Easy & Simple Tips on Nouns by ProEnglish

1> Uncountable Nouns

Cannot put a number directly in front on the nouns, unless the
meaning is kind of e.g. There are 4 gases in this test tube.
No +s or other plural form. Only singular form of Verbs e.g. There
is some cheese.
Words in these categories are uncountable nouns
music, art, love, happiness
advice, information, news
furniture, luggage
rice, sugar, butter, water
electricity, gas, power
money, currency
Can be used for general categories where the things in that category
are countable e.g. General category: some luggage _ some
suitcases some rucksacks

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No article when talking about things generally. When using the +

Uncountable Noun then you mean a specific thing e.g. the rice
_the rice you are talking about, not another rice
Many Uncountable Nouns can be made Countable by just adding a
piece of/ pieces of e.g. a piece of advice a piece of news
pieces of cheese
Use some/any + Noun e.g. Ive got some money Have you got
any sugar?
Use little/much + Noun e.g. Ive got little money I havent got
much rice

2> Countable Nouns

Take a number directly in front of the nouns e.g. two chairs
+s or other plural form e.g. books
Use article a/an + Noun e.g. A dog is an animal
Use some/any + Noun e.g. Have you got any money on you?, I
need to get some food for the weekend.
Use few/many + Noun e.g. I have a few days more vacation, I
dont have many friends.

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3> Countable & Uncountable Nouns

Countable & Uncountable Nouns exist but their meaning is totally
different!
For example, staff _employees but staffs _some large sticks
and some paper _e.g. photocopy paper but some papers _
some official papers/documents, some newspapers or research
documents.
In some cases these kinds of nouns become countable, usually as a
quick way of saying something e.g. two beers meaning two pints of
beer and two ice creams meaning two ice cream cones.

Practical Tips for Daily Use

1. Many Uncountable Nouns can be made countable by just adding
a piece of/pieces of e.g. Let me give you a piece of advice
2. There are pairs of Countable and Uncountable Nouns with the same
or similar meaning e.g. some staff/some employees. You can
choose to use those you find easier to remember!
3. Stuff can be used to talk about Uncountable substances (material)
in the same way as thing is used to talk about Countable Objects.
e.g. What is all this stuff? Are you talking about these boxes
containing..(oxygen bottles, printing paper, etc)?
4. Uncountable Nouns: butter, wine , meat, coca cola, water, hair,
information, advice, politics (end with-s but it is Uncountable Noun),
work, travel, scenery
Countable Nouns: magazine, friend, book, apple, job, view, report,
journey
Happy Learning! Vera, ProEnglish

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