Countable

and
Uncountable
nouns

Meaning of Noun
A noun is a part of speech that is used to

name a person, place, thing, quality or

action.

Examples

1) John is my brother.
2) Delhi is a metropolitan city.
3) The book is on the table.

What are countable nouns?

Countable nouns are individual objects,

people, places, etc. which can be counted.

Countable nouns can be divided into two

types of noun-singular and plural.

For example: "pen". We can count pens.
We can have one, two, three or more pens.

Examples:
an apple
a house
an orange

six apples
seven houses
ten oranges

a baby

three babies

an umbrella

four umbrella

an elephant

eight elephant

an ice-cream

five ice-creams

a room

thirty rooms

a pillow

two pillows

a tomatoes

ten kilos tomatoes

Some Examples with Countable

Nouns
My cousin has three babies.
Esra had bought four new shoes for her

sister.
My dad eat about two kilograms apple in a
week.
There are six rooms in our house.
Everybody has five fingers in each of their
hands.

What are uncountable nouns?

Uncountable nouns are things we cannot

count.
Uncountable nouns can only be used in
singular. These nouns cannot be used with
a number as they can't be counted.
For example, we cannot count "milk". We

can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of

milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself.

Examples:

rice
bread
cheese
butter
tea

chicken
money
news
gold
water

salt
pepper
coffee
air
fish

Some Examples with Uncountable Nouns

I drink a cup of coffee in everyday.
There is some sugar in the kitchen.
She eats a bar of chocolate whenever she

wants.
He met me with a bunch of flower in his arms.
There is so much butter in this meal.
Everybody feels the love inside himself.
They wanted some salt for their plumbs.

Making uncountable nouns countable;

We frequently make uncountable nouns

countable by adding a phrase that gives

them a form, a limit, or a container.

Examples:
Uncountable Form
furniture
Lightning
Meat
Rice
Tennis
Thunder
Water

Countable Form
a piece of furniture
a flash of lightning
a piece of meat
a grain of rice
a game of tennis
a clap of thunder
a cup of water

EXAMPLES

SOME/ANY

SOME
Some is used with the
plural form of countable
nouns, and with
uncountable nouns.

Some is used in positive

sentences.

We use some in offers.

a pen, some pens

(countable noun, plural)
some water (uncountable
noun)
There is some milk in the
fridge.
(milk = uncountable noun)
I did some exercises.
(exercises = plural
countable noun)
Would you like some tea?
(tea = uncountable noun)
Could you give me some
advice, please?

ANY
We use any with the
plural form of countable
nouns, and with
uncountable nouns.

a pen, any pens

(pens = plural countable
noun)
any water
(water = uncountable
noun)

Is there any milk in the

fridge?
Any is used in questions. (milk = uncountable
noun)
There isn't any milk in

IS SOME/ARE SOME

SOME/ANY
There is some ice cream in the fridge.

SOME/ANY
I need some time to study.

SOME/ANY
Is there any money?

SOME/ANY
There arent any horses in the field.

A/AN

For positive sentences we can use a/an or

some (with a plural verb form)

There is a cat in the garden.
There are some birds in the trees.
For negatives we can use a/an or any (with a
plural verb form).
There isnt a dog in the garden.
There arent any birds in the tree.

In questions we use a/an, any or how

many.
Is there an orange on the tree?
Are there any chairs in the garden?
How many chairs are there?

A/AN
There is a banana in the recipe.

A/AN
There is a mango.

A/AN
I have an egg

IS THERE /ARE THERE

IS THERE /ARE THERE

Is there any milk in the fridge?

IS THERE /ARE THERE

Are there any apples in the
basket?

IS THERE /ARE THERE

Is there any honey in the jar?

ISTHERE /ARE THERE

Are there any umbrellas in
your room?

ISNT/ARENT ANY

ISNT/THERE ANY
There isnt any water in the glass.
There arent any bananas in the

fridge.
There isnt any jam in the jar.
There arent any birds in the cage.

HOW MANY/HOW MUCH

HOW MANY/HOW MUCH

How many oranges are there

in the fridge?

HOW MANY/HOW MUCH

How many students are there

in the class?

HOW MANY/HOW MUCH

How much sugar is there in

the bowl?

HOW MANY/HOW MUCH

How much coffee is there in

the cup?

HOW MANY-HOW MUCH

How much chocolate is there

in the box?

HOW MANY/HOW MUCH

How much butter is there on

the plate?

LITTLE/FEW

LITTLE/FEW
We had little snow last winter.

LITTLE/FEW
She has few relatives.

LITTLE/FEW
I need a little sleep.

LITTLE/FEW
They sang a few songs.

Other expressions of quantity-

A Lot of
A lot of can be used with both countable

and uncountable nouns.

E.g.
There are a lot of apples on the trees.
There is a lot of snow on the road.

A Lot of

Exercise
Choose the correct item.

How much/many orange juice is there in the bottle?

Theres only a few/little.
How much/many sugar do you take in your coffee?
Just a little/a few.
Has red meat got much/many protein?
Yes, but too many/much meat is bad for you.
There isnt some/any cake left.
How about some/any biscuits?
We dont have any/few eggs to make an omelette.
Ill go and get some/any.

Exercise
Fill in the gaps with: some, any, much, many.
How ____ potatoes have we got?
There are ___carrots, but there arent ___

onions.
Are there ___ apples? Yes, but not___.
Is there ___ milk? No, there isnt___.

Exercise
Choose the correct item.
Sally doesnt eat much/many sweets.
There are only a few/a little apples left.
We havent got some/any coffee.
Mike eats very little/few vegetables.
Can you get some/any milk please?
How much/many meat do you need?