Count and Noncount Nouns – Grammar & test

TEST 

Count and Noncount Nouns – Grammar & test

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• Using A vs. An
• (a)I have a pencil.
• (b) I live in an apartment.
• (c) Have a small apartment.
• (d) I live in an old building.

• A and an are used in front of a singular noun (e.g. pencil, apartment). They mean “one”.
• If a singular noun is modified by an adjective (e.g. small, old), “a” or “an” comes in front of the adjective, as in (c) and (d).
• “A” is used in front of words that begin with a consonant (b, c, d, f, g, etc.); a boy, a bad day, a cat, a cute baby.
• “An” is used in front of words that begin with the vowels (a, e, i, and o); an apartment, an angry man, an elephant, an empty room, etc.

• I have an umbrella.
• I saw an ugly picture.
• I attend a university.
• I had a unique experience.
• For words that begin with the letter “u”:
• “An” is used if the “u” is a vowel sound, as in an umbrella, an uncle, an unusual day.
• “A” is used if the “u” is a consonant sound, as in a university, a unit, a usual event.

• He will arrive in an hour.
• New Year’s Day is a holiday.
• For words that being with the letter “h”:
• “An” is used if the “h” is silent: an hour, an honor, an honest person.
• “A” is used if the “h” is pronounced: a holiday, a hotel, a high point.

COUNT AND NONCOUNT NOUNS

• A count noun:
• Can be counted with numbers: one chair, two chairs, ten chairs, etc.
• Can be preceded by a/an in the singular: a chair.
• Has a plural form of ending in –s or –es: chairs.

• A noncount noun:
• Cannot be counted with numbers.

Incorrect: one furniture  × 

• Is NOT immediately preceded by a/an.

Incorrect: a furniture     ×

• Does NOT have a plural form (no final –s)

Incorrect: furnitures      ×

• Noncount nouns usually refer to a whole group of things that is made up of many individual parts, a whole category made up of different varieties.

For example: “furniture” is a noncount noun; it describes a whole category of things: chairs, tables, beds, etc.

Individual parts = the whole

Chairs – tables – beds – etc.    = furniture

• Mail, fruit, and jewelry are other examples of noncount nouns that refer to a whole category made up of individual parts.
• Letters, postcards, bills, etc. = mail
• Apples, bananas. Oranges, etc. = fruit
• Rings, bracelets, necklaces, etc. = jewelry

More Noncount Nouns

• Liquids:
• Coffee
• Soup
• Milk
• Oil
• Water
• Tea
• Solids and semi-solids
• Bread
• Butter
• Cheese
• Ice
• Meat
• Beef
• Chicken
• Fish
• Chalk
• Glass
• Gold
• Iron
• Paper
• Soap
• Toothpaste
• Wood
• Gases:
• Air
• Pollution
• Smog
• Smoke

• Things that occur in nature:
• Weather
• Rain
• Snow
• Darkness
• Light
• Sunshine
• Thunder
• Lightning

• Abstractions:
• Beauty
• Courage
• Fun
• Experience
• Fun
• Generosity
• Happiness
• Health
• Help
• Honesty
• Ignorance
• Knowledge
• Luck
• Patience
• Progress
• Time
• Violence

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