Countability
COUNTABLE & UNCOUNTABLE WORDS
Some words in English are countable (you can count them). These words can be in plural.
Car (cars), student (students), book (books)
Some words are uncountable (you can't count them). If you want to count them, you need extra words which are countable.
water (2 litres of water), chocolate (two bars of chocolate)
MUCH and MANY
mean "big quantity"
– much is used with uncountable words
• much water, much money, much salt
– many is used with countable words
• many students, many problems, many mistakes
LITTLE (a little) and FEW (a few)
mean "low quantity"
– little is used with uncountable words
• little time, little salt, little air
– few is used with countable words
• few people, few dollars, few ideas
BE CAREFUL!
Little and few mean "nearly no"
A little and a few mean "some but not many"
We have very few good teachers. (That's not good!)
We have a few very good teachers. (We don't have many good teachers, but there are some… It's not so bad!)
Some words which are uncountable in English are countable in Czech:
HOMEWORK – much homework
LUGGAGE – much luggage
ADVICE – some advice