B. Uncountable Nouns Uncouniable nouns cannot be counted and have no plural form, Some, any, (a) litte, ete. can be used with most of sem, but nec wanvone. Food meat, choese, bread, butter, Diseases measles, chickenpox, cancer, et, fruit, fish, ete mumps rickets shingles etc Liquids milk, water, coffee, tea, ete, Sfenees and Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry. Economies, School Subjects Literature, etc. Material glass, wood, iron, paper, steel, Games baschall, billiards, darts, football, golf, terns, gold, etc. atc, Natural weather, heat, snow, lightning, Abstract nouns beauty, freecom, love, honesty, justice, business, Phenomena wind, rain, thunder, etc, ‘work, time, information, news, knowledge, accommodation, etc. Languages English, French, Greek, Some Concrete baggage, furniture, money, lugwage, traffic, Japanese, Kalan, etc. ‘Nouns business, etc ‘Compare these countable and uncountable nouns: | Countable © I'm looking for a job. © What a beautiful view! © It's a nice day today. | © We had a lot of bags and cases. | © These chairs are mine. © It was a good suggestion. © You can stay with us. There is a spare room, (= zoom in a house) ‘© Thad some interesting experiences while Twas away. (= things that happened to me) | © Enjoy your holiday. Have a good time! Uncountablo nouns a noun is uncountable = we do not normally use a/an in front of it Sugar is expensive it does not normally have a plural and It can be used in the ‘question How much? How much meavol? - A fol of mear'a lite olf Uncountable I'm looking for work. (not ‘a work’) © What beautiful scenery! * ite nice weathe today. © We had a lot of luggage. (not “huggages’) © This furniture is mint © Ic was good advice. © You can’t sithere. There isa'troom. | (© space) ‘© They offered me the job because [had a lot of experience. (not experiences’) © Lean’e wait, Thaven't got time. Note how certain nouns can be used in the singular and plural with a different meaning, Singular Plural Give mee glass of vaier, please. I've been wesring glasses since | was 8 years old. Has site always had short alr? There are so many halts in the sinkd How would you rate this on a scale of 1 to 10? In Japan itis not a custom to kiss your friends. Have you got any lined paper ? could uso? She's wearing a sing made of wood. Tean't talk now; 1 have a fot of work t0 do. We had at least 200 people at our wedding. The rain is fling really heavily now. You need experience for this job. We used @ compass to find our direction. Some nouns always end in -s and look as if they are plural, buc when we use them as the subject they have a singular verb: Can you pat that ish on the scales for me please? Our bags were thoroughly searched at customs. He shawed his papers to the customs officer, Jolin foves his Sunday aftemoon waitin the woods. ‘Aol of Dali's works are on display in this musourm The peoples of Europe are hoping for change. The villagers ere hoping for the rains fo come soon, | had a fot of interesting expertences visting Asia. Use your compasses to craw some citcies. 1 The news from the Middle East sents very encouraging, Other words like this include means ‘method! or ‘money’); some academic disci ines, e.g. economics, linguistics, mathematics, phonetics, physics, politics, statistics; some sports, 8. athletics, gymnastics; and some diseases, eg. diabetes, measles, rabies, However, compace: academic subject general se 1 Polities is popular at this university. Cl Her politics are bordering on the fascist. litical belief) 1D Statistics was always my worst subject. |G Statistics ave able to prove anything you want them to, merical information) 1 Eeonomies has only recently been recognised as a scientific study. 