Countable and uncountable nouns and their determiners

ü Countable nouns

A countable noun is a clearly separate unit which can be easily counted. When there is more than one, they can be made plural: tables, chairs, students, cats, ideas, thoughts, people, children.

ü Uncountable nouns

Uncountable nouns are things or notions which cannot be counted (or only counted with difficulty) or abstract nouns and notions. They include liquids, mass, abstract nouns and things such as water, oil, butter, sand, information, happiness, hair, spaghetti.

Remember: in some languages uncountable nouns such as hair, information, news and advice are countable.

ü Determiners

Determiners come before nouns. Which one we choose depends on whether the noun it introduces is countable or uncountable.

We can make uncountable nouns appear countable by putting the name of a container, a quantity/weight/its length, or a piece of before it:

A bottle of water, a jar of instant coffee, a slice of cake, a tin of soup, a packet of biscuits, 200 grams of butter, a grain of sand, a piece of information, etc.

v Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns

Ø We use all

Before plural countable nouns [C] and uncountable nouns [U] to express the idea of “all the ones”:

All the students left early. [C]

Ø We use every

Before single countable nouns and uncountable nouns to express the idea of “every one” (we drop the use of a/the):

Every student left early. [C]

Ø We use some

Before plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns:

She met some interesting people while she was on holiday. [C]

I asked for an information.

I asked for some information about language courses. [U]

In requests and offers, particularly when we expect the answer to be “yes”:

Could you give me some advice about which wallpaper to choose? [U]

Would you pass me some more coffee, please? [C]

Is there some of that lovely cake left? [C]

Ø We use any

Before plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns to express the idea of “all or nothing”:

Any child can use this computer programme. = all children [C]

You can´t come and see me any time. = there is no limit. [U]

Oh dear, there isn´t any sugar left. = none at all. [U]

š Remember:

We place not before any to express the idea of no. We use not any/no before plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns:

There weren´t any students in the classroom/There were no students in the classroom. [C]

We place hardly before any to express the idea of “not a lot”:

There were hardly any customers in the shop. [C]

We place have before any to ask about the existence or availability of something:

Do you have any milk? [U]

v Some/any/no + one/body/where/thing

Add some/any/no before one/body/where/thing to create indefinite pronouns:

These follow the same rules of form as some and any:

There is someone outside.

Really! I can´t see anyone/anybody.

There was nowhere to park.

We couldn´t find anywhere to park.

v Much and any; a lot of and lots of

Ø We use many with countable nouns, and much with uncountable nouns:

Many students leave their revision to the last minute.

The changes to the exam have encouraged much discussion.

Ø However, a lot of/lots of are used with both countable and uncountable nouns. We tend to use them instead of much and many in positive statements:

A lot of/Lots of students use bi-lingual dictionaries.

Harry wasted a lot of/lots of time crying to mend the Play Station.

š Remember:

Lots of, loads of, plenty of are considered to be less formal than a lot of:

Don’t worry about me, I´ve got lots/loads/plenty of friends.

Ø Much and many are generally reserved for negative statements and questions:

How much time do we have before we need to leave?

We don´t have much money left.

How many people have you invited?

We weren´t expecting so many people at the open-day.

v Few and a few/little and a little

We use few/a few with countable nouns and little/a little with uncountable nouns. A few and a little mean “some”, while few and little mean “not much/many”, or “less than normal or what we would usually expect:

A few (= some) students know how to pronounce “th” properly.

Few (= not very many) students carry on to take the Proficiency exam.

There´s a little (= some) bit of coffee left, who would like to finish it?

There´s little (= not much) point in trying to learn anything now.

Several

Several is used with countable plural nouns. It has a similar meaning to a few (i.e. three or four):

There were several people waiting in the doctor´s surgery.

A great (large) number (amount) of great (good) deal of

We use a great/large number of with plural countable nouns:

A great number of tourists were affected by the strike.

NOT: A great deal of tourists....

We use a great/good deal of with uncountable nouns to mean “many” or “much”:

The strike caused a great deal of inconvenience. NOT: The strike cause a large number of inconvenience.