Countable and Uncountable Nouns

In English grammar, countable nouns are individual people, animals, places, things, or
ideas which can be counted. Uncountable nouns are not individual objects, so they cannot
be counted. Here, well take a look at countable and uncountable nouns and provide both
countable noun examples and uncountable noun examples. Although the concept may
seem challenging, youll soon discover that these two different noun types are very easy to
use.
Countable Nouns (Los nombres contables)
Anything that can be counted, whether singular a dog, a house, a friend, etc. or plural
a few books, lots of oranges, etc. is a countable noun. The following countable noun
examples will help you to see the difference between countable and uncountable nouns.
Notice that singular verbs are used with singular countable nouns, while plural verbs are
used with plural countable nouns(Cualquier cosa que se puede contar, ya sea singular
- un perro, una casa, un amigo, etc. o en plural - algunos libros, un montn de
naranjas, etc., es un sustantivo contable. Los siguientes ejemplos de sustantivos
contables se ayudar a ver la diferencia entre los nombres contables e incontables.
Ntese que los verbos en singular se utilizan con nombres contables en singular,
mientras que los verbos en plural se utilizan con sustantivos contables en plural)
Ejemplos:

one [a] pencil (un lpiz)

two cats (dos gatos)
three houses (tres casas)
How many candles are on that birthday cake?-Cuntas velas estn en esa tarta
de cumpleaos?.
Theres a big brown dog running around the neighborhood.( Hay un gran perro
marrn corriendo por el barrio.)

Uncountable Nouns
Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into
separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count
"milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count
"milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:
(Los nombres o sustantivos incontables son aquellos que no podemos
contar porque no los podemos delimitar individualmente sino que forman parte
de un todo. Son tratados como singulares (no se pueden hacer plurales
aadiendo -s).

salt (sal), wood (madera), tea (t), wine (vino), sugar (azcar), bread (pan),
furniture (muebles), hair (pelo), information (informacin), money (dinero),
weather (tiempo), time (tiempo), rice (arroz)
Sin embargo, en el momento que los delimitamos, estos mismos nombres o
sustantivos pasan a ser contables. Debern ir precedidos, si quieren
individualizarse, de alguna palabra con valor partitivo)
Ejemplos:

a gram of salt (un gramo de sal)

a piece of wood (un trozo de madera)
two cups of tea (dos tazas de t)
three glasses of wine (tres vasos de vino)

Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)

1. Nombres contables tienen una forma plural:
Ejemplos:
egg eggs (huevo/s)
bicycle bicycles (bicicleta/s)
dress dresses (vestido/s)
Nombres incontables no tienen una forma plural:

rice (arroz)
x rices
milk (leche)
x milks
2.

Se puede usar a o an con nombres contables en singular:

Ejemplos:
an apple (una manzana)
a house (una casa)
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:

(No solemos utilizar el artculo de una / un indefinido con sustantivos incontables. No podemos
decir "una informacin" o "una msica". Sin embargo, podemos afirmar que un "algo" de)
Examples:

a milk

a piece of news

a bottle of water

a grain of rice

3. Se pueden usar nmeros delante de un contable:

Ejemplos:
three apples (tres manzanas)
five houses (cinco casas)
No podemos usar nmeros delante de un incontable.
X two rices
4. We can use some and any with uncountable nouns(Podemos usar some y any con
sustantivos incontables)
o

I've got some money(tengo algo de dinero)

Have you got any rice?(tienes algo de arroz)

5. We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns(podemos utilizer

little y much)
o I've got a little money.(tengo un poco de dinero)
o I haven't got much rice.(tengo algo de arroz)
Here are some more examples of countable and uncountable nouns:

