Countable and uncountable nouns

1. COUNTABLE
AND
UNCOUNTABLE
NOUNS
Some - Any - No - A lot of
By. Mr. Jay

2. COUNTABLE NOUNS
e.g.
I eat banana every day.
I like bananas.
“banana” is a countable
noun.

3. COUNTABLE NOUNS
A countable noun can be
1. singular (banana) or
2. plural (bananas)
Countable nouns are things we
can count.
So we can say ‘one banana’ ,‘two
bananas’ etc.

4. COUNTABLE NOUNS
Examples of countable nouns
singular plural
 apple apples
 pineapple pineapples
 cucumber cucumbers
 strawberry strawberries
 grape grapes

5. COUNTABLE NOUNS
We add -es to most nouns in -o:
tomato tomatoes
potato potatoes
But we just add -s to:
radio radios
photo photos

6. COUNTABLE NOUNS
Irregular Nouns:
SINGULAR PLURAL
Singular to plural -EN
Child children
Man men
Ox oxen
Woman women
NO CHANGE
Deer deer
Fish fish
Means means
Offspring offspring
Series series
Sheep sheep
Species species

7. COUNTABLE NOUNS
Irregular Noun
SINGULAR PLURAL
-EE
foot feet
goose geese
tooth teeth

8. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
e.g.
I eat rice every day.
I like rice.
“rice” is an uncountable
noun.

9. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
An uncountable noun has only one
form. (rice)
Uncountable nouns are things we
cannot count.
We cannot say ‘one rice’, ‘two
rices’, etc.

10. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Examples of uncountable nouns:
Ink
Lettuce
Sugar
Water
Milk
Etc.

11. SOME – ANY – NO – A LOT OF
SOME
Some is used with:
Positive sentences.
When asking a question, if the answer is
expected to be positive.
e.g.
The children have some free time.
Please buy some bananas.
Would you like some cake?

12. SOME – ANY – NO – A LOT OF
ANY
Any is used with:
Negative sentences.
When asking a question.
e.g.
Do you have any ice cream left?
I don't have any money today.
My brother never does any thing good.

13. SOME – ANY – NO – A LOT OF
NO
No is used with:
Positive sentences with negative
meaning.
e.g.
There is no coffee left in the jar.
We have no milk this morning.
They had no pens.

14. SOME – ANY – NO – A LOT OF
A LOT OF
A lot of is used with:
positive sentences, negative
sentences and questions.
e.g.
There are a lot of dogs in the street.
I have a lot of time to answer your questions.
I saw a lot of people waiting in the queue.
We did have a lot of fun, didn't we?

15. QUIZ
Put in a / an or some.
1. I read ____ book and listened to ____ music.
2. I need ____ money . I want to buy ____ food.
3. We met ____ interesting people at the party.
4. I’m going to open ____ window to get ____ fresh
air.
5. She didn’t eat much for lunch – only ____ apple
and ____ bread.
6. We live in ____ big house. There’s ____ nice
garden with ____ beautiful trees.
7. I’m going to make a table . First I need ____ wood.
8. Listen to me carefully . I’m going to give you ____
advice.
9. I want to write a letter . I need ____ paper and
____ pen.
10. I’d like to eat ____ cookies.

16. Circle the correct answer:
1. I’d like some / any help.
2. There aren’t some / any letters for you.
3. Have you got some / any brothers or
sisters?
4. She’s got some / any interesting friends.
5. Are there some / any restaurants near
here?
6. I’m having some / any problems with my
car.
7. I didn’t have some / any breakfast today.
8. We need some / any more milk.
9. he hasn’t done some / any work for ten
years.
10. Do you know some / any Americans?

17. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH SOME, ANY, OR NO:
1) Ann has _________candies.
2) Bill doesn't have _________money.
3) Sue will give us _________information.
4) There is _____________ milk in the fridge.
5) There isn't ________________beer.
6) Only _____ of his friends came. Not all of them.
7) There isn't ______ food in the refrigerator, is there?
8) We are broke. We have ________money to buy
grandpa a gift.
9) Don't you know the proverb: "________ news is
good news"?
10) I'm busy. I have ____ time to chat with you now.

18. 11) There aren't ___ books on this topic in the
library
12) I gave him ___ medicine for his headache, so
he feels much better now.
13) He doesn't want ___ dessert, for he's on a diet.
14) We are taking a short ride. There's ___ time for
a long one
15) The poor man has ___ food to eat. He's
starving.

19. Countable 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!