Counting Uncountable Nouns

Remember It
Questions
How much ....? = uncountable nouns
For example: How much coffee do you drink?
How many ....? = countable nouns
For example: How many cups of coffee do you drink?
Learn It
How do you count uncountable nouns? You can't, but you can measure
them. You have to use counters

Noun

Uncounta Sugar
ble
How
Uncounta
much
ble
sugar is
Question
there?

Jewellery Cheese

bowl

Furniture

Money

How
How much How much How much How much
much
cheese is wine is
furniture is money is
jewellery
there?
there?
there?
there?
is there?

There's a There's
There's a
Answer lot of
some
lot of
sugar.
jewellery. cheese.
Add a
word

Wine

piece

round

There's
There's
some
some wine.
furniture.
bottle

piece

There's a
lot of
money.
bag

A bowl of
Make it sugar.
Countable
How
many
Countable bowls of
Question sugar are
there?

Answer

A piece of A round of A bottle of A piece of

jewellery. cheese.
wine.
furniture.

A bag of
money.

How
How many How many
many
rounds of bottles of
pieces of
cheese are wine are
jewellery
there?
there?
are there?

How many
bags of
money are
there?

There are
There's
two
one bowl
pieces of
of sugar.
jewellery.

There are
three
rounds of
cheese.

There's
only one
bottle of
wine.

How many
pieces of
furniture
are there?

There are There are

two pieces four bags
of furniture. of money.

Other words you can add to make uncountable nouns countable:You can put something into a container to count it, but the thing you're
counting doesn't take the plural form. The container takes the plural
form:bag

A bag of money.

barrel

Two barrels of beer.

bottle

Three bottles of wine.

bowl

Four bowls of sugar.

box

Five boxes of cereal.

bucket

Six buckets of water.

can

Seven cans of Coke.

carton

Eight cartons of milk.

cup

Nine cups of coffee.

glass

Ten glasses of water.

jar

Eleven jars of honey.

packet

A dozen packets of butter.

a saucepan

Thirteen pans of rice.

tank

Fifteen tanks of petrol.

tin

Sixteen tins of custard.

tub

Seventeen tubs of
margarine.

tube

Eighteen tubes of
toothpaste.

You can measure something to

count it, but it still doesn't take
For
the plural form. The
example:measurement takes the plural
form:-

litre

1 and a half
litres of milk.

pint

Two pints of
beer.

pound / ounce / kilo etc...

Two pounds /
ounces / kilos
of butter.

You can measure uncountable

nouns in other ways, using shapes
or portions. Again the
measurement takes the plural
form.

ball

Ten balls of
wool.

bar

Three bars
of soap.

pinch

Two pinches
of salt.

slice

Five slices of
cake.

spoon

Fourteen
spoonfuls of
sugar.

square

Ten squares
of chocolate.

Learn It
Some, Any
Countable

Uncountable

people.
cups.
books.
There are some newspapers.
chairs.
shoes.
Euros.

Countable
We can use some in positive
Statement
sentences with plural
s:
countable nouns:Positive:

I read some books.

There is some

Uncountable
We can use some in positive
sentences with uncountable
nouns:I would like some coffee.

Countable

There aren't any

money.
traffic.
paper.
time.
coffee.
food.

Uncountable

people.
cups.
books.
newspapers.
chairs.
shoes.
Euros.

There isn't any

money.
traffic.
paper.
time.
coffee.
food.

We can use any in negative

We can use any in negative
Stateme
sentences with plural countable sentences with uncountable
nt:
nouns:nouns:Negativ I don't read any books.
e:

I don't want any coffee.

Countable

Are(n't) there any

Uncountable

people?
cups?
books?
newspapers?
chairs?
shoes?
Euros?

Is(n't) there any

money?
traffic?
paper?
time?
coffee?
food?

We can use any in questions We can use any in questions with

Questio with plural countable nouns:- plural uncountable nouns:ns:
Positive Are there any books?
Q:

Do you need any coffee?

Negativ Aren't there any books?

e Q:

Don't you need any coffee?

!Note! When you expect the answer to be "Yes." to an offer or polite request, you
can ask a question using some.

Question:

Countable
Can I have some books,
please?

Uncountable
Would you like some coffee?

A few, A little

There are a few

Countable
Stateme
nts:

people
cups
books
newspapers
chairs
shoes
Euros

There is a little

Uncountable

money
traffic
paper
time
coffee
food

Positive:

"I meet a few people every

day."

