A noun can be countable or uncountable:

Countable Uncountable
0 I eat a banana every day. U I eat rice every day.
0 I like bananas. 0 I like rice.

Banana is a countable noun. Rice is an uncountable noun.

A countable noun can be singular (banana) or An uncountable noun has only one form (rice).
plural (bananas).

We can use numbers with countable nouns. We cannot use numbers w ith uncountable
So we can say 'one banana', 'two bananas' nouns. We cannot say 'one rice ', 'two rices'
etc. etc.

Examples of nouns usually countable: Examples of nouns usually uncountable:

.__) Kate was singing a song. 0 Kate was listening to (some) music .
0 There's a nice beach near here. 0 There's sand in my shoes.
CJ Do you have a ten-pound note? 8 Do you have any money?
0 lt wasn't your fault. lt was an accident. 0 lt wasn 't your fault. lt was bad luck.
8 There are no batteries in the radio. =:
There is no electricity in this house.
C) We don 't have enough cups. C We don't have enough water.

You can use a/an with singular countable You cannot normally use a/an with
nouns: uncountable nouns. We do not say 'a sand ',
I
a beach a student an umbrella l • J
a mus1c, a nee.
I •

But you can often use a .. . of. For example:

a bowl I a packet I a grain of rice
You cannot use singular countable nouns You can use uncountable nouns alone
alone (without a/the/my etc.): (without the/ my/some etc.):
~ I want a banana. (not I want banana) =.
I eat rice every day.
0 There's been an accident. (not There's 0 There's blood on your shirt.
been accident) C Can yo u hear music?
You can use plural countable nouns alone:
0 I like bananas. (=bananas in general)
0 Accidents can be prevented .

You ca n use some and any with plural You can use some and any with uncountable
countable nouns: nouns:
0 We sa ng some songs. --- We listened to some music.
........
0 Did you buy any apples? 0 Did you buy any apple juice?
We use many and few with plural countable We use much and little with uncountable
nouns: nouns:
lJ We didn't t a ke many pictures. 0 We didn't do much shopping.
0 I have a few things to do. CJ I have a little work to do.

Countable and un co untable 2 -+ Unit 70 Some an d any-+ Unit 85

Many/ much/ few/ little-+ Unit 87 Children I the children -+ Unit 75
Exercises
Some of these sentences need a/an. Correct the sentences where necessary.
1 joe goes everywhere by bike. He hasn,t g0_ _~· ......H..~-- .hOv?._n,t-___ .g.Q_t. --~ - .«M:_, . .................. .....
2 Helen was listening to music when I arrived. .... OK .. .............. ........................................
3 We went to very nice resta urant last weekend.
4 I brush my teeth with toothpaste.
5 I use toothbrush to brush my teeth.
6 Can you tell me if there's bank near here?
7 My brother works for insurance company in Frankfurt.
8 I don't like vio len ce.
9 Can you smell paint?
10 When we were in Rome, we stayed in big hotel.
11 We need petrol. I hope we come to petrol station soon.
12 I wonder if you can help me. I have problem.
13 I like your suggestion . Ifs very interesting idea.
14 John has interview for job tomorrow.
15 I like volleyball. lt's good game.
16 Lisa doesn't usually wear jewellery.
17 Jane was wearing beautiful necklace.

Complete the sentences using the following words. Use a/an where necessary.

accident biscuit blood coat decision electricity

interview key moment musiC question sugar

1 lt wasn't your fault. lt was .... @ .. ~Y.rr~...

2 Listen! Can you hear ... m.0..?..~. ?
3 I cou ldn 't get into the house because I didn't have
4 lt's very warm today. Why are you wearing ........ ... ... .. ............................ ?
5 Do you take ......................................................................... in your coffee?
6 Are you hungry? Would you like ............... . .. .................................. with your coffee?
7 Our lives would be very difficult without ..... . .. .
8 'I had .. ...... . ................. ... .. ............... for a job yesterday., 'Did you? How did it go? '
9 The heart pumps ........................................................... ......... through the body.
10 Excuse me, but can I ask you .. . .... ........... ... .... ..... ..................... ?
11 I'm not ready yet. Can you wait ....... ........ .. .. .. ......... ......... ,please?
12 We ca n't delay much longer. We have to make ............................................................ soon.

0 Complete the sentences using the following words. Sometimes the word needs to be plural
(-s), and sometimes you need to use a/an.

a1r day friend joke Language meat

patience people picture queue space umbrella

1 I had my camera, but I didn't take any .....pictu.re?._..... .

2 There are seven ............... ........ .......... .. ..... .. .... .......... in a week.
3 A vegetarian is a person who doesn't eat .... . .. .............. ........ . .......... ..
4 Outsid e the cinema there was . ................ ...... ......... . of people waiting to see the film .
5 I'm not very good at telling ...... .. ........................................... .
6 Last night I went out with some . . ......... ...... ... . ... ...................... .. .. of mine.
7 There were very few .. ....... .... . ... . ................ in town today. The streets were almost empty.
8 I'm going out for a walk. I need some fresh ........ ....... .. ............
9 Gary always wants things quickly. He doesn,t have much ..... ... .... . .. . ............. .. .... .. ...... .
10 I think it's going to rain. Do you have ............... . .............................................. 1 could borrow?
11 Do you speak any foreign ............. .... . ......... ... .. ............ ?
12 Our flat is very sma ll. We don't have much ... ... ....... .... .. . .. ..........

