Countable and Uncountable nouns

mirnaflipper1
8 sept 2022
3 min de lectura

Actualizado: 17 ene 2023

Objective: In this lesson you will be able to learn what is the difference between countable and uncountable nouns and the use of certain quantifiers.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/041878_77e1a620ddec4b269db1b44f3432e961/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

QUANTIFIERS

We use quantifiers such as containers, measure words and portions to count uncountable nouns.

We use quantity words such as: much, many, a lot of, a little, a few, some, any, no to help you have an idea of the amount of uncountable and countable nouns.

The topic of today is to learn how to use those quantity words for expressing the amoung of experiences that we can have when traveling abroad.

Have you ever considered studying abroad?

If so, Where?

Sometimes we have the opportunity to study abroad, and it is important to know that is a great experience for life and depending on the purpose of it, it will be a challenge, an opportunity, a goal, etc.

If you notice in this conversation, there is a word ¨few¨ that is used in this case for expressing the number of universities.

Let’s start by looking at quantifiers that express large quantities.

Much, Many, A lot (of)

We use many, much, a lot (of) to refer to big quantities. We use ‘many’ with countable nouns and ‘much’ with uncountable nouns, and we can use ‘a lot (of)’ with both countable and uncountable nouns. In modern English it is very common to use ‘a lot (of)’ in affirmative sentences instead of ‘many’ and ‘much’.

Much+ Uncountable nouns	Many+ Countable nouns
much money	many pens
much Italian wine	many people
A lot of + Uncountables	A lot of + Countables
a lot of money	a lot of pens

Here are some examples:

There are many things to do today.
We have a lot of time left, don’t worry.
Many people take the train to work.
Much Italian wine is sold abroad.

She plays a lot of sport.
When we want to emphasize a really big quantity we can add ‘so’ in front of ‘many’ and ‘much’. For example:
There were so many passengers on the train, it was difficult to get off.
She had so much work to do, she stayed at the office until midnight.

A Few, A Little, A Bit (of)

To talk about small quantities, we can use ‘a few’ and ‘a little’. We use ‘a few’ with countable nouns and ‘a little’ with uncountable nouns. It’s also possible to use ‘a bit’ with uncountable nouns, but it is more informal.

A few + Countables	A little + Uncountables
A few students	A little water

Here are some examples:

We need a few coins for the car park.
Would you like a little milk in your coffee?
They ate a few biscuits with their tea.
The engine needs a little oil.

When we want to refer to a small quantity with a negative sense, we use ‘few’ and ‘little’ without ‘a’. For example:

Few trains arrive on time. (A small number of trains arrive on train which is a bad thing.)
Little attention is given to the problem of parking. (A small amount of attention is given to this problem and it’s not good.)

Some, Any

When we want to refer to a plural noun or an uncountable noun, without giving a specific quantity, we use ‘some’ and ‘any’. We use ‘some’ in affirmatives and ‘any’ in questions and negatives.