Sustantivos: Contables e Incontables

Podramos definir a los sustantivos como aquellas palabras que utilizamos para identificar a personas, objetos, conceptos e ideas del mundo que nos rodea. Dentro del idioma ingls podemos clasificarlos de la siguiente manera: Sustantivos Contables - (Countable Nouns): Son aquellos que se pueden "contar", es decir que es posible establecer su nmero en unidades. Por ejemplo: chair silla a chair una silla two chairs dos sillas pencil lpiz a pencil un lpiz five pencils cinco lpices elephant elefante an elephant un elefante seven elephants siete elefantes Los sustantivos contables tienen forma plural, se pueden utilizar nmeros delante de ellos para expresar su cantidad y tambin artculos indeterminados (A - AN). Sustantivos Incontables - (Uncountable Nouns): Se denominan de esta manera aquellos sustantivos que no se puede determinar su nmero en unidades. Por ejemplo: flour harina milk leche wood madera snow nieve sugar azcar wine vino tea t En algunos de estos casos es posible contarlos si se toma como referencia el envase del producto, por ejemplo: a bottle of wine una botella de vino a glass of milk un vaso de leche a cup of tea una taza de t En el caso de los sustantivos incontables no se puede formar el plural, ya que no es posible decir "harinas", "leches", etc. Tampoco se puede expresar su cantidad anteponiendo un nmero y mucho menos utilizar delante artculos indeterminados (A - AN).

Todo lo que necesite unidades de medicin (litros, kilos, libras, galones, etc...) para ser contabilizados son no contables. Todo lo que sea lquido o en polvo es no contable. Ejemplo: T no dices "un agua" o "dos aguas", dices "un litro de agua" o "una botella de agua". Por lo tanto, ya que el agua utiliza unidades de medicin (Litros, mililitros, decalitros, onzas, galones, etc...) es no contable. Ahora bien, lo que pueda ser contabilizado en nmeros es contable (Aunque tambin pueden usarse unidades de medicin para contabilizarlos). Ejemplos: Un lpiz, cinco lpices, una tonelada de lpices Un limn, diez limones, un kilo de limones.

Countable Nouns
Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:

dog, cat, animal, man, person bottle, box, litre coin, note, dollar cup, plate, fork table, chair, suitcase, bag

Countable nouns can be singular or plural:

My dog is playing. My dogs are hungry.

We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:

A dog is an animal.

When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:

I want an orange. (not I want orange.) Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)

When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:

I like oranges. Bottles can break.

We can use some and any with countable nouns:

I've got some dollars. Have you got any pens?

We can use a few and many with countable nouns:

I've got a few dollars. I haven't got many pens.

Uncountable Nouns
Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:

music, art, love, happiness advice, information, news furniture, luggage rice, sugar, butter, water electricity, gas, power money, currency

We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:

This news is very important. Your luggage looks heavy.

We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:

a piece of news a bottle of water a grain of rice

We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:

I've got some money. Have you got any rice?

We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:

I've got a little money. I haven't got much rice.

Uncountable nouns are also called "mass nouns". Here are some more examples of countable and uncountable nouns:

Countable Uncountable dollar song suitcase table battery bottle report tip journey job view money music luggage furniture electricity wine information advice travel work scenery

When you learn a new word, it's a good idea to learn whether it's countable or uncountable.

Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable

Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of meaning. Countable There are two hairs in my coffee! There are two lights in our bedroom. Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. There are so many different noises in the city. Have you got a paper to read? (newspaper) Hand me those student papers. Our house has seven rooms. hair light Uncountable I don't have much hair. Close the curtain. There's too much light! It's difficult to work when there is too much noise. I want to draw a picture. Have you got some paper?

noise

paper

room Is there room for me to sit here?

We had a great time at the party. How many times have I told you no? Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest works.

time

Have you got time for a coffee?

work I have no money. I need work!

English Grammar
Countable / Uncountable Nouns
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A noun can be countable or uncountable. Countable nouns can be "counted", they have a singular and plural form . For example:

A book, two books, three books ..... An apple, two apples, three apples ....

