UNIT 4

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are nouns that can be counted. Most nouns in English are countable.

Examples:

• I have two dogs.
• Sandra has three cars.
• Jessie has ten dollars.

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns are not counted in English. This usually has to do with the way English speakers think of these nouns. We often picture these nouns as a single concept or one big thing which is hard to divide. Many of these words are countable in other languages, but they ARE NOT countable in English. Generally, we do not use plural forms of these words; however some of these words do end in "s", so don't get confused.

Examples:

• Mack drinks a lot of water.
• Cindy gives great advice.
• Paul enjoys politics. Ends with "s" but uncountable

Uncountable nouns tend to belong to one of the following categories:

Liquids and Gases

• water
• coffee
• milk
• air
• oxygen

Solid and Granular Substances

• wood
• metal
• cheese
• sand
• rice

Energy Words and Forces

• electricity
• sunshine
• radiation
• heat
• magnetism

Subjects

• French
• chemistry
• economics
• science
• math

Grouped Concepts

• fruit
• money
• food
• vocabulary
• news

Information and Abstract Concepts

• information
• advice
• education
• democracy
• intelligence

Uncountable Plurals

Sometimes in English, we do use uncountable nouns in plural forms. This is most commonly done with liquids and substances. It usually takes on the meaning of "cups of", "bottles of" or "types of".

Examples:

• We'll have two coffees. Cups of coffee
• I bought three waters. Bottles of water
• The company produces two leathers. Types of leather

Different Meanings

There are certain words which have multiple meanings. It is possible for one meaning to be countable and the other to be uncountable. Take for example the word "light":

Examples:

• I couldn't see anything because there was no light. Uncountable noun
• The Christmas tree was covered with hundreds of lights. Countable noun

Generally, the rules are still the same. The first use of "light" is a form of energy. The second use of "light" means "small light bulbs", which are normal countable objects.

Countable vs Uncountable Noun Exercise

Much vs Many Exercise

A little vs A few Exercise 

More Exercises 

Definite and indefinite articles

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What is an article?

Basically, articles are either definite or indefinite. They combine to a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun.

• The definite article is the.
• The indefinite article is a / an.

The indefinite article a or an:

The article a / an is used when we don't specify the things or people we are talking about:

• I met a friend.
• I work in a factory in New York.
• I borrowed a pencil from a passenger sitting next to me.

The indefinite article a is used before a consonant sound:

• a dog.
• a pilot
• a teacher.
• a university

NOTE:
Although 'university' starts with the vowel 'u', it is not pronounced as such. It is pronounced as a consonant sound /ju:.niv3:.si.ti/
The indefinite article an is used before a vowel sound:

• an engineer.
• an elephant.
• an athlete

The definite article the:

It's used when the speaker talks about a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know.

• The car over there is fast.
• The president of the United States is giving a speech tonight.

When we speak of something or someone for the first time we use a or an, the next time we repeat that object we use the definite article the.

• I live in a house. The house is quite old and has four bedrooms.
• I ate in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was very good.

No article:

1. Do not use an article with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and mountains except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United States".

• He lives in Washington near Mount Rainier.
• They live in Northern British Columbia.
• They climbed Mount Everest.

2. we do not normally use an article with plurals and uncountable nouns to talk about things in general.:

• He writes books.
• She likes sweets.
• Do you like jazz music?
• She ate bread with butter in the morning.

Countable and uncountable nouns

Using English articles with countable and uncountable nouns may be confusing.
The can be used with uncountable nouns, or the article can be dropped entirely as mentioned above.

1. "The two countries reached the peace after a long disastrous war" (some specific peace treaty) or "The two countries reached peace after a long disastrous war" (any peace).
2. "He drank the water" (some specific water- for example, the water his wife brought him from the kitchen) or "He drank water." (any water)

It is unusual to use a/an for uncountable nouns. You can't say "I'd like a milk"
a/an can be used only with countable nouns.

1. I'd like a piece of cake.
2. I lent him a book.
3. I drank a cup of tea.

Exercise on articles 

READING: No Ordinary Place to Eat

Check the words and phrases

ordinary	excitement	huge	hang	Crane
diner	Seat belt	Chef	branch	Sunken platform
Loo	Tiny	Courage	amazement	Wave
quiet	wind	Descend	Pearl	oyster
Spiral stairs	Speechless	spectacular	fabulous	Magical
last	waiter	Touch-screen	Pick up	Freshly cooked
Pot	Spiral tube	Land (v)	portion	Debit