Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns

[English Club]

Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns

 

A parent asked for an explanation of countable and uncountable nouns.

 

Countable nouns

 

Anything that is easy to see and count is a countable noun:

 

-         one pencil, two pencils, three pencils, four pencils…..

-         one elephant, two elephants, three elephants……

-         one pizza, two pizzas…..

-         one bird, two birds…..

 

Sometimes, instead of saying exactly how many there are of something, people will use different words:

 

-         A few pencils

-         A lot of elephants

-         Some pizzas

-         A couple of birds

 

A couple = 2-3

 

A few = 3-4

 

Some = 4-5

 

A lot = many

 

People will use these words when they don’t know exactly how many there are and don’t want to stop and count.

 

For example:

 

-         I have some coins in my pocket.

-         There are a few mosquitoes in here.

-         I have some gifts for you.

-         There are a lot of computers in the shop.

 

 

Uncountable Nouns

 

Anything that would be very difficult to count is an uncountable noun:

 

-         one air?  No.

-         one rice?  No.

-         one milk?  No.

 

These would be hard to count.  So people use other words to describe how much of something there is:

 

-         A lot

-         Some

-         A little bit

 

Examples:

 

-         There is a lot of air.

-         I have some rice.

-         Do you want some milk?

-         There is a little bit of water.

 

These words don’t tell us exactly how much there is, but they give us an idea about how much there is.

 

I hope this explanation helps.

 

[Jaa_Jemin Mom]

Thank a lot. K a a a

[ต้นน้ำ's Daddy]

great!!!!

[Goimom]

Thank Ka Kru Peter , but I still confuse about using "a lot of ,many,so many"could you please explain that to me??

[Mr. Peter C. Meltzer]

Good question.

You can use "a lot of" for countable and uncountable nouns:

Countable:
There are a lot of people.
There are a lot of monkeys.
There are a lot of donuts.

Uncountable:
There is a lot of air.
There is a lot of rice.
There is a lot of water.

"Many" and "so many" can only be used with countable nouns:

There are many people.
There are many monkeys.
There are many pencils.

There are so many donuts.
There are so many birds.
There are so many books.

"So many" is another way of saying "many, many, many".

[Goimom]

Thanks again Ka ,you are so kind;)

[ต้น...]

thank you

[คุณแม่เอ๋]

Thanks a lot. I will wait for your new lesson, na ka.

[อรดา พงศ์สุธนะ]

You rock!!

Before I thought that couple means 2 only.

[พี่ฟ้าใส น้องไออุ่น]

Thank you teacher!

[เบ็ญจวรรณ อ่อนคำ]

thank you

[pattanan]

thank you so much, teacher.