Countable & Uncountable Noun

Countable nouns: Most of nouns are countable. These nouns can be counted. We use one, a or an in
front of singular countable nouns and numbers or quantifiers (some, few, many…)
in front of plural countable nouns.
 Examples:
Singular Countable Nouns Plural Countable Nouns
a baby an eagle two pencils three cats
one pencil one rose some babies many roses

Uncountable nouns: Nouns that we cannot be counted or combined with numbers. Such as water, butter,
cola, money, salt. When we need to describe the amount or quantity of uncountable
nouns, we usually use containers or units of measure to do it.
 Examples:
water butter cola money
time hair bread oil
Uncountable nouns
a glass of juice a drop of rain two bowls of soup five pieces of wood

some: We use “some” with positive sentences with both countable and uncountable nouns. And also
we can use “some” in questions when we ask for things and offer things.
 Examples:
 There is some water.  There are some potatoes.
 Can I have some water?  Would you like some chips?

any: We use “any” with negative sentences with both countable and uncountable nouns. And also
we can use “any” with both countable and uncountable nouns in questions.
 Examples:
 We have not got any bananas.  Daisy did not do any housework.
 Is there any meat in the fridge?  Are there any tomatoes on the table?

How many / much: We use a “how many” or “how much” to ask about quantities. We use “how many”
with countable nouns. We use “how much” with uncountable nouns.
 Examples:
Countable Nouns Uncountable Nouns.
 How many apples do you want?  How much rice do you want?
A. Write C for countable nouns and UC for uncountable nouns.
1. milk _UC__ 2. apple __C_ 3. watch _ C _ 4. oil UC _ 5. book _ C __ 6. pen _ C ___
7. rice __ UC 8. bottle _ C _ 9. paper UC _ 10. sugar UC _ 11. jacket C __ 12. money _ UC
13. time _ UC 14. bread UC 15. music UC _ 16. tea UC _ 17. minute _ C _ 18. child _ C _

B. Fill in the blanks with a, an, some or any.

1. Lisa’s got __a________ towel. 2. Ana’s got _______ a _____ rucksack
3. I’ll buy ____ a______ bottle of water at the beach. 4. I need _____ a _______ lemon for the salad.
5. Angeles has got ___some_______ sandwiches. 6. Do you want to eat ___an_________ orange?
7. Jason hasn’t got ______any_____ sandwiches. 8. There aren’t ___any_________ cafes in the city.
9. There isn’t ______any____ milk in the bottle. 10. We’ve got ____some________ sandwiches.
11. There is ________some__ water in the fridge. 12. There are ___some______ strawberries in the cup.
13. There is ______some___ honey in the jar. 14. Let’s buy __some____ cheese from here.

C. Fill in the blanks with the correct words.

a cube of a bottle of a piece of a carton of a bottle of a can of
a piece of a bar of a cup of a glass of a bowl of a match of
e.g.: ______a cube of______ sugar
1. _______ a piece of ____________ advice 2. _________ a bar of __________ chocolate
3. _________ a can of __________ jam 4. ___________ a can of ________ lemonade
5. ________ a piece of ___________ meat 6. ___ a carton of _________ milk
7. _________ a bottle of __________ oil 8. ________ a bowl of ___________ rice
9. ________ a cup of ___________ tea 10. _______ a match of ____________ tennis

D. Complete the following sentences with ‘How many’ or ‘How much’

1. ____ How many________ cans of coke do you want?
2. ____ How many_______________ orange juice is there in your glass?
3. _____ How much ______________ time have we got to go to school?
4. ______ How much _____________ olive oil do you use for your cake?
5. __________ How much _________ money do you pay for your house rent?
6. _________ How many ___________ people are there in that pink house?
7. _________ How many ___________ pencils would you like to buy?
8. _________ How many ___________ televisions are there in your house?
9. ___________ How many _________ hamburgers do you eat a week?
10. ________ How much ___________ bread do you eat for breakfast?
 Singular & Plural Nouns
A singular noun is used for One person, animal, thing, place or idea.
A plural noun is used for More Than One person, animal, thing, place or idea.

 Examples:
1. By adding an ‘s’ to the singular nouns.
Singular: apple bag book house cake cow girl
Plural: apples bags

2. By adding ‘es’ to nouns ending in ‘ch, sh, s and x’.

Singular: match wish dress gas tax fox *quiz
Plural: matches wishes

3. By adding ‘s’ to nouns such as musical terms, words of Spanish origin or nouns ending in vowel + ‘o’.
Singular: zoo radio video kangaroo cuckoo igloo tattoo
Plural: zoos radios

4. By adding ‘es’ to nouns ending in consonant + ‘o’. *Exceptions: pianos, photos

Singular: potato tomato echo hero mosquito buffalo mango
Plural: potatoes tomatoes

5. By changing nouns ending in ‘f’ or ‘fe’ to ‘ves’

Singular: leaf shelf wolf half knife life wife
Plural: leaves shelves
*Exceptions: chefs, giraffes, handkerchiefs, proofs, roofs, safes

6. By changing nouns ending in ‘y’ to ‘ies’

Singular: city baby story country activity puppy lady
Plural: cities babies

7. By adding ‘s’ if the letter before ‘y’ is a vowel.

Singular: day key holiday donkey toy monkey way
Plural: days keys

8. Some plural nouns are formed by changing the vowels.

Singular: foot goose man woman tooth
Plural: feet goose men women teeth

9. Some plural nouns do not follow any rules.

Singular: child mouse sheep ox deer fish series
Plural: children mice sheep oxen deer fish series
 How many apples do you want?  How much rice do you want?
A. Circle the correct answers.
1. I have a colorful dish. ( Singular / Plural )
2. This pair of glasses is expensive. ( Singular / Plural )
3. That jacket which you are wearing is really nice. ( Singular / Plural )
4. Those green jeans are horrible. ( Singular / Plural )
5. My trousers are on the bed. ( Singular / Plural )
6. There are five people on the bus. ( Singular / Plural )

B. Fill in the blanks with the plural forms of the following nouns.
1. I can see two ____fishes________ (fish) in the fish tank.
2. How many ________children________ (child) are there in the garden?
3. We still need three more forks and ____knives________ (knife) for our dinner guests.
4. Many trees lose their ____leaves_______ (leaf) in autumn.
5. Many ___deer_________ (deer) live in that forest.
6. Sharks can grow thousands of __teeth_____ (tooth) in a lifetime.
7. _____Wolves_______ (Wolf) look very much like large dogs.

C. Rewrite the following sentences changing the words in bold into plural.
e.g. The dog chased the cat.
The dogs chased the cats.
1. The monkey ate the banana.
___ The monkeys ate the bananas.________________________________________________
2. The thief stole the watch.
_____ The thieves stole the watches.__________________________________________________________
3. The girl broke the glass.
________ The girls broke the glass._____________________________________________________________
4. The man killed the sheep.
______ The men killed the sheep.______________________________________________________
5. The farmer sold the ox.
____ The farmers sold the oxen.________________________ _____________________________________
6. A crocodile is a cold-blooded animal.
___ Crocodiles are cold-blooded animals._____________________________________________
7. A kettle has a handle.
_______Kettles have handles.______________________________________________________