2. COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

3. Countable nouns things, objects, people, places, etc. can be counted
SINGULAR: PLURAL:
a + noun
one + noun noun + -s
e.g.
a book, a friend, a building ...
two books, three friends, four buildings ...

4. USE - singular form of the verb with a singular countable noun:
dog, cat, animal, man, person
bottle, box, litre
coin, note, dollar
table, chair, suitcase, bag
e.g. I am sitting on a chair.
-and plural form of the verb with plural nouns:
e.g. Your bags are on the floor.

5. Irregular Nouns: SINGULAR PLURAL -EN child children man men
woman women
ox oxen
-EE
foot feet
goose geese
tooth teeth
NO CHANGE
deer deer
fish fish
means means
offspring offspring
series series
sheep sheep
species species

6. Uncountable nouns
substances, concepts etc that cannot be divided into separate elements
have only one form and cannot "count" them
e.g.
music, art, love, happiness
advice, information, news
furniture, luggage
rice, sugar, butter, water
electricity, gas, power
money, currency
we usually treat uncountable nouns as singular
we use a singular verb with them
e.g. :
This news is very important.
Your luggage looks heavy.

7. Uncountable nouns CAN be counted if we use:
A piece / a slice of… cheese / meat
A bowl of… soup /cereal
A cup of … tea
A bottle / a glass of…wine
A carton of … milk
A bar of … chocolate / butter
A tube of ketchup

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

9. Countable ↔ Uncountable
 BOTH ↔
Uncountable
There are two hairs in my coffee!
hair
I don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our bedroom.
light
Close the curtain. There's too much light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise.
noise
It's difficult to work when there is too much noise.
Have you got a paper to read? (= newspaper)
paper
I want to draw a picture. Have you got some paper?
Our house has seven rooms.
room
Is there room for me to sit here?
We had a great time at the party.
time
Have you got time for a coffee?
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest works.
work
I have no money. I need work!

10. EXERCISES

11. TASK 1: Identify the following objects as countable or uncountable.
1. Information Money
a) countable a) countable
b) uncountable b) uncountable
2. Rules Rice
3. Sheep Bottles of wine
a) countable a) countable

12. a) countable a) countable 2. Rules 5. Rice a) countable a) countable
KEY:
1. Information Money
a) countable a) countable
b) uncountable b) uncountable
2. Rules Rice
a) countable a) countable
b) uncountable b) uncountable
3. Sheep Bottles of wine

13. 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.

14. KEY: COUNTABLE UNCOUNTABLE cup plate fork bottle coin box litre
suitcase
bag
dollar
animal
man
person
web site
clothes
desert
nation
sugar
salt
cheese
water
milk
tea
coffee
ham
cake
equipment
traffic
talent
music
land
fish
pollution
food

15. ONLINE EXERCISES: C or U with key C or U - with answers SHORT PASSAGE
A PIECE OF / A PACKET OF....