COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

Countable nouns

I need a pencil.
I work in an office.
+
I need some new pens.
There are a lot of cafes near here.
I don’t need a dictionary.
There isn’t an airport near here.
- They don’t have any kids.
There aren’t many places to sit.
There aren’t a lot of shops.

Do you have a sister?

? Are there any places to eat near here.
Do you want some chips?

Uncountable nouns

+ There’s some nice countryside near here.

There’s a lot of traffic today.
- I don’t have any money.
It’s not much homework.
There isn’t a lot of traffic.
? Do you have any paper?
Do you want some water?

Some other words which are often uncountable:

fish, food, fruit, help, news, time, paper, water
DID YOU KNOW?
Liquids are usually uncountable, but in cafés, etc. we talk about drinks as countable.

  
A coffee and three Here’s some coffee.
hot chocolates.
one and some
When we answer questions about nouns, we don’t usually say the noun again. Instead, we replace singular nouns with one –
and plural / uncountable nouns with some.
A: Is there a bank near here?
B: Yes – there’s one on the next road.
A: Do you have any tissues?
B: Yes – there are some on the table there.
Don’t worry if you are still not sure about this grammar. There are lots more examples in the book and there’s more practice in
Unit 3, Unit 6 and Unit 10.