Uncountable nouns can be paired with words expressing plural concept. Using these
words can make your writing more specific. Here are some examples of how to format
interesting sentences with uncountable nouns(sustantivos incontables se pueden
emparejar con las palabras que expresan el concepto plural. El uso de estas palabras
puede hacer que su escritura sea ms especfica. Estos son algunos ejemplos de cmo
formatear frases interesantes con sustantivos incontables)
Garbage There are nine bags of garbage on the curb(Basura - Hay nueve
bolsas de basura en la acera.)
Water Try to drink at least eight glasses of water each day(Agua - Trate de
beber al menos ocho vasos de agua al da)
Advice She gave me a useful piece of advice(Asesoramiento - Ella me dio un
consejo til)
Bread Please buy a loaf of bread(Pan - Por favor, comprar una barra de pan)
Furniture A couch is a piece of furniture.
Equipment A backhoe is an expensive piece of equipment( Equipo - Una
retroexcavadora es una costosa pieza de equipo)
Cheese Please bag ten slices of cheese for me(Por favor bolsa de diez
rebanadas de queso para m)
Countable and Uncountable Nouns Exercises
Is the underlined noun countable or uncountable?
1.

The children fell asleep quickly after a busy day of fun.

2.

Be careful! The water is deep.

3.

The parade included fire trucks and police cars.

4.

We like the large bottles of mineral water.

5.

My mother uses real butter in the cakes she bakes.

6.

How many politicians does it take to pass a simple law?

7.

Most kids like milk, but Joey hates it.

8.

Most pottery is made of clay.

9.

Michael can play several different musical instruments.

10.

I was feeling so stressed that I ate an entire box of cookies.

Answers: 1 countable, 2 uncountable, 3 countable, 4 countable, 5

uncountable, 6 countable, 7 uncountable, 8 uncountable, 9 countable,
10 countable

Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate
elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count
"bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some
more uncountable nouns (sustantivos incontables son sustancias, etc conceptos que no
podemos dividir en elementos separados. No podemos "contar" ellos. Por ejemplo, no
podemos contar con "leche". Podemos contar con "botellas de leche" o "litros de
leche", pero no podemos contar con "leche" en s. Aqu estn algunos sustantivos
incontables ms)

music, art, love, happiness- msica, arte, amor, felicidad

advice, information, news- asesoramiento, informacin, noticias
furniture, luggage- muebles, maletas- arroz, azcar, mantequilla, agua
rice, sugar, butter, water -arroz, azcar, mantequilla, agua
electricity, gas, power- electricidad, gas, energa
money, currency -dinero, moneda

How much? - How many?

English Grammar
When we want to know the quantity or amount of something, we ask questions
starting with How much and How many. (Cuando queremos saber la cantidad o
cantidad de algo, hacemos preguntas con How much y How many)

HOW MUCH ...? - (Quantity)

How much is used with uncountable nouns( How much se usa con sustativo incontable)
HOW MUCH + UNCOUNTABLE NOUN

How much time do we have to finish the test?( Cunto tiempo nos queda para
terminar la prueba?)

How much money did you spend?(cuanto dinero gastaste)

How much sugar would you like in your coffee?(cuanto azucar quieres en tu caf)

How much paper will I need?(cunto papel necesitas)

How much milk is in the fridge?(cuanta leche hay el refrigerador)

How much traffic was there on the way to work?(cuanto trafico hay camino al trabajo)

If the verb To Be is used with an uncountable noun, it is in singular form (= IS or WAS etc.)
(Si el verbo TO BE se utiliza con un sustantivo incontable, es en forma singular (= est o
haya estado, etc.))

HOW MUCH ...? - (Price)

How much can also be used when we want to know the PRICE of something(HOW MUCH
Tambin se puede utilizar cuando queremos saber el precio de algo.) In this case, we can use
How much with countable nouns (both singular and plural nouns)/en este caso podemos
utilizer How much con nombres contables (y singular sustantivos en plural)/

How much is that painting?(cuanto esta este cuadro?)

