# 3. Any surprise with the language? (countables and uncountables)

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 little cat is playing with the ball.
- My dogs are really hungry.

We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:

- A cat is an animal.

When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:

- I want an apple. (not I want apple.)
- Where is my car? (not Where is car?)

A countable noun can appear in plural, and when it is plural, we can use it alone, or with some/any:

- I like apples.
- Bottles can break.
- I prepared some sandwiches for the party.
- Have you seen any of my brothers today?

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts, etc. that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot count them. For example, we cannot count water.

We can count bottles of water or litres of water, but we cannot count water 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:

- 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 piece of furniture, a piece of bread
- a bottle of water, milk, whiskey
- a grain of rice

We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:

- I've got some money.
- Have you got any rice?

## Ejercicio Resuelto

Say which nouns are countable or uncountable.

house - car - cheese - apple - money - table - sugar - coffee - cup - pencil

milk - wine - potato - bread - petrol - shoe - film - tea - newspaper - book

orange - water - watch - toast - juice - glass - salt - oil - pen - class - meat

butter - sandwich - ham - egg - advice - holiday - time - chocolate - information - tuna

### Retroalimentación

COUNTABLE NOUNS | UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
house | cheese
car | money
apple | sugar
table | coffee
cup | milk
pencil | wine
potato | bread
shoe | petrol
film | tea
newspaper | water
book | juice
orange | glass (crystal)
watch | salt
toast | oil
pen | meat
class | butter
sandwich | ham
egg | advice
glass (of wine) | holiday
| time
| chocolate
| information
| tuna

## Comprueba lo aprendido

Watch this video about countable and uncountable nouns and complete the statements below.

Video de Burhan peynirci en Youtube

In English some nouns are Rellenar huecos (1): JXUwMDNiJXUwMDBjJXUwMDFhJXUwMDFiJXUwMDFhJXUwMDE1JXUwMDAzJXUwMDBlJXUwMDA5 ( you can count them) but you can't count others (these are called non-countable or Rellenar huecos (2): JXUwMDJkJXUwMDFiJXUwMDBkJXUwMDBjJXUwMDFhJXUwMDFiJXUwMDFhJXUwMDE1JXUwMDAzJXUw MDBlJXUwMDA5 nouns)

You can say: three tables, five apples. These nouns are Rellenar huecos (3): JXUwMDNiJXUwMDBjJXUwMDFhJXUwMDFiJXUwMDFhJXUwMDE1JXUwMDAzJXUwMDBlJXUwMDA5 .

But you can't say: six sugar, seven water, because these nouns are Rellenar huecos (4): JXUwMDJkJXUwMDFiJXUwMDBkJXUwMDBjJXUwMDFhJXUwMDFiJXUwMDFhJXUwMDE1JXUwMDAzJXUw MDBlJXUwMDA5 .

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## Importante

"People" is a countable noun. People is the plural of person. We can count people:
There is one person here.
There are three people here.
However, money is uncountable. We have to use much with money:
He had too much money in his wallet.
How much is it?

## Reflexiona

Some uncountable nouns in English are countable in other languages. This can be a bit confusing for non-native speakers of English. Here is a list of some of the most common uncountable nouns:

accommodation, advice, baggage, bread, equipment, furniture, information

knowledge, luggage, money, news, pasta, progress, research, travel, work

### Retroalimentación

Here are some of the most common containers or quantity expressions for these uncountable nouns:

accommodation - a place to stay
advice - a piece of advice
baggage - a piece of baggage
bread - a slice of bread, a loaf of bread
equipment - a piece of equipment
furniture - a piece of furniture
information - a piece of information
knowledge - a fact
luggage - a piece of luggage, a bag, a suitcase
money - a note, a coin
news - a piece of news
pasta - a plate of pasta, a serving of pasta
research - a piece of research, a research project
travel - a journey, a trip
work - a job, a position

## Para saber más

About both countable and uncountable nouns and exercises as well.

Click here to learn about countable and uncountable nouns in Spanish and lots of examples.

Very good explanation about countable and uncountable nouns, together with examples of confusing nouns.

After talking about countable and uncountable nouns we have to learn about the particles some and any.