Countable and uncountable nouns
| Countable | Uncountable |
|---|---|
| have a plural: a soldier, two soldiers | have no plural: water, money, information |
| take a / an in the singular: a truck | take no a / an: some advice, a piece of advice |
| many, few, a few, a number of | much, little, a little, an amount of |
Common uncountable nouns: advice, information, news, equipment, furniture, luggage, baggage, money, traffic, weather, work, homework, knowledge, research, evidence, damage, fuel, ammunition, clothing.
Common mistakes
- ✗Wrong: He gave me an advice.✓Right: He gave me some advice. (or a piece of advice)
- ✗Wrong: The news are good.✓Right: The news is good.
- ✗Wrong: We need more equipments.✓Right: We need more equipment.
Plural rules
| Rule | Examples |
|---|---|
| most nouns: + s | book → books, truck → trucks |
| -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, -z: + es | bus → buses, box → boxes, watch → watches |
| consonant + y: y → ies | city → cities, army → armies (but day → days) |
| -f, -fe: → ves | knife → knives, wife → wives, half → halves (but roof → roofs, chief → chiefs) |
| -o: + es or + s | potato → potatoes, hero → heroes (but radio → radios, photo → photos) |
| irregular | man → men, woman → women, child → children, foot → feet, tooth → teeth, mouse → mice, person → people |
| the same in the singular and plural | sheep, fish, deer, aircraft, series, species |
Some nouns are always plural: pants, jeans, scissors, glasses, binoculars, clothes, police, people. "The police are coming."
A, an and the
| Article | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a / an | one of many, the first mention, a job | I saw a truck. · She is an engineer. |
| the | something specific or already mentioned, the only one | The truck was green. · the sun, the moon |
| the | oceans, seas, rivers, deserts, mountain ranges, plural country names, ordinal numbers, superlatives | the Pacific, the Nile, the Sahara, the Alps, the United States, the first, the best |
| no article | plural and uncountable nouns in general | Soldiers need discipline. |
| no article | names of people, cities, states, most countries, single mountains, lakes, languages, meals, sports | Chicago, Mount Everest, Lake Michigan, English, breakfast, soccer |
| no article | go to bed / school / work / church / jail, for the usual purpose | He goes to school by bus. |
Use an before a vowel sound, not a vowel letter: an hour, an MP, an honest man, but a uniform, a European country, a one-way street.
Common mistakes
- ✗Wrong: She is engineer.✓Right: She is an engineer.
- ✗Wrong: The life is beautiful.✓Right: Life is beautiful.
Quantifiers
| With countable nouns | With uncountable nouns | With both |
|---|---|---|
| many questions | much time | a lot of, lots of, plenty of |
| a few (some, enough) | a little (some, enough) | some (positive) · any (negative and questions) |
| few (not many: a negative idea) | little (not much: a negative idea) | no, none of, all, most |
| a number of | an amount of, a great deal of | more, the most |
| each, every, either, neither + singular noun · both + plural noun |
- We have a little time, so let's get some coffee. (some time)
- We have little time. We must hurry. (almost no time)
- Few people came to the meeting. (disappointing)
- Each soldier has his own locker. (singular verb)
Common mistakes
- ✗Wrong: How much soldiers are there?✓Right: How many soldiers are there?
- ✗Wrong: I have a few money.✓Right: I have a little money.
Quick check
Choose an answer: the explanation appears straight away.
1There were very ___ people at the ceremony, which was disappointing.
2Could you give me ___ information about the course?
3She is ___ honest officer.
4___ Nile flows through Egypt and Sudan.
5Each of the trucks ___ a spare tire.
More practice: sample questions on this topic, with answers.
All 14 questions on this topic, in a new order each time.