important pieces of information that we have.
We can only fit four pieces of furniture on the truck at one time.
COMMON UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Here is a list of some common uncountable nouns:
ACCOMODATION
ADVICE
BAGGAGE / LUGGAGE
BEHAVIOUR
BREAD
DRINKS (beer, coffee, tea, cola, juice)
FURNITURE
INFORMATION
KNOWLEDGE
LUCK
MONEY
NEWS (note the S!!!)
PERMISSION
RESEARCH
TRAFFIC
TRAVEL
WEATHER
WORK