1 The economies behind their policies are unreasonable, (= the financial system) Many uncountable nouns ean be made countable. ‘we cannot normally use a number (one two) in front of it a jar of bar of chocolate\soap; a bit? 1 black cf wood 2 flashibolt of plece of chalk; an ice cube; @ lump of suger @ bag of Hour pair of trousers; a game of soccer: a(n) nipaper, a glassiboltle of boeriwator 2 pint of beer, 2 box'sheet of paper, 2 packet of tea; a sliceiloal of tread: = pot of ‘news; & dropjcan of al; a can of Goke; 2 carton of mls 4 piece of advicoicakoltumiturelinforma yeshurt; 2 poticup of te a kilo/pound of meat, a tbe of tootipaste: rasher of bac ltemipiece oiHere are some more nouns used in both ways. Make sure you know the difference between the uncountable and the countable meaning. drink /adrink hair /ahair paper /apaper —_ land/aland people/apeople — home/ahome policy /a policy _trade /a trade Drink was the cause of all his problems. alcohol] There’s a hair in my sandwich, a dark one; it must be yours. Did you buy a paper this morning? [a newspaper] Ilove meeting people from different countries. _[individuals) ‘The different peoples of Asia. [races / national groups] Her grandmother lives in a home. [an institution] T've lost my car insurance policy. [a document} ‘Trade with China has increased. [imports and exports] The names of food items often have 2 different shade of meaning when used countably and uncountably (see fish above) coffee/tea © ey — acoffee and two teas Cty op potato V3 — _nstewo potatoes, please! <<>> would you like Eze — would you like a chocolate? some chocolate? an salt and pepper — > apepper TY . a hot dog with onion = — anonion (() 3 Answer these remarks using the word in brackets, as in the example. Use a(n) if the meaning is countable. Example: Oh dear! I've spilt water on the floor! (cloth) Never mind. Here's 2 cloth; just wipe ft up. 1 How did you get thar puncture in your tyre? (glass) 2. Lwas surprised to hear that old Mrs Jones doesn’t live with her family any more. (home) 3 What do you think my son should do? He's just left school and he’s not really academic. He needs a job. (trade) 4 Why did you choose this house in the end? (land) 5 Mum, what's the Mona Lisa? (work) 6 How can I find out what the restrictions are on this car insurance? (policy) A Circle the correct word. If both are correct, circle both 1 Are those sheep / sheops or goats in that field over there? 2 How many sister-in-laws / sisters-in-law have you got? 3 Look at those lovely little fish / fishes! 4. ve only got one important piece of new / news to tell you, | think, 5 The hairdresser quickly swept up the hair / hairs on the flocr. 6 |"Ibe giving you a Ict of information / informations, so do please take notes. 7 We've bought cuite a lot of furniture / furnitures in the last few days. 8 Could you give us both permission / permissions to miss PE tomorrow? 9. Physic / Physics is my favourite subject by far. 10 | think tve got some money / monies on me. 11 I'm going to give them all the advice / advices | can. 12 What kind of jewellery / jewelleries are you interested in getting? 13 Would you like some chocolate / chocolates? 14 You've got to have very good general knowledge / knowledges to go on Wsho Wants To Be A Millfonaire, 15 I've alvays been interested in politic / politicsSome nouns can be used as countable or uncountable, with a difference in meaning. * Would you like a glass of lemonade? Complete the sentences using the noun in the I form and 1 He gave me a box of my favourite ...chocolates, Tina can't see without her glasses. (spectacles) 5 (neeatt — is tavourte food is cnocoate The vase is made of glass. (the material) 3. She bought on her way to woth © He went to the newsagent’s to buy a paper. (newspaper) —_ipanen) He wrote my phone number on a piece of paper. (the * peace re important in his writing material) 5 Ineed some to nelle this message Don't forget to bring all the necessary papers. ‘on. (paper) (documents) 6 Hurry up! We don't have much time) «Susan has got short, dark hair. (all the hairon her head) 7 jyrg Vstedvs sever {nis month There is a hair in my soup! 8 Hetnas no bute fs keen to learn ; (experience) © I've bought an iron as a wedding gift for Tom and Jane. 9 She had a ot of excting during her (for ironing clothes) travels. |experience) This chair is made of iron. (the material) 10 oan for a walk in the after luncn. * You shouldn't eat foo much chocolate 11. His cesk is made of (wood) We gave her a box of chocolates. 