How much are those shoes?(cuanto estan estos zapatos)
How much did your jacket cost?(cuanto pagaste por esta chaqueta)
How much is the dress on display in the window?
How much will it cost me?(cuanto me costara)
How much does it cost ?(cuanto me cuesta)

HOW MANY ...? - (Quantity)

How many is used when we want to know the QUANTITY of something.
(HOW MANY se usa cuando queremo saber la cantidad de algo)
It is only used with plural countable nouns.(solo se usa con sustantivos contables en plural)
HOW MANY + PLURAL NOUN

How many days are there in January?(cuantos dias hay en febrero)

How many people work in your company?(cuanta persona trabaja en esta empresa)

How many cousins do you have?(cuantos primos tienes)

How many books did you buy?(cuantos libros has comprador)

How many countries are there in the world?(cuantos paises hay en el mundo)

How many students are in the class right now?

How many chairs are there in this room?

How many pieces of chocolate would you like?

Omitting the noun

Often the noun is omitted in the question when it is obvious what we are talking about.
A: I would like to buy some cheese. B: How much (cheese) would you like?
The noun cheese is not necessary after how much since we already know we are talking
about cheese. In fact, it is normally omitted to avoid sounding repetitive.
More examples:

A: I need some coins. - B: How many do you need?(necesito algunas mondas)

A: I need some sugar. - B: How much do you need?

(Omitiendo el sustantivo
A menudo, el sustantivo se omite en la pregunta cuando es obvio lo que
estamos hablando.
R: Me gustara comprar un poco de queso. B: Cunto (queso) le gustara?
El queso sustantivo no es necesario despus de lo mucho que ya sabemos que
estamos hablando de queso. De hecho, se omite normalmente para evitar que
suene repetitivo.

Much vs. Many

Much and Many are used to express that there is a large quantity of something.

(Much y Many se utilizan para expresar que hay una gran cantidad de algo)
Much and Many are used in negative sentences and questions.(MUCH Y MANY se utilizan en
oraciones negativas y preguntas)
Many is used with countable nouns(MUCH se utiliza en sustantivos contables)
Much is used with uncountable nouns(much se usa con sustantivos incontables

I don't have many CD's in my collection. (Countable noun)/ No tengo muchos CDs en
mi coleccin./

They don't have much money to buy a present. (Uncountable noun)/ Ellos no tienen
mucho dinero para comprar un regalo./

How many brothers do you have? (Countable noun)/ Cuntos hermanos tiene
usted?/

Is there much milk in the fridge? (Uncountable noun)/ Hay leche en la nevera?/

Note: we almost never use Much and Many in positive sentences, we almost always use a
lot of or lots of.( casi nunca se usa MUCH Y MANY en oraciones positivas, casi siempre
usamos a lof of o lots of
A lof of=mucho, un monton de
Lots of=mucho, un monton de

I have much money. (Incorrect because the sentence is positive / affirmative)/tengo dinero es
incorrecto de la forma much porque al ser positive usamos el a lof of
I have a lot of money. (Correct)

With the word "times" we use many times more than a lot of times / lots of
times. It sometimes means frequently or often (Con la palabra timesnosotros
usamos mas veces a lot of timeso lots of timesa veces esto significa
frecuencia(hace referencia al adverbio de frequently or often)

That is my favourite book. I've read it many times.(este es mi libro favorite lo he ledo
muchas veces)

Don't worry, I've done this many times.(no se preocupe, yo he hecho esto muchas
veces)

We have stayed at this hotel many times over the years.(nos hemos alojado en este
hotel muchas veces por varios aos)

Aqu algunos ejemplos ms:

How many?How much?

songs
music

jobs
bottles
cups
chairs
suitcases
batteries
tips
dollars
views
carrots
bananas
rings
letters
pants

work
wine/milk/water
coffee/tea
furniture
luggage
electricity
advice
money
scenery
vegetable
fruit
jewelry
mail
clothing

http://www.curso-ingles.com/practicar/ejercicios/countable-uncountable-nouns

http://www.grammar.cl/english/how-much-how-many.htm
http://www.grammar.cl/Notes/Much_Many_Lot_Few.htm
http://blog.englishcom.com.mx/gramatica/how-many-how-much/