Uncountable nouns (also called mass nouns or noncount nouns) cannot be counted, they are not seperate objects. This means you cannot make them plural by adding -s, because they only have a singular form. It also means that they do not take a/an or a number in front of them. For example:

Water Work Information Coffee Sand

Countable (use a/an or a number in front of countable nouns) An Apple / 1 Apple I eat an apple every day. Add (s) to make a countable noun plural apples I eat an apple every day. Apples are good for you. rice Rice

Uncountable (there is no a/an or number with uncountable nouns)

I eat rice every day. (not I eat a rice every day.) There is no plural form for an uncountable noun

I eat rice every day. Rice is good for you. To make uncountable nouns countable

A computer= Computers are fun.

add a counting word, such as a unit of measurement, or the general word piece. We use the form "a ....... of ......."

An elephant=Elephants are large.

Rice=a grain of rice Water=a glass of water Rain=a drop of rain Music=a piece of music

You can use some and any with countable nouns. Some dogs can be dangerous. I don't use any computers at work.

You can use some and any with uncountable nouns. I usually drink some wine with my meal. I don't usually drink any water with my wine.

You only use many and few with plural countable nouns. So many elephants have been hunted that they are an endangered species. There are few elephants in England. You can use a lot of and no with plural countable nouns. No computers were bought last week. the week before.

You only use much and little with uncountable nouns. I don't usually drink much coffee. Little wine is undrinkable though. You can use a lot of and no with uncountable nouns. A lot of wine is drunk in France.

A lot of computers were reported broken No wine is drunk in Iran.

Some mass nouns refer to groups of specific things. For example:Tables, chairs, cupboards etc. are grouped under the mass noun furniture. Plates, saucers, cups and bowls are grouped under the mass noun crockery. Knives, forks, spoons etc. are grouped under the collective noun cutlery. When you are travelling suitcases, bags etc. are grouped under the mass noun luggage / baggage.

Making uncountable nouns countable

You can make most uncountable noun countable by putting a countable expression in front of the noun. For example:

A piece of information. 2 glasses of water. 10 litres of coffee. Three grains of sand. A pane of glass.

Sources of confusion with countable and uncountable nouns

The notion of countable and uncountable can be confusing. Some nouns can be countable or uncountable depending on their meaning. Usually a noun is uncountable when used in a general, abstract meaning (when you don't think of it as a separate object) and countable when used in a particular meaning (when you can think of it as a separate object). For example:glass - Two glasses of water. (Countable) | A window made of glass. (Uncountable) | glasses - I wear glasses. (Always plural) Some supposedly uncountable nouns can behave like countable nouns if we think of them as being in containers, or one of several types. This is because 'containers' and 'types' can be counted.

Believe it or not each of these sentences is correct:Doctors recommend limiting consumption to two coffees a day. (Here coffees refers to the number of cups of coffee) You could write; "Doctors recommend limiting consumption to two cups of coffee a day." The coffees I prefer are Arabica and Brazilian. (Here coffees refers to different types of coffee) You could write; "The types of coffee I prefer are Arabica and Brazilian."

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS OBJECTIVE: To recognize the difference in use between the countable and uncountable nouns. NOUNS ARE DIVIDED IN : countable and uncountable. Countable nouns are things you can count. For example: three pears

one pear

two pears

Countable Nouns: Can be used in Singular and Plural. For example: Singular A hat Plural hats

An apple

apples

Uncountable nouns are things you see as a whole, things you can not count. Uncountable nouns has only one form. For example:

water jelly

chicken

NOTE: money is considered as an uncountable noun. Example: I dont have money. Susan has much money.

Countable/Uncountable Nouns (Los nombres contables/incontables)

Countable Nouns (Los nombres contables)

Los nombres o sustantivos contables son aquellos que se pueden contar.

