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    Non Count Nouns and Count Nouns

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    951386
    The document discusses countable and uncountable nouns. It explains that countable nouns can be counted, made plural, and take the indefinite article "a" or "an", while uncountable nouns usually cannot be counted or made plural and do not take "a" or "an". It provides examples of common countable nouns like "apple" and uncountable nouns like "time". Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable depending on how they are used. The document also discusses quantifiers like "a few", "few", "a little", and "little" and how they are used with countable and uncountable nouns.

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    Non Count Nouns and Count Nouns

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    951386
    919 views4 pages
    The document discusses countable and uncountable nouns. It explains that countable nouns can be counted, made plural, and take the indefinite article "a" or "an", while uncountable nouns usually cannot be counted or made plural and do not take "a" or "an". It provides examples of common countable nouns like "apple" and uncountable nouns like "time". Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable depending on how they are used. The document also discusses quantifiers like "a few", "few", "a little", and "little" and how they are used with countable and uncountable nouns.

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    The document discusses countable and uncountable nouns. It explains that countable nouns can be counted, made plural, and take the indefinite article "a" or "an", while uncountable nouns usually cannot be counted or made plural and do not take "a" or "an". It provides examples of common countable nouns like "apple" and uncountable nouns like "time". Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable depending on how they are used. The document also discusses quantifiers like "a few", "few", "a little", and "little" and how they are used with countable and uncountable nouns.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    919 views4 pages

    Non Count Nouns and Count Nouns

    Uploaded by

    951386
    The document discusses countable and uncountable nouns. It explains that countable nouns can be counted, made plural, and take the indefinite article "a" or "an", while uncountable nouns usually cannot be counted or made plural and do not take "a" or "an". It provides examples of common countable nouns like "apple" and uncountable nouns like "time". Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable depending on how they are used. The document also discusses quantifiers like "a few", "few", "a little", and "little" and how they are used with countable and uncountable nouns.

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    Material de apoyo al aprendizaje

    Countable / Uncountable Nouns

    1. Countable Nouns

    All nouns are countable or uncountable. Countable nouns have the


    following properties.
    - They can be counted, for example 1 apple, 2 apples, ...etc.
    - They can be made plural.
    - They can take the indefinate article a/an.

    2. Uncountable Nouns

    Uncountable nouns have the following properties.


    - They usually can't be counted, for example 1 money, 2 money, ...etc.
    - They usually can't be made plural.
    - They usually don't take the indefinate article a/an.

    Some is often used for plural nouns. For example:


    - I have some apples.
    - I have some food.
    This is covered later in more detail.

    Here are some common countable and uncountable nouns.


    Countable Uncountable
    apple time
    tree rice
    person beef
    dog money
    kilo information
    liter help

    Countable nouns often refer to individual things, and physical things. For
    example: a person, a tree, a kilo.
    Uncountable nouns often refer to non-individual things, and abstract
    things. For example rice is not an individual thing, it's seen as group of
    hundreds of small grains. Love and sadness are abstract, not physical
    things.

    JHON MANUEL ZAMBRANO ACEVEDO - Asesor Tutor AVA


    Cel: 316-7175949
    3. Countable and Uncountable Nouns

    Some nouns can be countable and uncountable, depending on how they


    are used. For example:
    - Countable : A glass of milk. Here glass refers to one container made of
    glass.
    - Uncountable: You can see through glass. Here glass doesn't refer to one
    thing, it refers to glass as a substance.
    - Countable: He has many papers. Here papers refers to some of
    individual documents.
    - Uncountable: Paper is made from wood. Here paper is not an individual
    thing, but a general substance.

    In English, there are two kinds of nouns: count nouns and non-count
    nouns. It is important to understand the difference between them,
    because they often use different articles, and non-count nouns usually
    have no plural. Here is a summary of the differences:

    Type of
    Explanation Example
    noun

    There are
    Count nouns are things which can be two books
    counted. That means that there can be on the
    Count more than one of them. Also, when a table.
    nouns count noun is singular and indefinite, the
    article a/an is often used with it. (The There is an
    real meaning of a is one.) elephant in
    my car.

    Could I
    Non-count nouns (or uncounted nouns)
    have some
    are usually things which cannot be
    water
    Non- counted, such as rice or water. Non-count
    please?
    count nouns have a singular form, but when
    nouns they are indefinite, we either use the
    I'd like rice
    word some or nothing at all instead of
    with my
    an article.
    steak.

    JHON MANUEL ZAMBRANO ACEVEDO - Asesor Tutor AVA


    Cel: 316-7175949
    How to tell whether a noun is count or non-count

    You can usually work out whether a noun is count or non-count by


    thinking about it. Count nouns are usually objects which can be counted.
    Non-count nouns are often substances (such as sand, water or rice) which
    cannot be easily counted, or they may be large abstract ideas such as
    nature, space or entertainment. Here are some more examples:

    Count nouns Non-count nouns

    pen education
    table intelligence
    car clothing
    idea soap
    answer air
    class cheese
    exam grass
    shoe literature

    Quantifiers: A Few / A Little

    1. Quantifiers - Few / Little / A Few / A Little

    Theses quantifiers are used to show a small quantity of something, for


    example "I have a few books" means I have a small quantity of books.

    A Few

    A few is used with countable nouns to show a small quantity. It is used in


    affirmative statements, but not negatives. We generally use any or
    questions. For example:
    - I have a few books.
    - I don't have a few books
    This is incorrect.
    - I don't have any books
    This is correct.
    - Do you have a few books?
    Sometimes this is possible, but generally speaking we use any for
    questions, for example "Do you have any books?"

    JHON MANUEL ZAMBRANO ACEVEDO - Asesor Tutor AVA


    Cel: 316-7175949
    Few

    There is an important difference between a few and few. Few without a is


    used to mean we don't have enough of something. For example:
    - She has few apples in the refridgerator. (She doesn't have enough
    apples).
    - She has a few apples in the refridgerator. (She has a small quantity of
    apples)

    Put another way, "a few" means "a small quantity", but "few" means "not
    a big quantity" For example:
    - A few friends came to my party. This is a positive idea, I'm happy a few
    people came./
    - Few friends came to my party. This is a negative idea, I'm not happy
    because not many people came.
    Notice how "a few" focuses on how many people did come, but "few"
    focuses on how many didn't come.

    In sum, A few means a small quantity - few means not a big quantity

    A Little

    A little is used with uncountable nouns to show a small quantity. Again, it


    is generally used in affirmative statements, not negatives or questions. For
    example:
    - I have a little orange juice.
    Negatives and Questions use "any" as usual.
    - I don't have a little orange juice.
    This is incorrect.
    - I don't have any orange juice.
    This is correct
    - Do you have a little orange juice?
    Again, we generally use any for questions, for example "Do you have any
    orange juice?"

    Little

    As with few, there is also the same difference between a little and little.
    Little without a is used to mean we don't have enough of something. For
    example:
    - She has little for breakfast. (She doesn't eat enough for breakfast).
    - She has a little for breakfast. (She has a small quantity of food for
    breakfast).

    JHON MANUEL ZAMBRANO ACEVEDO - Asesor Tutor AVA


    Cel: 316-7175949

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