NOUNS: COUNTABLE, UNCOUNTABLE

Countable nouns:
 Anything we can count belongs to count nouns, they are singular or plural.

For countable nouns we have two different types: regular nouns, irregular nouns

Regular nouns:

 To make them plural we add -s to the noun.

A cat = cats a table = tables

A book = books an egg = eggs

 If the noun ends in s, ss, x, Ch, sh, z, we add -es to the noun.

A bus = buses a box = boxes a dish=dishes

A dress=dresses a watch=watches a blitz=blitzes

 If the nouns end in f/ fe we change in to -ves.

A knife= knives a shelf = shelves wolf = wolves

Exception: roofs / beliefs / chefs / chiefs

 If a noun ends in Consonant + O, we add -es

A potato = potatoes a hero = heroes a tomato=tomatoes

Exceptions: photos / pianos / halos

 If a noun ends in a vowel+ O, we add -s

A radio= radios a video= videos

 If a noun ends in a vowel + Y, we add -S

A boy = boys a toy = toys

 If a noun ends in a consonant + Y we change to -ies

A baby = babies a city = cities

A lady = ladies a country = countries

 Irregular plural form
 Some nouns have irregular plural form

A man = men a foot = feet a person = people

A woman = women a tooth = teeth

A child = children a mouse = mice

 Some nouns don’t change when they are plural.

Sheep deer series species

 Some nouns have fixed plural form and take plural verb. We don’t use them in singular or they
have a different meaning in the singular form.

 Congratulations!
 thanks
 Jeans pants sunglasses shorts
 E.g.: Where are my sunglasses?
 Goods means

 Some nouns have plural form but take a singular verb.

What’s the news?

Darts is a popular sport in England.

Athletics billiards

Pronunciation:
/S/ / IZ/ /Z/

Books / mosques buses / dresses games

Cups / shops boxes boys

Chefs / coughs watches bags

Shirts / kites dishes girls

Blitzes / oranges singers

 Uncountable nouns (non-count mounts)
Things that do not take plural form and are used with singular verbs

 All liquids:
water, milk, coffee, juice, oil ……
 Things in small particles (powder things):
salt, pepper, sugar, flour, rice
 Meat and poultry:
chicken, beef, lamb, sausage, ham, bacon
 Sea food:
fish, lobster, crab, shrimp, squid.
Tip: (Clam is countable: clams)
 Dairy product (milk product):
Cheese butter cream ice cream yogurt honey jam
 Grains: rice bread pasta
Tip: noodles are countable
 Vegetables:
lettuce, broccoli, garlic, ……
 Sweeties:
Cake, candy, pie, chocolate
 Meals:

Breakfast lunch dinner dessert junk food soup sauce

 Abstract noun (An abstract noun is defined as 'a noun, for example, beauty or freedom, that
refers to an idea or a general quality, not to a physical object'):
Beauty, love, hate, respect ,happiness ,peace, luck, Anxiety, Argument, Awareness, Beauty,
Belief, Bravery, Brilliance, Calm, Calmness, Care, Charity, Cleverness, Coldness, Comfort,
Confidence, Death, Divorce
 Another: Work homework housework money cash service news traffic noise information

 Time:
If it’s mean time, it is uncountable: I have a lot of time I don’t have any free time.
If it’s mean repetition in time, it is countable: I told you a hundred time
I go to the gym three times a week.
 Food and fruit:

Tip: in general, is uncountable, or if you mean the different kind of food or fruit it is countable.

The party had many foods and fruits on table.

 Quantifiers

countable uncountable

many much

(Negative ang question sentence) (negative ang question sentence)

How MANY + plural noun How MUCH + singular noun

a lot of (formal)/ lots of (informal)

several there is ….

there is /there are ……. Is there …….?

Is there / are there ….?

some

a few a little

few (very low and not enough) little (very low and not enough)

examples:

A. there is a banana on the table.

B. there are some bananas on the table.
C. There is a lot of milk in the table.
D. There are a lot of people in the street.
E. I need some green peppers for the salad.
F. I need some cheese, too.
G. We have a few eggs, are they enough for the omelet? Yes, they are.
H. But there are few tomatoes. I’ll buy some more.

o How many apples do you need for the apple pie?

some
i need

a few

four ...

a lot/ a lot of
apples

o How much sugar do you need for the apple pie ?

some
i need

a little

a lot
a lot o
sugar.
 More Quantifiers for uncountable:
 A bit of: could you put a bit of salt in my soup?
 A large quantity of: there’s a large quantity of water in this pool.
 A great deal of: he earns a great deal of money per month.
 A large amount of: you can find a large amount of information in this book.
 A bar of / a piece of chocolate = 3 bars of/ 4 pieces of chocolate
 A loaf of / 1-3-… loaves of bread
 A slice of / a chunk of / a piece of cheese
 A mug of coffee / tea/ juice
 A jar of jam / honey
 A bowl of cereal / rice / soup
 A side of salad
 A slice of /round of toast / bread
 A box of cake /chocolate / candy
 A bottle of / a jug of water / juice / wine

Created by: Sepideh.hss