Ejemplos: one pencil, a pencil one [a] pencil (un lpiz)

two cats two cats (dos gatos)

three houses three houses (tres casas)

Uncountable Nouns (Los nombres incontables)

Los nombres o sustantivos incontables son aquellos que no podemos contar porque no los podemos delimitar individualmente sino que forman parte de un todo.
salt salt (sal), wood wood (madera), tea tea (t), wine wine (vino), sugar sugar (azcar), bread bread (pan), furniture furniture (muebles), hair hair (pelo), information information (informacin), money money (dinero), weather weather (tiempo), time time (tiempo), rice

rice (arroz)

Sin embargo, en el momento que delimitamos estos mismo nombres o sustantivos pasan a ser contables. Deben ir precedidos, si quieren individualizarse, de alguna palabra con valor partitivo:

Ejemplos: a gram of salt a gram of salt (un gramo de sal)

a piece of wood a piece of wood (un trozo de madera)

two cups of tea two cups of tea (dos tazas de t)

three glasses of wine three glasses of wine (tres vasos de vino)

Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)

1. Nombres contables tienen una forma plural: o Ejemplos: o egg, eggs egg/eggs (huevo/s)
o

bicycle, bicycles bicycle/bicycles (bicicleta/s)

dress, dresses dress/dresses (vestido/s)

rice rice (arroz)

o o

rices milk milk (leche)

milks

Nombres incontables no tienen una forma plural:

2. Se puede usar "a" o "an" con nombres contables en singular: o Ejemplos: o an apple an apple (una manzana)
o

a house a house (una casa)

3. No podemos usar "a" o "an" con nombres incontables.

a milk 4. Se puede usar nmeros delante de un contable: o Ejemplos: o three apples three apples (tres manzanas)
o o

five houses five houses (cinco casas)

two rices

No podemos usar nmeros delante de un incontable.

Counting Uncountable Nouns

Questions
How much ....? = uncountable nouns For example: How much coffee do you drink? How many ....? = countable nouns For example: How many cups of coffee do you drink?

Learn It
How do you count uncountable nouns? You can't, but you can measure them. You have to use counters

Noun

Uncountable Sugar
How Uncountable much Question sugar is there?

Jewellery Cheese How much jewellery is there?

Wine

Furniture

Money

How much How much How much How much cheese is there? There's a lot of wine is there? furniture is there? There's some furniture. piece A piece of furniture. money is there? There's a lot of money. bag A bag of money.

There's a There's Answer lot of sugar. Add a word bowl some

There's some wine. bottle

jewellery. cheese. piece round

Make it

A bowl of A piece of A round of A bottle of jewellery. cheese. How many wine.

Countable sugar.
How many

How many How many How many How many pieces of there? bags of there? furniture are money are

Countable bowls of pieces of rounds of bottles of Question sugar are jewellery cheese are wine are there? there? there? are there?
There's There are There are two three pieces of rounds of jewellery. cheese.

There's only There are one bottle of wine.

There are

Answer

one bowl of sugar.

two pieces four bags of furniture. of money.

Other words you can add to make uncountable nouns countable:You can put something into a container to count it, but the thing you're counting doesn't take the plural form. The container takes the plural form:bag A bag of money.

barrel

Two barrels of beer.

bottle

Three bottles of wine.

bowl

Four bowls of sugar.

box

Five boxes of cereal.

bucket

Six buckets of water.

can

Seven cans of Coke.

carton

Eight cartons of milk.

cup

Nine cups of coffee.

glass

Ten glasses of water.

jar

Eleven jars of honey.

packet

A dozen packets of butter.

a saucepan

Thirteen pans of rice.

tank

Fifteen tanks of petrol.

tin

Sixteen tins of custard.

tub

Seventeen tubs of margarine.

tube

Eighteen tubes of toothpaste.

You can measure something to count it, but it still doesn't take the plural form. The measurement takes the plural form:1 and a half litres of milk. For example:-

litre

pint

Two pints of beer.

Two pounds / pound / ounce / kilo etc... ounces / kilos of butter.

You can measure uncountable nouns in other ways, using shapes or portions. Again the measurement takes the plural form. Ten balls of wool.

ball

bar

Three bars of soap.

pinch

Two pinches of salt. Five slices of cake. Fourteen

slice

spoon

spoonfuls of sugar. Ten squares of chocolate.

square