12. Janos in her reading a book. (100m) 13 We have got plenty of for a party © Your room is a mess! in here. (room) We haven't got enough room to put you up. (space) 14 | am going to have my Cul tomorrow. (nair) 15. there was in my soup (nai © The table is made of wood. (the material) 16 Imthirsty. | need of water. (glass) A lot of wolves live in the woods. (forest) 17 Susan only wears her when she reads. (glass) * Mr Davis has a lot of experience in accounting. (length 18 This ornament is made of coloured of time doing it) He had a few unpleasant experiences while living abroad. (events) © haven't got any time to lose. How many times did Rick phone? (occasions) @ 1 2 10 " 12 BP OP RPTE TH SETH OH ESTP Eray ine the correct word. have a Physics exam tomorrow. ‘Oh dear. Physics is/are a very difficult subject My office is three miles from my house. ‘Three miles is/are a long way to walk to work. IMy litle brother has got measles, ‘Oh dear. Measles is/are quite a serious illness. Jane looked nice today, didn't she? Yes. Her clothes were|was very smart. I've got two pounds. I'm going to buy @ CD. Two pounds is/are not enough to buy a CD. The classroom was empty when | walked past. Yes. The class was/were all on a schoo! outing Have you just cleaned the stairs? Yes, so be careful. They is/are very slippery. Did you ask John to fix your car? Yes. His advice was/were that | 1ake it to a garage, Did you enjoy your holiday? Yes, thank you. The weather was{were wondertul These trousers is/are very old You should buy a new pair. How is/are the company doing lately? Great. We opened up two more branches | am going to travel for two years when I finish schoo! Two years is/are 2 long time to be away rom home Glass) 19. Helen bought in the sale at the electrical store. {iron) 20 The old gate was made of (iron) 1. Nouns that are usually uncountable: advice, applause, assistance, camping, casi, chans, clothing, conduct, employment, equipment, evidence, furniture, health, homework, information, leisure, tugease, ‘machinery, money, music, parking, poliutton, research, scenery, shopping, sightsceing, transport 2 Nouns used uncountably when talking about the whole substance or idea, but countably when talking about units or different kinds: bee, coffee, rea; fruit, shampoo, toothpaste, washing powder; business, cake, land, paint, stone; abuse, conversation, (disagreement, difficulty, improvement, language, pein, pleasure, protest, sound, space, thowgh', ‘The following nouns are only used countably in the singular: education, importance, knowledge, resistance 3. Nouns with different meaning when used countably and uncountably: accommodation, competition, glass, grammar, jam, lace, ‘paper, property, room, sight, speech, time, in, traffic, worke + Other examples with a change of meaning: ‘business (in general) a dwsness (a company) gossip (talking) «a gossip (@ person) haar (al together) «a hair (a single strand) hep (in general) @ help (a helpful petson‘thing) ‘oast (gelled bread) a toast (Formal words said before drinking) ‘work (in general) 4 work (a Work of arlengineering)3@ Complete the conversations. Use the nouns in the box and a/an where necessary. cloth cloth noise exper room nce experience glass glass room _ university education room Is there going to be enough in the fridge for all this food? Don't worry — it’s a large family-size fridge. As Could Ihave son of water, please? B: Sure. Sorry. I've spilled it. Would you hand me ... please? 2 A: Isee you don't have . B: No, but | have years of.. 3. As Nice suit. Isit silk? B: According to the label, it’s made of fine woollen .. 4 A; Iwas really frightened last night. | was sure | heard ... downstairs. thad ke that once and | called the police straightaway. Ineed.. for the night. Have you got any vacancies? Yes, you're in luck. There’s one free on the top floor. What's happened? There’s all over the floor. Oh, one of the kids kicked a football through the window again, D Which of the underlined parts of these sentences is correct? 1 ‘Did you hear-neise-/ancise just now?’ ‘No, | didn’t hear anything, to wipe it up, all the hair on your head) You can't sit here, There isn't room, (espace) lot of experience. (noi experiences) I can’t work here, There's too much They offered me the job because | had 2 noise. (= noise in general) > Ineed some paper to write on, You've got very long hair. (not hairs) Iean't wait, Idontt have time. (© material for wring on) ¢ managing a business. By 5 A B: A ‘things that ¢ 2 a Ifyou want to know the news, you can read paper /a paper b Iwant to print some documents, but the printer is out of paner / papers. 