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Countable and Uncountable Nouns with Patterns, Examples and Video Lesson

Countable and Uncountable Nouns with Patterns, Examples and Video Lesson

Countable and Uncountable nouns are often easy mistakes that language learners can fix. Let’s learn how to quickly know the difference between the two.

Definition

Nouns name different things, for example: cats; dogs; water; or milk. It’s easy when we have one noun, but what if we have more than one? We need to count the nouns. Only, there is one problem . . .

Some nouns can be counted but some cannot be counted. I can count one apple, two apples, one hundred apples. These nouns are countable. 

EXAMPLES:

I have one apple.

There are five people.

These are eight butterflies.

What about nouns you can’t count?

I cannot count water and I don’t want to count grains of rice because there’s just so many. They are uncountable, so you just say the noun.

EXAMPLES:

I have water.

I ate rice.

I will pour orange juice.

If you want to count an uncountable noun, you need to add a countable noun to the sentence.

I have two glasses of water.

I ate three bowls of rice.

I bought three jugs of orange juice.

In these examples, glasses, bowls, and jugs are countable nouns used to describe how much of an uncountable noun there is.

QUANTIFIERS

What if you don’t want to count the exact amount of objects? You can use a quantifier, which talks about the general amount of objects.

There are different quantifiers for countable and uncountable nouns.

 And… There are so many quantifier from which to choose. Look at some of them:

NounTypeQuantifierExamples
People
Apples
Wishes		CountableMany
Plenty of
Enough
Several
Some
A lot of
A few		-There are many people at the concert.
-There are plenty of people to help.
-There are enough people to fill the seats.
-There are several people stuck in traffic.
-Some people wish for more.
-There are a lot of people wanting tickets.
Sand
Sunshine
Sleep
Rice		UncountableA little
A great deal of
Much
Enough
Plenty of
Some
A lot of		-I have had a little sleep.
-There is a little sunshine in the sky.
-I have had a great deal of sleep.
Countable & UncountableANY – Used for questions and negative statements-I don’t know any of the answers.
-Are there any spoons?
Uncountable and Countable Nouns with Quantifiers and Examples

Some quantifiers are unique to each category. Some quantifiers can be used with countable or uncountable nouns.

Here is a helpful video teaching you even more about Countable and Uncountable Nouns.

Worksheet: Choose the correct answer

  1. There was _____ (many, a few, a little) wheat.

2. We don’t have _____ (much, some, any) vegetables for supper.

3. There is _____ (enough, many, any) flour for the cake.

4. There is ____ (some, several, much) milk in the fridge.

5. I have _____ (many, any, a lot of) mittens for the upcoming winter and ____ (a few, a little, any) different coats.

Answers

  1. a little

2. any

3. enough

4. some

5. A lot of, a few

Beginner, Grammar - by chrishintsala