COUNTABLE UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

1
COUNTABLE / UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

• Student My wife has got a long hair.Teacher
  All the rest of her hair is short then?
• Students definitions

2
True or false?

• A. Common nouns are written with capital letters
• B. Countable nouns can be plural
• C. Uncountable nouns can be plural

3
Definitions

• (from Roy Norris Ready for FCE)
• Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted
• One plate, two cats, etc.
• Uncountable nouns cannot be counted. They are not
  used with the indefinite article a/an. They do
  not have a plural and they are used with a
  singular verb.
• (accommodation, health, hair, money, progress,
  advice, homework, research, damage, information,
  English, work, knowledge, travel, furniture,
  luggage, weather, graffiti)
• (from R. A. Close, A teachers grammar)
• The term countable and uncountable are often
  used instead of mass and unit. Consider the
  statement Egg is countable. The things we call
  eggs are of course countable. Egg, the substance,
  is uncountable, as in the following dialogue.
• Grandmother I know what you had for breakfast
  this morning.
• Grandchild What did I have?
• Grandmother Egg.
• Grandchild How do you know?
• Grandmother Because you have egg on your chin.
• Grandchild Well, you are wrong. I had egg
  yesterday.

4

• Countable nouns represent people or things (both
  abstract and concrete) which can be counted. In
  the examples below, the countable nouns are shown
  in bold
• Sams eating a bar of chocolate.Can you look
  after Tom for ten minutes?Do you have any
  brothers or sisters?If you pass your exams
  youll have more opportunities in the
  future.Study the third example.
• Countable nouns can be used in both the singular
  and plural form. The majority of plural forms of
  countable nouns end in s, e.g
• minute minutesbrother brothersopportunity
  opportunities leaf - leaves
• although a smaller number of plural forms are
  irregular, e.g
• child childrenwoman womenmouse mice
• Some countable nouns have the same form for both
  singular and plural, e.g
• a sheep nine sheepone salmon three salmon
• Uncountable nouns generally refer to things that
  we dont think of counting because they do not
  naturally divide into separate units. They
  usually represent substances or more abstract
  concepts such as qualities or processes, rather
  than individual items or events. In the examples
  below, the uncountable nouns are shown in bold
• The kitchen floor was covered in water.Jack is
  a boy with average intelligence.Shes only
  trying to think about your health and
  happiness.You must try to get some sleep.I just
  want to find out the truth.
• Uncountable nouns have no plural form and are
  never used with numbers. However we can refer to
  an amount of the quality or substance represented
  by an uncountable noun by using certain
  determiners or quantifying phrases, e.g
• Do you want some milk?Have you got enough
  money?There were a few drops of water on the
  floor.Your son has a great deal of intelligence.

5

• Uncountable nouns are things that you can't have
  two or more of. "Two happinesses" sounds a little
  bit strange.
• As was mentioned above, uncountable nouns cannot
  have plurals. But they can - when you are talking
  about a particular type of uncountable noun.
• Look at beer. (Yes, please!) Beer is uncountable.
  When you tell the barman "two beers, please" this
  is just a lazy way of saying "two glasses (or
  bottles) of beer, please". But really, beer is
  uncountable - like water. But while we say the
  English drink a lot of beer (beer being
  uncountable), the English drink many types of
  beer. For example in my area, Greene King is a
  popular beer, and in Yorkshire many people drink
  Tetley's. Both these beers are English beers and
  they taste different from German beers.
• We can also talk about the joys of being a
  parent, unless children are one of your hates.
  However, other types of uncountable/insubstantive
  nouns do not work like this. So we say "there are
  many types of courage" and not "there are many
  courages".

6
Complete this rule

• A/an can be used with uncountables if the speaker
  or writer.
• Some uncountable words have different meanings
  when used with a/an.
• What is the difference between
• chocolate and a chocolate?
• iron and an iron?
• glass and a glass?

7
ACTIVITYFill the gap with a/an if you think it
is necessary, or leave the space blank.

• Ive spilt some wine. Get cloth.
• When you are in town, can you get paper? The
  printer has run out.
• Is there chicken in the hamburger? It tastes
  as if there is.
• When you are in town can you get paper? I want
  to get the football results.
• After walking for about an hour we came to
  wood.
• cloth has to be imported. Thats why cloths
  are expensive.
• If you want to make a fire youll need wood.
• I ran over chicken near a farm today. It had
  obviously escaped.

8
Listen and fill the gaps Angels - Robbie
Williams

• There is a gap for each missing word
• I sit and waitthere's an angel contemplate my
  fateAnd do they know_____ places ______ we
  goWhen we're grey and old'cause I've been
  toldThat salvation lets _____ wings ______So
  when I'm lying in my bedThoughts running through
  my headAnd I feel _____ love ____ _____I'm
  ______ angels _______And through it all she
  offers me protection____ ____ ____ love and
  affectionWhether I'm right or wrongAnd down the
  waterfallWherever it may take meI know that
  life won't break meWhen I come to call she won't
  forsake meI'm ______ angels ______
• When I'm feeling weakAnd my pain walks down
  ____ ____ ____ streetI look aboveAnd I know
  I'll always be blessed with loveAnd as _____
  feeling _____
• She breathes flesh to my bonesAnd when love is
  deadI'm loving angels instead

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Angels - Robbie Williams

• I sit and waitthere's an angel contemplate my
  fateAnd do they knowThe places where we goWhen
  we're grey and old'cause I've been toldThat
  salvation lets their wings unfoldSo when I'm
  lying in my bedThoughts running through my
  headAnd I feel that love is deadI'm loving
  angels insteadAnd through it all she offers me
  protectionA lot of love and affectionWhether
  I'm right or wrongAnd down the
  waterfallWherever it may take meI know that
  life won't break meWhen I come to call she won't
  forsake meI'm loving angels insteadWhen I'm
  feeling weakAnd my pain walks down a one way
  streetI look aboveAnd I know I'll always be
  blessed with loveAnd as the feeling growsShe
  breathes flesh to my bonesAnd when love is
  deadI'm loving angels instead

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Knowledge and luggage

• Key words in context
• Concordances
• Information advice new trends

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Furniture
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Furniture
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Accommodation but not only
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Luggage
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Travel, luggage, information, advice
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Travel, luggage, information, advice
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ACTIVITY

• The word bread can be made countable by saying a
  loaf of bread or two slices of bread. Write
  the following uncountable nouns next to an
  appropriate expression to make them countable.
  Some of the nouns can be used with more than one
  expression.
• sugar cheese jam
  milk toast cake
  spaghetti salt
  chocolate
• a piece of________
• a slice of ________
• a plate of ________
• a teaspoonful of _______
• a pinch of ________
• a bar of ________
• a jar of ________
• a carton of _________

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fotocopia da English grammar Lessonsfotocopia
testo PET masterclass
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Where to find it

• Devel. Grammar in cont. pag. 200 unit 34
• Longman pp. 56-58 61-62 461