Countable vs Uncountable Nouns

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Some, Any, Many, Much

English One, Mara Luisa Gonzlez Soto

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.

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 "liters 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.

HOW MUCH? OR HOW MANY?

Countable Nouns Uncountable Nouns We use how many with plural countablenouns:We use how much with uncountableno uns:-

In questions:

"How many newspapers do you read every day?"

"How much paper is in the printer?"

"How many Euros have you got?"

"How much money have you got?"

Remember it
Cuantificador Play Many Play Much Play Some Play Any Play No, none Play A lot of/Lots of Play Little/A little Play Few/A few Contable X X X X X X X X X X X X Incontable

SOME

We usually use some in positive sentences for countable and uncountable nouns. I have some friends in London. I usually drink some wine with my meal. Sometimes we use some in a question, when we expect a positive YES answer. Would you like some more tea? Could I have some more sugar please?

ANY

When asking questions and when a sentence is grammatically positive, but the meaning of the sentence is negative. Do you have any ice cream left for me? My brother never does any chores. We use any for both countable and uncountable nouns. Do you have any cheese? He doesn't have any friends in Paris.

MUCH - MANY

Much

It is used with uncountable nouns. They don't have much money to buy a present.

Many

It is used with countable nouns. I don't have many English stamps in my collection. Much and Many are used to express that there is a large quantity of something.

MEASURE WORDS
Food
A bowl of rice A dish of spaghetti A pound of meat/cheese A piece of cake/pie A can of soup A box of cereal A bag of flour A carton of ice cream A jar of peanut butter A loaf of bread A slice of bread/pizza A package of pasta A dash of salt A cube of ice A pack of gum A head of lettuce/cabbage An ear of corn A kernel of corn A grain of wheat/salt A stalk of celery A spear of asparagus A clove of garlic

Liquid
A teaspoon of medicine A tablespoon of vinegar A glass of water A cup of coffee A pint of blood A quart of milk A half gallon of juice A gallon of punch A tank of gas A jug of lemonade A bottle of wine A keg of beer A shot of vodka A drop of rain

Personal items
A bar of soap A tube of toothpaste A container of shampoo A stick of deodorant A bottle of perfume/cologne A roll of toilet paper A ball of cotton

Sewing items

A spool of thread A skein of yarn A yard/meter of ribbon A (square) foot/meter of fabric/cloth

Stationery
A piece of paper A pad of paper A roll of tape A stick/piece of chalk A bottle/tube of glue A jar of paste A pair of scissors