"There is a little paper in the

printer."

"I only have a few Euros."

"I only have a little money."

Many, Much

There aren't many

people
cups
books
newspapers
chairs
shoes

There isn't much

money
traffic
paper
time
coffee
food

Countable

Uncountable

I don't read many books.

I don't drink much coffee.

Positive
Q:

Are there many books?

Do you need much coffee?

Negative
Q:

Aren't there many books?

Don't you need much coffee?

Statement
s:
Negative:
Questions
:

Sources of confusion with countable and uncountable nouns:

The notion of countable and uncountable can be confusing.
Some nouns can be countable or uncountable depending on their meaning. Usually a noun is
uncountable when used in a general, abstract meaning (when you don't think of it as a separate
object) and countable when used in a particular meaning (when you can think of it as a separate
object).
For example:glass - Two glasses of water. (Countable) | A window made of glass. (Uncountable) | glasses - I
wear glasses. (Always plural)
Some supposedly uncountable nouns can behave like countable nouns if we think of them as
being in containers, or one of several types.
This is because 'containers' and 'types' can be counted.
Believe it or not each of these sentences is correct:Doctors recommend limiting consumption to two coffees a day.
(Here coffees refers to the number of cups of coffee)
You could write; "Doctors recommend limiting consumption to two cups of coffee a day."
The coffees I prefer are Arabica and Brazilian.
(Here coffees refers to different types of coffee)
You could write; "The types of coffee I prefer are Arabica and Brazilian."

some, any, much, many, a lot of, a few

Choose the correct answer:
1. Prague has got interesting old buildings.
2. Are there parks in your town?
3. You can find interesting museums in London.
4. There aren't street lamps in the village.
5. There weren't cheap places to stay in the city.
6. Is there traffic near your house?
7. There are restaurants in town, but not many.
8. There isn't pollution in the countryside.

Put the suitable word or words from the box in to the blanks below:
Amy : Mum, Im hungry.
Mother: Do you want a Mediterranean Omelette?
Amy : Yes, and I want to learn how to make it.
Mother : Alright. Come on then Lets make one together.
Amy : Thanks , mum ! OK. I need ________ eggs, but ___________ do I need ?
Mother : Two . You also need a small onion, a small green pepper, a large tomato and butter, but
there isnt _________ butter in the refrigerator.
Amy : ___________ butter ?
Mother : About 25 grams.
Amy : Do I need ________ salt and pepper ?

Mother : Yes, you do .

Amy : Do I need _________ flour ?
Mother: No, you need _________ flour. We need _________ vegetables. We have _________
onions , _________ green peppers. There are __________ tomatoes but there arent __________
mushrooms. OK. Its not problem.
Amy : Shall I cut them into pieces to help you , mum ?
Mother : Yes, thank you . Put __________ butter into the frying pan.
Amy : Do I put the vegetables in the frying pan now ?
Mother : Yes, fry them for about three minutes. OK. Break the eggs into a bowl. Add _________
salt and pepper. Good... now beat them well.... like that . Right. I think the vegetables are ready
now, so add the eggs to the frying pan. Its ready in __________ minutes.
Amy : Is it ready ?
Mother : Not yet. Turn the omelette over. Have we got _________ bread ?
Amy : No, there is _________ bread. Can I buy __________ ?
Mother : OK. Serve it with bread. Its delicious.
Amy : I want to drink _________ coke with it . Unfortunatelly, we have _________ coke left.
Ill buy two cans of it.
Mother : It looks delicious and attractive.

Choose the best underlined word from each sentence:

I havent got much / many money today.
Ive got a few / a little fruit and a lot of / many vegetables .
They dont seem to have much / many free time these days.
He has only read a few / a little chapters of that new book, but he likes it.
A : Does he show much / many interest in sports ?
B : Yes, a lot / a lot of .
There arent many / much huge buildings and traffic problems in the small cities so there is no /
any stress there.
Put some , any , a little , a few or , no into the blanks in the sentences :

A : How was your skiing weekend ?

B : Terrible ! There wasnt _________ snow on the mountains.

A : Hurry up ! There is _________ time to waste. The bus will be here soon .

B : Im really ready.

A : What would you like in your coffee ?

B: Just _________ sugar, please.

A : There are still _________ tickets left for the concert on Friday night.

B : Great . Ill go and buy one now.

A : I bought _________ great books from the book-fair this afternoon.

B : Really ! Let me see them .