This document discusses countable and uncountable nouns, and how to use quantifiers like some, any, a lot of, much, many, a little and a few. Part I explains that countable nouns can be singular or plural, while uncountable nouns cannot be counted. It provides examples of countable and uncountable nouns. Part II discusses using some vs any, a lot of/lots of vs much/many, and a little/a few. It explains the contexts each are used in, such as questions, negatives, positives. Part III indicates there are exercises for the reader to complete to reinforce their understanding of the grammar points covered.

2. Content
PART I COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
PART II SOME/ANY, A LOT OF/LOTS OF,MUCH/MANY, A
PART III EXERCISES

3. Part I
COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUN
1. COUNTABLE NOUN:
I eat a banana every day.
I like bananas.
Banana is a countable noun.

4. A countable noun can be singular (banana)
or plural (bananas).
Countable nouns are things we can count.
So we can say ‘one banana’, ‘two bananas’
etc.
Examples of nouns usually countable:
• There’s a beach near here.
• Ann was singing a song.
• Have you got a ten-pound note?

5. You can use a/an with singular countable
nouns.
a beach a student an umbrella
You can not use singular countable nouns
alone ( without a/the/my etc.):
• I want a banana. (not ‘I want banana’)
• There’s been an accident. (not ‘There’s been
accident’)
You can use plural countable nouns alone:
• I like bananas. (=bananas in general)
• Accidents can be prevented.

6. 2. UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS:
I eat rice every day.
I like rice.
Rice is an uncountable noun.

7. An countable noun are has only one for (rice)
Uncountable nouns are things we can not
count. We can not say ‘one rice’, ‘two rices’ etc.
Examples of nouns usually uncountable :
•There’s sand in my shoes.
•Ann was listening to music.
•Have you got any money?

8. You can not normally use a/an with
uncountable nouns. We do not say ‘a sand’
or ‘a music’. But you can often use a…of:
a bowl of rice a drop of water
a piece of music a game of tennis etc.
You can use uncountable nouns alone
(without the/my/some etc.):
• I eat rice every day.
• There’ s blood on your shirt.
• Can you hear music ?

9. NOTE
Some nouns are both countable and uncountable:
exercise/ exercises
time/ times
wine/ wines
fruit/ fruits
cheese/ cheeses
sport/ sports

10. Part II
SOME/ANY, A LOT OF/LOTS OF,
MUCH/MANY, A LITTLE/ A FEW
1. SOME and ANY
SOME
We bought some flowers.
He’s busy. He’s got some work to do.
ANY
We didn’t buy any flowers.
He’s lazy. He never does any work.
 some and any mean ‘a certain number or amount’.
They are used with plural or uncountable nouns.

11. a. SOME is used:
With affirmative verbs:
They bought some honey.
In questions where the answer ‘yes’ is
expected:
Have you got some money? (I expect so.)
In offers and requests:
Would you like some wine?
Could you do some typing for me?

12. b. ANY is used:
 With negative verbs:
I haven’t any matches.
 With hardly, barely, scarely (which are almost
negative):
I have hardly any spare time.
 With without when without any…= with no…:
He crossed the frontier without any
difficulty/with no difficulty.
 With questions except the types noted above:
Did you catch any fish?

13. 2. A LOT OF/LOTS OF, MUCH/MANY, A LITTLE/ A FEW
a. We use much with uncountable nouns.
much time much luck
We use many with countable nouns.
many friends many people
b. We use a lot of / lots of with uncountable and
plural nouns:
a lot of luck lots of time
a lot of friends lots of people

14. c. We use much/many especially in negative sentences
and questions. A lot (of) is also possible:
Do you know many people ?(or Do you know a lot
of people?)
We didn’t spend much money. (or We didn’t
spend a lot of money.)
In positive sentences a lot of is more usual. Much is
unusual in positive sentences in spoken English:
We spent a lot of money. (not ‘We spent
much money’)
You can use many in positive sentences, but a lot of is
more usual in spoken English :
A lot of people (or Many people) drive too fast.

15. d. We use few with countable nouns:
few cars few countries
We use little with uncountable nouns:
little energy little money

16. Part III
EXERCISES
To enforce your understanding of the
grammar, we would like you to the following
exercises.