3. Light /A light comes from the sun. Did you hear a noise just now? ( oO 2 specific noise) bought @ peperso eed. ¢ There's a hair in my soup! ‘anewspaper) You can stay with us, There's a spare room. (=a room in a house) Thad some interesting experiences while | was travelling happened to me) Enjoy your trip, Have a good time! b I thought there was somebody in the house because there wes light /a light on inside, 4a Lwasina hurry this morning. | didn’t have time / a time for breakfast b ‘Did you have a good holiday?” "Yes, we had wonderful time / a wonderful time.’ 5 This is nice room /a nice room. Did you decerate it yourself? G Sue was very helpful. She gave us some very useful advice / advices. 7 Did you have nice weather / a nice weather when you were away? 8 We were very unfortunate. We had bad luck / a bad luck 9 Isit difficult to find a work f job at the moment? job tion table banknote 1 Ididn’t have much luggage... = just two small bags. 2 They'll tell you all you want to know. They'll give you plenty of 3 Thereis room for everybody to sit down. There are plenty of ~ = 1 é 10 Our travel/ journey from Paris to Moscow by train was very tiring. & g 1 When the fire alarm rang, there was total chaos / a total chaos. ¢ : 12 Thad to buy abread / some bread because | wanted to make some sandwiches. 28 FI 13. Bad news don't / doesn’t make people happy. Sp 14 Your hair is / Your hairs ate too long. You should have it them cut. Be 15 The damage / The damages caused by the storm will cost a lot to repair. q g £ D Complete the sentences using the following words. Use the plural (-s) where necessary. a. 3 advice chair experience experience furniture hair 5 «& a Information job luggage — permission progress work 3 z i § 4 We have no not even a bed or a table. 5 ‘What does Alan look like?” ‘He's got a long beard and very short 6 Carla's English is better than it was. She's mad= 7 Mike is unemployed. He can't get a 8 Mike is unemployed. He can't get... 9 Ifyou want to leave early, you have to ask for 10 | didn't know what todo. Sol asked Chris for 11. |don’t think Ban should get the job. He doesn’t have enough 12 Nicola has done many interesting things. She could write a book about her xpressing | Test yourself. Can youpat these words in pairs (one uncountable, ‘one countable) e: work fact accommodation —_advertis bread cars journey — loaf travel traffic‘Test yourself. Can you put these words in pairs (one uncountable, one countable) expressing similar ideas? Example: furniture — table g 482 8 FES 5 accommodation advertisement baggage —_ banknote & g82 2 bread cars fact» flat» furniture information —_job BZES sag journey loaf money _ publicity suitcase table esti bses traffic travel work | ERgEECES 1 Hereare seven groups of nouns. Look in the box and find two Ges Posa5 more nouns to add to cach group. aEsES £33 Ce gegig tee aircraft crisis. dozen mathematics. = means. mouse |B Be Saek news police scissors. sheep shelf thousand BSS ERREE | tooth wolf S8aséees 1 COUNTABLE NOUNS WITH SINGULAR (AND PLURAL) IN -5 = 2 8 series crossroads —_ analysis — analyses eis 3 = 2. OTHER NOUNS WITH SINGULAR AND PLURAL THE SAME 2°e 5 & trout deer _— fish salmon 53,8 § £222 8 3. NOUNS THAT HAVE A PLURAL WITHOUT -§ AFTER A NUMBER Syskes$ hundred (e.g. two hundred) million s28¢ 26s ees B25 4 NOENS WITH SINGULAR IN -f(@), PLURAL EN -¥es gegiseags calf-calves half knife leaf life loaf’ self Soke ges thief wile gees ae x Beo ses 5) OTHER NOUNS WITH IRREGULAR PLURAIS ge 550 ES child—children foot—feet — fungus—fungi —_goose—geese E22 5383 man—men medium—media ox—oxen _penny— pence ge 8 3 Bee BS< Se8 phenomenon —phenomena woman ~ women. 6 UNCOUNTABLE SESGULAR NOUNS ENDING IN -S (ORM ALLY NO PLURAL) athletics billiards economies gymnastics. measles physics politics 7 PLURAL NOUNS WITH NO SINGULAR arms belongings cattle clothes. congratulations coutcuts earnings gous outskirts. people remains surroundings thanks troops —_trousers When we use a noun countably we are thinking of specific things; when we use it INERY CROSSING (road sign) Those were easy exercises, (tasks) 3 3 & uncountably we are thinking of stuff or material or the idea of a thing in general 2 2 a — — —— BEEZ. stuffimaterials. things = 22 5 g 0 We Ges lass glass / glasses UW bedcds = 223542 cloth adoth fi = geeese — | 62208 52 fish a fish [bee Ze 03 Qs Sbicizs 22-2855 Se BESS0 EE work awork eS 2d3 2265 Be carefull there's broken glass on the road. I nced a cloth to wipe the table. g VS 3S aS We had fish for dinner, Hamlet is one of Shakespeare's most famous works. Boon on <