Count and Non-Count

Dear students,

We have talked about Count and Non-Count nouns. Now let's review them again. Please, make sure you understand everything. If you don't, ask me questions.

Irena

A noun will be either countable (Count) or uncountable (Non-Count). If it is uncountable (Non-Count), it generally cannot be taken apart as individual units. There are some general guidelines for figuring out which category a noun falls into, but many times you will simply have to memorize which nouns are countable and which are uncountable. Non-count nouns always come together with a singular verb "is" or "need" and singular determiners "this".

This information is not appropriate for school.
Some information is out of place.
A lot of information is incorrect.


You cannot say:

!!! Few information !!!
!!! Many information !!! 
!!! These information !!!

 

Here is another interesting video. Please, watch it.

Common Non-count Nouns

Abstractions:

advice, information, research, news, evidence, energy, grammar, knowledge, vocabulary, confidence, courage, education, fun, happiness, health, help, honesty, hospitality, importance, intelligence, justice, significance, justice, luck, music, patience, peace, progress, wealth, anger, secrecy, equality, friction, radar, combustion 



Abstractions that can be used as countable or uncountable, depending on the context:

proof, time, space, fear, law truth, work, pressure, force, current, power, temperature, share

For example:

As an abstraction:
Time is short when you are working hard.
(referring to the concept of time) 


Not an abstraction:
I have seen this student 3 times.
(not an abstraction, but a specific time)

There is often a countable noun that could be used in place of the non-count noun if more specific reference is desired.

Whole groups made up of separate items:
postage, software, research, machinery, hardware, cash, advice, mail, garbage, equipment, money, clothing, luggage, fruit, furniture, information, jewelry, jargon


Sports:

baseball, soccer, volleyball, football, cricket

General activities:

driving, studying, swimming, traveling, walking (and other-ing nouns) 

Illnesses, diseases:
measles, mumps, influenza or flu 

Natural events (phenomena), weather:
weather, dew, fog, smog, hail, heat, humidity, lightning, rain, snow, wind, darkness, light, sunshine, electricity, fire, gravity 

Academic subjects, fields of study:
chemistry, engineering, business, mathematics, economics, literature 

Food (fluids):
water, coffee, tea, milk, oil, soup, gasoline, blood, wine, liquid 


Food (solids):
ice, bread, butter, cheese, meat, gold, iron, silver, glass, paper, wood, cotton, wool 

Gas:
steam, air, oxygen, nitrogen, smoke, smog, pollution 


Particles:
rice, chalk, corn, dirt, flour, grass, hair, pepper, salt, sand, sugar, wheat, grain 


Languages:
Chinese, English, Spanish, German, Japanese 

Non-Count nouns 

      

luggage                                                    
postage                                                      
machinery                                                 
jewelry                                                      
equipment                                               

Count nouns

suitcases
stamps
machines
necklaces
computers 
machines

We can make non-count nouns countable or measurable by adding countable phrases:

3 pieces of equipment
3 types of software
3 kinds of information
3 cartons of juice
3 slices of bread
3 drops of water
3 teaspoons of oil
3 cups of tea
3 bottles of milk
3 watts of electricity
3 liters of gasoline
3 molecules of oxygen

For some non-count nouns, it is possible to change the non-count noun to an adjective, for example:

3 software packages... (the word software is now an adjective)
3 homework assignments...
3 postage stamps...

Here are links to an exercises. Please, do them.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Here are some exercises with Some, Any and No:

# 1

# 2

# 3



Difference between A Few and Few:

They both are used with countable noun (Count).

A few has positive meaning.
It means a small amount of something, but it is enough.

Few has negative meaning.
It means almost nothing, almost zero - a very small amount of something and it isn't enough.

Example:

I have a few apples.
This means that I have 2 or 3 apples, and it is enough for me.

This means that I have almost nothing, almost zero, and that is not enough for me. I need more. 



Difference between A Little and Little:

They both are used with uncountable noun (Non-Count).

A little has positive meaning.
It means a small amount of something, but it is enough.

Little has negative meaning.
It means almost nothing, almost zero - a very small amount of something and it isn't enough.

Example:

I have a little coffee.
This means that I have some coffee, and it is enough for me.

I have little coffee.
This means that I have almost nothing, almost zero, and that is not enough for me. I need more.



Here are some exercises:

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

About food

Dear students,

Yesterday we started learning some interesting and useful things about different kinds of food. As you remember, we talked about different groups of food and healthy diet. Here are two old posts from ESL blog about this topic. I would like you to read it carefully.

Irena

Here is a link for Low and High Level students. Please, read it carefully, watch videos and try to understand everything.

Click here to get to the post

Here is a link only for High Level students. This post isn't easy, so do your best trying to understand what is this about. At the end of the post there are some questions. I'd like you to think about them and answer.

Click here to get to the post

Good luck and have fun!