Countable and Uncountable Nouns
COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE
NOUNS
Nouns are the words that we use when we refer to people, things and abstract ideas such as feelings and qualities. Nouns are divided into two groııps; countable (count) and uncountable (non-count) nouns.
| COUNTABLE | UNCOUNTABLE |
| book, car, woman, place, computer, etc. | money, love, water, silver, economics, etc. |
USAGE:
Countable nouns are the names of separate objects, people,…etc. which we can count. A countable noun has a plural form besides its singular form.
Uncountable nouns are the names of materials, liquids and other things which we do not usually see as separate objects. An uncountable noun does not have a plural form and does not take a plural suffix.
- Many countable nouns are conerete; pencil(s), bag(s), eraser(s), watch(es)
- Many uncountable nouns are abstract; courage, happiness, patience, information
- We can not put cardinal numbers in front of an uncountable noun, so we can not say “one information”. Instead we have to say “…. piece of information”.
- Many uncountable nouns can be measured, counted or classified using expression with “some” or “of.
For example:
Some paper / a piece of paper / tvvo sheets of paper Some milk / a bottle of milk / four bottles of milk Some information / a piece of information / several pieces of information Some bread / a slice of bread / two slices of bread Some coffee / a cup of coffee / four cups of coffeeUNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
| M AS NOUNS money fumiture weather luggage jewellery | ABSTRACT NOUNS information education health hope truth | NATURE EVENTS Sunshine Thunder Wind Rain hot | LIQUIDS coke coffee oil ink milk | GASES oxygen pollution gas air smoke |
| ACTIVITIES AND GAME soccer football volleyball reading dancing | SCIENCE mathematics economics engineerıng medicine politics | LANGUAGE Turkish English French German Arabic | ILLNESSES Flu AIDS Cholera cancer | SOLID ELEMENİZ silver gold wood paper cotton |
Plural nouns, countables and uncountables
1. Write the plurals of these nouns. 1. knife …………… 2. woman …………… 3. baby …………… 4. country …………… 5. leaf …………… 6. church …………… 7. chief …………… 8. family …………… 9. holiday …………… 10. city …………… 11. kiss …………… 12. tomato …………… 13. child …………… 14. man …………… 15. box …………… 16. match …………… 17. tooth …………… 18. mouse …………… 19. sheep …………… 20. foot …………… 2. Write a, an or some in the gaps. 1. I bought ………… new furniture. 2. He asked the receptionist for ………… information. 3. He ate ………… slice of bread. 4. Can you sell me ………… equipment? 5. I ate ………… cheese late last night. 6. Everybody should have ………… good education. 7. He ate ………… spaghetti for dinner. 8. The teacher gave us ………… difficult homework. 9. Please, give me ………… advice. 10. I gave my friend ………… bar of chocolate. 3. Choose the two correct answers from A, B, C and D. 1. He went on ……………….. to India. A. a long journey B. a travel C. a long trip D. travel 2. Please put ……………….. petrol in the car. A. a litre of B. some C. a D. an 3. My father was reading ……………….. in the living room. A. some paper B. a paper C. newspaper D. a magazine 4. That shop sells ……………….. . A. cheap furnitures B. cheap furniture C. the cheap furniture D. chairs and tables 5. He carried a lot of ……………….. on his trip. A. luggages B. baggages C. suitcases D. luggage 6. The necklace is made of ……………….. . A. some plastic B. plastic C. plastics D. metal 7. He’s got ……………….. on his head. A. six hairs B. a lot of hair C. hairs D. a hairs 8. There was a lot of ……………….. in the twentieth century. A. progresses B. scientific progress C. economic progress D. economics 9. The tourist office gave us ……………….. . A. some information B. a lot of informations C. some pieces of useful informationD. useful informations 10. Look at this equipment. ……………….. very cheap. A. They’re B. It’s C. These are D. It isn’t Answer 1. 1. knives 2. women 3. babies 4. countries 5. leaves 6. churches 7. chiefs 8. families 9. holidays 10. cities 11. kisses 12. tomatoes 13. children 14. men 15. boxes 16. matches 17. teeth 18. mice 19. sheep 20. feet 2. 1. some 2. some 3. a 4. some 5. some 6. a 7. some 8. some 9. some 10. a 3. 1. A, C 2. A, B 3. B, D 4. B, D 5. C, D 6. B, D 7. A, B 8. B, C 9. A, C 10. B, D A) Put C after the countable nouns and U after the uncountable nouns.
| 1. paper | U | 11. news | 21.shampoo | ||
| 2. coffee | 12.job | 22. plate | |||
| 3. cassette | C | 13.horaework | 23. wool | ||
| 4. honey | 14.bath | 24. bed | |||
| 5. lemonade | 15. spoon | 25. fun | |||
| 6. meat | 16. salt | 26. film | |||
| 7. food | 17.girl | 27. water | |||
| 8. ball | 18. money | 28. day | |||
| 9. bag | 19.knife | 29. biology | |||
| 10. bread | 20. table | 30. apple |
B) If true put a ( < ) If false put a ( X ) U= Uncountable C= Countable
| 1. fumiture | C | X | 10. banana | C | 19. visitor | U | ||
| 2. sofa | U | 11. wine | C | 20. gold | U | |||
| 3.information | c | 12. soldier | u | 21. food | c | |||
| 4. rain | u | 13.milk | u | 22.insect | c | |||
| 5. apple | u | 14.flu | c | 23. door | c | |||
| 6. honesty | c | 15.bunch | c | 24. rice | u | |||
| 7.box | c | 16. chess | u | 25. smog | c | |||
| 8. coffee | u | 17. French | c | 26. case | c | |||
| 9. cassette | u | 18.group | c | 27. note-book | u | |||
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