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Many nouns can be used as countable or uncountable nouns, usually w ith a difference in meaning.
Compare:

Countable Uncountable
0 Did you hear a noise just now ? C I can 't work here. There's too much
(=a specific noise) notse. (=noise in general)
0 I bought a paper to read. C I need some paper to write on.
(=a newspaper) (=material for writing on)
0 There's a hair in my soup ! C1 You 've got very long hair. (not hairs)
(=one single hair) (=all the hair on your head)
C You can stay with us. There's a spare C You can't sit here. There isn't room.
room. (=a room in a house) (=space)
0 I had some interesting experiences C They offered me the job because I had a
while I was travelling. (=things that lot of experience. (not experiences)
happened to me)
CJ Enjoy your trip. Have a good time! C I can't wait. I don't have time.

Coffee/tea/juice/beer etc. (drinks) are normally uncountable:

0 I don't like coffee very much .
But you can say a coffee(= a cup of coffee), two coffees (=two cups) etc. :
C Two coffees and an orange juice, please.

The following nouns are usually uncountable:

----,
accommodation behaviour damage Luck permission traffic
advice bread furniture Luggage progress weather
baggage chaos information news scenery work

You cannot use a/an with these nouns:

0 I'm going to buy some bread. or ... a Loaf of bread . (not a bread)
0 Enjoy your holiday! I hope you have good weather. (not a good weather)
1
These nouns are not usually plural (so we do not say breads', 'furnitures' etc.):
0 Where are you going to put all your furniture? (not furn itures)
0 Let me know if you need more information. (not informations)
News is uncountable, not plural:
0 The news was very depressing. (not The news were)
Travel (noun) means ~travelling in general' (uncountable). We do not say 1a travel' to mean a trip
or a journey:
0 They spend a lot of money on travel.
0 We had a very good trip/journey. (not a good travel)
Compare these countable and uncountable nouns:

Countable Un countable
0 I'm looking for a job. C I'm looking for work. (n ot a work)
C What a beautiful view! "---' What beautiful scenery!
0 it's a nice day t o day. C it's nice weather t oday.
C We had a lot of bags and cases. C We had a lot of baggage/ luggage.
0 These chairs are mine. C This furniture is mine.
0 That's a good suggestion. C That's good advice.

Countable and uncountable 1 ~ Unit 69 American English -+ Appendix 7

Exercises
Which of the underlined parts of these sentences is correct?
1 'Did you hear noise I a noise just now?' 'No, I didn't hear anything.' (a noise is correct)
2 a If you want to know the news, you can read paper I a paper.
b I want to print some documents, but the printer is out of paper I papers.
3 a Light I A light comes from the sun.
b I thought there was somebody in the house because there was light I a light on inside.
4 a I was in a hurry this morning. I didn't have time I a time for breakfast.
b ' Did you have a good holiday?' 'Yes, we had wonderful time I a wonderful time.'
5 This is nice room I a nice room. Did you decorate it yourself?
6 Sue was very helpful. She gave us some very useful advice I advices.
7 Did you have nice weather I a nice weather when you were away?
8 We were very unfortunate. We had bad luck I a bad luck.
9 Is it difficult to find a work I iob at the moment? .
10 Our travel I journey from Paris to Moscow by train was very tiring.
11 When the fire alarm rang, there was total chaos I a total chaos.
12 I had to buy a bread I some bread because I wanted to make some sandwiches.
13 Bad news don 't I doesn't make people happy.
14 Your hair is I Your hairs are too long. You should have it I them cut.
15 The damage I The damages caused by the storm will cost a lot to repair.

Complete the sentences using the following words. Use the plural (-s) where necessary.

advice chair experience expenence furniture hair

information job 1
L
ug,...a"'e
6 6 permission progress work

1 I didn't have much .W..gg~~.. .. -just two small bags.

2 They'll tell you all you want to know. They'll give you plenty of .... . ......... . . .. .......... .
3 There is room for everybody to sit down. There are plenty of ..... .. .... .. ............ .............. ..
4 We have no ...................... . ....... ..................... , not even a bed or a table.
5 'What does Alan look like?' 'He's got a long beard and very short ................................ ................ .
6 Carla's English is better than it was. She's made ................ ..................
7 Mike is unemployed. He can't get a ........ . ................... .......... .
8 Mike is unemployed. He can't get ................. ......... ............................ .
9 If you want to leave early, you have to ask for ................................................. .
10 I didn't know what to do. So I asked Chris for ........... ........ ................... .. .
11 I don't think Dan should get the job. He doesn't have enough ....................... ............................. .
12 Nicola has done m any interesting things. She could write a book about her ..................... ..

What do you say in these situations? Use a word from Section B (luggage, weather etc.) in
each sentence.
1 Your friends have just arrived at the station. You can't see any cases or bags.
You ask them: Do ~Q.~ .. h.~ve... CA..Y\M ... wg,go..ge ........ .. .. .. .... ....... . ······· ......... 7.
2 You go into the tourist office. You want to know about places to see in the town.
You say: I'd like ............................................................................................ ............................. ........................... ........ .. ...................... ............. .
3 You are a student. You want your t eacher to advise you about which courses to do.
You say: Can you give me ........... ................ . .... ... ..... ............. ..... .................................. ?
4 You want to watch the news on TV, but you don't know when it is on.
You ask your friend : What time .... .. ....... ... .... .. .......... ..... ..... . .............................. ... ....... ... ..... . . ..................... ................... ?
5 You are at the top of a mountain. You can see a very long way. it's beautiful.
• I . 7
You say: lt ... . . ........ .. ... . ....... . . . ....... .. ........... .. , 1sn t 1t.
6 You look out of the window. The weather is horrible: cold, wet and windy.
You say: What ................. ..................... ......................... ...... .. . . .......... ........... ........ ....... .................. . .. .... ................ ..... ................ !

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